Microsoft Whiteboard Announces Preview of New Templates

[Itai Almog]

We launched Whiteboard to provide a way for people to brainstorm ideas, plan projects, solve problems, train colleagues, and to collaborate on projects whether in person or remote, across a variety of devices. In the classroom, we wanted to give teachers and students a way to create together and share their ideas without being confined to the dimensions of a physical whiteboard. After listening to our customers, we learned that many of you like to have a easier starting point to simplify how you use Whiteboard to collaborate and work.

Today we are excited to announce the preview of new templates in the Whiteboard PC and iOS apps that will allow people to ideate and collaborate more easily. We are starting with several templates that allow for workplace scenarios like brainstorming, project planning, KANBAN sprint planning, etc., as well as quick start in the classroom. More templates and capabilities will be made available continuously in the coming months.    

The full list of templates available in preview are:   

• Brainstorming   
• Effective meeting  
• KANBAN sprint planning  
• SWOT analysis  
• Problem solving  
• Project planning  
• Retrospective   
• Project milestones  
• KWL (Know, Wonder, Learn) for education  

Whiteboard templates are now in public preview for Windows 10 and rolling out to iOS within a few days. To add templates, tap the insert button in the toolbar. 

If there are any additional templates that you would like to see included, or have any other feedback about Whiteboard, please reply to this post. Thanks for helping us improve Whiteboard, we have more exciting announcements coming soon.

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@harishsingh Thanks for the feedback and great to hear you are using templates!. You can currently resize the entire template, but cannot resize components of a template individually.  However, you can resize individual lists and note grids added to the board from the context menu. Hope this helps :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft

[PDIGS]

Thanks, Jasmin. So the boards are sorted automatically by date I assume? And regarding the the storage, where is the orginal data (like if it would be a word document: where is the test.docx file) so I can download it and safe it also on my own drive? Thanks again!

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@PDIGS You are able to see your Whiteboards in date order in the gallery view. Whiteboard data is stored as blob storage and stored automatically in the cloud. You are able to export image (png) More info here on this link  https://support.office.com/en-us/article/microsoft-whiteboard-help-d236aef8-fcdf-4b5e-b5d7-7f157461e...

Thanks 

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft

[PDIGS]

@Jasmin_Rashid Thank you for the reply and sorry for being persistent on that point: but I understand now that it is not possible to access the original data. Do you know the reason why the whiteboard feature was set up that way?

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@PDIGS - You are able to access all your Whiteboards as they are automatically saved on the cloud unless you decide to delete. Can you please clarify if this is what you are referring to?.  Also no need to apologize we welcome all the questions :)

Thanks 

Jasmin

[PDIGS]

@Jasmin_Rashid I saw the storage on the cloud an that is a great feature. It works so smoothly... nice. But I am looking for the actual data of the whiteboard. As I said previously: if compared to a word document, there must be something like the test.docx file. This is the one stored in the cloud as blob storage. But how can I download it, safe it for example on an external drive? Where and how can I access it?

Does that clearify my question a little? Thank you very much for the patience and the insights. By the way: the new templates are great, a super feature. Looking forward to hearing from you!

[duncabar]

If we could save an existing Whiteboard as a custom template, we could deploy virtual kaizens (as an example) with all the setup and accessories that our LEAN team could use across our plants.  That would be most helpful and a huge time-saver!

[TomZwicky]

We use sticky notes in physical form a lot, digitising those notes can improve efficiency a lot if no re-documentation is necessary, thus:

I need the following

- Being able to create Templates

- or have all the Business Canvases, Project Canvases (e.g. Strategyzer, St Gallen Business Navigator) ready as templates

Would be EXCITING if

- one could link Sticky Notes across boards to allow Drill Downs e.g. from a Business Canvas to a Value Proposition Canvas

- having Sticky Notes that reflect summaries of other boards

Given the trend of "sticky note" approach for a lot of management tasks, having linking, tracking and reporting capabilities would make Whiteboard a great workspace for lean, agile project management.

