Team and Work Group Productivity

Successful individuals and organizations make the most of information by finding just what they need and extracting value from that information by using it to make decisions. ndxCards™ is designed to be part of the arsenal of tools used to harness information.

Most organizations have information systems that address major business processes such as order fulfillment or payroll. Some have even implemented tools such as document sharing systems that allow employees to access company information like parts catalogs, engineering drawings or policies & procedures. But these tools do not typically support individuals and work groups dealing with the many bits and pieces of information they use in day-to-day activities. Here are some ways that ndxCards™ can help.

Meeting minutes:

In situations with group participation, information is given as people speak, not necessarily following any particular order. However, a person taking meeting minutes in the traditional fashion is forced to take notes as limited by the tool – whether a pad and pencil or a computer and word processor forcing them to impose an order on the notes. A person taking notes with ndxCards™ can have multiple cards open on their computer desktop - one for each major topic of discussion - and can take notes on all topics in parallel. In fact, the task can be split among multiple note-takers. When there are actions identified, these can be jotted down in action cards. Immediately after the meeting, the notes can be structured using the outline tool and the meeting minutes created instantly, including an action register.

Collaboration:

Note cards in ndxCards™ can be shared easily – cards are 'exported' into 'decks' by one person and 'imported' by another. Card decks include the cards and all of the needed support cards such as Keywords or Sources. The cards can be ‘locked’ to make the information read-only, or left open for teammates to annotate, add to, etc. When notes are 're-imported' they can be updated to existing notes data or added on to. Teams can agree on common subjects and keywords ahead of time so that collective knowledge grows.

Problem solving:

Teams and work groups use many problem solving tools that involve collecting and sharing ideas and facts – Nominal Group Technique, Cause-Effect diagrams, Entity-Relation diagram etc. Team members write down facts on slips of paper or Post-It® notes, paste/pin them on marker boards and organize them visually drawing lines to show relationships. Depending on the method used, teams collaborate to understand problems, set priorities or make decisions. ndxCards™ makes such methodologies much more effective. Each note can be much more than the slip of paper – it can have detailed notes or even refer to other documents. The notes can still be analyzed visually by exporting them into PowerPoint or some other such program. After such analysis, there is no need to copy what is on the board – information is immediately shared. In fact the team does not even need to be in one location.