PLANNING WORKSHOP TOOL

[Twenny02]

Hi,

Does anyone know of a reasonably priced planning workshop tool out there? I am looking for something that is particularly good for initial brain-storming planning sessions to replace the 'large sheet of paper on the wall with post-its' approach.

So it would allow:
- The quick creation of a product / task symbol with room for short descriptive text
- The quick creation of a high level timeline categories (usually the columns) & work-stream structure (usually the rows) to move the product / symbols around on during workshop brain-storming. There should be flexibility to easily adjust the space in each timeline category (e.g. week / month etc.), and work-stream swim-lane as the workshop progresses, and you find one particular work-stream has many more items than the others for example.
- Easy way to show dependencies between the items as you add them.
- Ideally the tool could import the list back into MS Project (even if it is just the Names) and/or display the items as a PBS or WBS.

I know I could potentially use something like Visio, but it still feels a little clunky for workshop working, especially if you need to quickly change the spacing and/or order of a timeline column or work-stream row for example.

- Also does anyone know of a good tool that can easily (without significant manual intervention) display a project hierarchy from MS Project in a visual WBS / PBS diagram format please?

Thanks for any suggestions in advance!

 

[johnherman]

I think the kind of tool you're looking for is called "collaboration software", so an internet search on that term may be helpful. I did a quick look and there appears to be a wikipedia article comparing different types of collaboration software. For what you want to do, you may need more than one tool. Remember that you can ask vendors to give you free trials, so you can try before you buy. Good luck.

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[Twenny02]

Thanks John - have found some possibilities based on that search!