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@duncabar Thank you for the great feedback I have noted and will share with the team :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@TomZwicky Thank you for your feedback! We are actively working to increasing the breadth and depth of templates in whiteboard by developing new objects and interactions, data connectivity to and from the whiteboard, as well as template creation, customization, and sharing!

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@PDIGS Following up from your last question around access to data, this is something that is currently not available to download externally. Thank you for using the templates feature on Whiteboard, it's always great to hear feedback from our community :)

[Andrea_Montuschi]

I love the templates, but I'd love to be able to edit them, especially some (brainstorming, for example).

Also, it'd be great to be able to create templates.

[MatthiasF42]

Is there a way to get rid of the "Four Rules" or "Tips" textbox in every template?

[PDIGS]

@Jasmin_Rashid Thank you very much.. is that something in scope for the future? It is such a simple lean tool, suitable for every note to take, not only the sharing/team-focus... just this missing piece of personal, local storage... :)

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@Andrea_Montuschi and @MatthiasF42 Thank you for the feedback on templates! - being able to edit and customization of templates is on the roadmap for later this year. We will keep you updated as we develop these features :)

Thanks

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@PDIGS I believe this is not on the roadmap for the immediate future - thank you for continuing to share feedback with us :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[PDIGS]

@Jasmin_Rashid Thanks for getting back :) It is still a great tool, thanks for working on it!

[MatthiasF42]

@Jasmin_Rashid  thank you!

I also wanted to share with the MS Whiteboard - Team that switching from a physical WB to your tool made the transition from office to homeoffice so much easier! We were lucky that we did this many weeks befor Corona so we were well prepared to collaborate remotely. 

My team is working on multiple projects at the same time plus doing product-internal development. We have 5-7 Kanban-tables at the same time so keeping it all together is not an easy task. MS WB was the only tool that met our requirements.

The new Kanban-elements would be a perfect addition!

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@MatthiasF42 Thank you for sharing your experiences :). Its always great to hear how Whiteboard has contributed to successful collaboration transitions from office to home office! We appreciate the feedback :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[cherihar]

Will the Whiteboard app w/i Teams have the same features of the Whiteboard application itself?  Would love to see this as folks could collaborate easier w/i a single application(Teams).

thanks!

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@cherihar Thank you for reaching out! - the team have accelerated development of the Web app and most of the features offered by the Windows 10 and iOS apps will be available in Web (and Teams) later this year. Please stay tuned for further updates on this :)

Thanks 

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[lizeylaw]

Hi, just started using Whiteboards for digital workshop collaboration - the need for this tool has grown exponentially in the remote working environment as we (like many organisations) have moved 90% of our workforce to work from home. 

I'd like to see the following features to make whiteboards really useful: 

- ability to create and save custom templates

- ability to share the custom template with the organisation (ie in a library)

- ability to copy or duplicate a whiteboard

Without the ability to create / save / share templates facilitators need to re-invent the wheel every-time they run a workshop or meeting - it makes MS Whiteboard quite inferior to products like miro / mural. 

Example of a custom template below.

 

[PDIGS]

Thanks for the proposal... this goes into the direction of my topic ("saving, customizing locally and individually")... seems hard/not possible as it is centrally hosted only...

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@lizeylaw Thank you for the sharing and all the great feedback here, very much appreciated :).  All of these capabilities are on our roadmap for templates. There is a work around in the interim for being able to duplicate a Whiteboard - you can try 'Ctrl + a, go to board gallery, create new board, ctrl +v to paste contents' - hope this helps!

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft

[PDIGS]

Good morning community, does anyone has some experience in combining Whiteboard and OneNote in some real life application? Would help me improving my own experimenting :-). Thank you very much! Thanks for the short cut above, @Jasmin_Rashid :)

[Ian Mikutel]

@PDIGS Whiteboard and OneNote compliment each other well. Consider Whiteboard for your real-time visual collab needs, and OneNote as your binder for storing, organizing and augmenting those ideas for reference in the future. In Education, for example, we see teachers prep a Whiteboard before class, use it to drive an engaging in-class lesson, enable real-time collaboration with students, and then use Whiteboard's built-in "Send to OneNote Class Notebook" feature to safely and easily send a full screenshot of the Whiteboard to the OneNote Class Notebook of their choosing for safe keeping and future reference. This can then integrate Whiteboard into existing OneNote workflows the teacher may have for organizing their class content, handouts, lessons, etc. This same scenario can be applied more broadly outside of education to any project or work setting. For example, imagine doing a live brainstorm session at work in Whiteboard with sticky notes, reaction-based voting, sorting, and templates, arriving at a decision, and putting that into a broader "Project Notebook" in OneNote that may have many meeting note pages, research, etc. Starting quickly and collaboratively in Whiteboard, and organizing/storing into existing OneNote workflows is a powerful combination. 

[PDIGS]

Hello Ian, thank you, where do I find that function in MS Whiteboard? I only see export as a picture? Do I have to activate class notebook first? Thank you!

[MatthiasF42]

I just tried to transform our free-form Whiteboard to one with the new sticky-notes feature so it gets more KANBAN-like.

I like to color-code the notes and give each team member an own color so for standups everyone can find his tasks to talk about more easily. But only 6 colors are available (e.g. for a team of 12 people).

So: please add more background-colors!

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@MatthiasF42 Thank you for your feedback! - will pass on to the team :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[AndrewGalbraith]

Hi!  The Whiteboard application has been a revelation for our team - our work relies heavily on workshops and running these virtually (due to COVID-19) is a new paradigm.  The templates feature is excellent, though we're also looking for the ability to create our own custom templates.

I found the Ctrl + A functionality early on (which was great to duplicate a whiteboard), it would be useful to be able to select multiple items but not all, e.g. having grouped a number of stickies together I'd like to move them as a group, rather than one by one, which is time consuming and slows the momentum of the meeting.

Thanks!

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@AndrewGalbraith - Thank you for sharing your experiences around Whiteboard and delightful to read that Whiteboard has featured heavily in your virtual workshops and we hope it continues to do so :). 

Custom templates is a popular request and it is indeed a feature on our roadmap for the next few quarters. Grouping and multiselect is also on our roadmap and should be available sooner within the next few months. Stay tuned for further announcements!

Please do keep the feedback coming in always much appreciated :)

Jasmin Rashid, Microsoft 

[Cinthia_Vargas]

Allowing facilitators to develop and save our own templates for later use would change the game for Whiteboard. Also adding a timer and improving the voting functionality would be great. 

[Palmbatt]

@Cinthia_Vargas - Great feedback, and we are on it ;). QQ - How do you see template creation / editing / saving / reusing work? Curious how you would like to customize templates!

[jonasrajanto]

@Palmbatt For me, simply being able to save any Whiteboard as a template would do the trick. So just a copy of the current Whiteboard - but added to the template list.

I run meeting facilitation training for many types of groups and re-use a lot of content. I need templates that participants can fill in but are built around a certain use case with content and terms specific to the group. I often tweak the template just a bit for this particular group and find that my templates evolve over time.

Whiteboard templates are a great way to teach people new meeting processes. Allowing users to create their own templates would allow everyone to share best meeting practices easily. Trainings, decision workshops etc. could all be facilitated quickly and the best templates would spread fast, too.

[Palmbatt]

Thanks for the feedback @jonasrajanto ! Another question for you... do you see yourself ever adding multiple templates to the same whiteboard or just one template per a board?

[jonasrajanto]

@Palmbatt great question! Indeed I can: there are often specific methods that I would like to combine for a single session.

Let's say I have a full-day workshop. In the morning I want to set some goals and do some dreaming using the Wishing method. I would have a template for that method which I would then pull up.

For the afternoon I want to think about solutions to get to those goals. When perhaps I want to use Open Space, for which I have another template I can pull up.

If each of those methods could be on a separate whiteboard I can update as necessary, that would be great.

Obviously, after importing a template, it would no longer be linked. So in essence it would just be copying a whiteboard, or part of it, to another whiteboard. It would just make the process faster if there was a named list of templates instead of finding that whiteboard, hitting copy, opening another whiteboard and pasting.

[angelocc]

I really like templates in Whiteboard but in my opinion there are serious limitations:

1- I didn't see a way to use templates in the whiteboards opened in Teams meetings

2- Cannot create my own templates

3- Cannot copy the regions from the templates into my own whiteboards

Please inform me if there is way to achieve any if these.

[limson louise]

When can we expect Templates in GA ?

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@angelocc @Limson Louise Thank you for reaching out and sharing your feedback :) - Templates is on the roadmap for later this year for the Web/Teams app. You can also keep track of what additional features you can expect from Whiteboard here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Whiteboard&searchterms=whiteboard

[Ann-Margaret]

So excited to see this as a preview on the iOS app! Can’t wait for this plus the lists etc to be made available...the “Like” feature will be invaluable to get employee sentiment!

[Ann-Margaret]

@Jasmin_Rashid I love that roadmap ui! Not whiteboard related but I wish I could recreate this for my project pipeline on SharePoint :D

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@Ann-Margaret Thank you for using Whiteboard and for the great feedback :) - always a pleasure to read how Whiteboard is being utilized by our community! 

[angelocc]

@Jasmin_Rashid Thanks for the link to https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-365/roadmap?filters=Whiteboard&searchterms=whiteboard .

I downloaded the complete list as a CSV and searched for Templates and the only references I found are related to export to CSV or Teams and not Whiteboard Templates. Can you share the Feature ID?

[JaArn]

I teach virtual classes for the foreseeable future and for tests and exercises I share a screen. It would be great if the ability to add a widget (clock in my case with adjustable timezone) or embed a URL such as timeanddate.com existed in a template.  

In addition a timer would be good. 

This way a single application could be shared instead of a entire screen. I currently use a website for this, but having the functionality in Whiteboard would be an awesome addition to your templates.

Attached is an image of an example of what I am looking for

Thanks

[Bassel_Soudan]

Hello MS Whiteboard Team,

I started using Whiteboard a few months ago for my lecturing and it produced an amazingly positive response from the students.

I would like to inquire about the possibility of grouping whiteboards into separate folders, modules, documents, or something of that sort.

Currently, I am teaching three different courses and I create a whiteboard for each lecture in each course. Things start to get cluttered pretty quickly. I would like the ability to have the whiteboards for each course separated. Either as separate folders or separate documents or ...

Wonderful product. Please keep improving ...

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@JaArn Thank you for reaching out and sharing, this is wonderful feedback :) - will pass this on to the team! - We do have a Timer capability on the roadmap which is planned for first quarter of 2021 and your feedback will help us further develop this feature.  Please also feel free to vote for feature requests on our Whiteboard User voice - 

Whiteboard UserVoice to vote for feature requests - https://whiteboard.uservoice.com/

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@Bassel_Soudan - Thank you for reaching out and sharing feedback, great to read Whiteboard is garnering positive responses from your students :). We understand the need for folders and board organization especially in EDU scenarios and we do have plans to have these capabilities in 2021. Please feel free to vote for feature requests on our Whiteboard User voice - 

Whiteboard UserVoice to vote for feature requests - https://whiteboard.uservoice.com/

[ChristiRushnell]

This is looking great and I like the interaction with TEAMS.  Maybe you have already thought of this  - it would be great if we could save and adjust the templates and make them our own would be great.  As a project manager I have so many I can think of that would help my work.  Thanks.

[Jasmin_Rashid]

@ChristiRushnell Thank you for sharing your feedback :), we have indeed received very similar requests for being able to customize and save own templates. We have plans to add a selection of templates by end of this year and then further enhance the capability to customize by first half of 2021. 

Please feel free to vote for feature requests on our Whiteboard User voice - 

Whiteboard UserVoice to vote for feature requests - https://whiteboard.uservoice.com/

[hanawatakahiro]

Hi,

 Whiteboard templates are very productive. I need a new template for process capturing. Do you have any plan to add new template? if so, I'd be glad if you have a chance to add 'process capturing'  in templates. This chart is very strong tool to get all participants focusing on the same process picture. The discussion could be quickly concluded. 

Thanks