Using the Capture Board

The best ideas often emerge when everyone has space to contribute. The Capture Board gives your team a structured way to brainstorm together—where quieter voices get heard alongside louder ones, where ideas can be refined collectively, and where patterns become visible through upvoting and prioritization.

What the Capture Board Does

During meetings, Group Leads (GLs) can open a Capture Board to collect ideas, suggestions, or responses from all participants. Everyone sees the same question and can add their thoughts in real-time. Once all the responses are in, participants can upvote ideas they support, helping the group identify patterns and priorities without lengthy discussion.

This tool is especially valuable when you're:

• Gathering input on a specific question or challenge
• Identifying concerns or obstacles the group is facing
• Generating options before making a decision
• Collecting ideas that you'll need to discuss and refine

The Capture Board doesn't replace conversation—it organizes collective thinking so your discussions can be more focused and productive.

How Participants Interact with Capture Boards

When your Group Lead opens a Capture Board during a meeting, you'll see a topic or question displayed at the top. Here's what you can do:

Add your ideas by typing in the Response field and clicking Add Response. Your ideas appear as purple cards that everyone can see. You can add as many responses as you want while the board is open.

Upvote responses you support by clicking the thumbs-up icon on any card (including your own) - when voting is enabled. Upvoting helps the group see which ideas have broader support without requiring everyone to speak up individually.

See what others are thinking as responses appear in real-time. This often sparks new ideas or helps you build on what others have contributed.

If voting is enabled, you'll see thumbs-up buttons on each response card. When your Group Lead chooses to show vote counts, you'll see which ideas have the most support from the group.

How Group Leads Use Capture Boards

As a Group Lead, the Capture Board gives you a flexible tool for collecting and organizing group input. Here's how to use it effectively.

Creating a Capture Board

1. Open the Capture Board Settings - This section appears in your agenda view near the top right of the screen
2. Add your topic - Type the question or prompt in the "Create a New Capture Board Topic" field and click Create Topic
3. Start sharing - Click Start Timer to begin the brainstorming session (the timer is optional—it just provides a visual countdown to keep focus)

Managing Responses and Voting

Once responses start coming in, you have several options to guide the process:

Control when voting happens by opening the Topic Options menu (three horizontal lines button) and selecting "Show Voting." This displays thumbs-up buttons on each response card so participants can upvote ideas they support.

Reveal vote counts when ready by selecting "Show Voting Score" from the same menu. This shows everyone which ideas have the most support. You might wait to reveal scores until after everyone has voted to prevent early results from influencing later votes.

Decide whether to show names by toggling "Show Respondents' Name" in the Topic Options. By default, responses are anonymous, which often encourages more honest input. You can turn this on or off at any point during the session.

Sort responses using the Sort Topics button. When names are shown, you can sort by order entered or by name. When voting scores are visible, responses automatically sort by vote count (highest first).

Exporting to Meeting Notes

After collecting responses, you'll want to capture them in your meeting notes:

1. Open Topic Options - Click the three horizontal lines button on the Capture Board
2. Select "Send Topic Board to Agenda" - This opens an editable dialog showing all responses
3. Review and edit - Make any changes you want to the text before adding it to your notes
4. Click "Add this content to the agenda notes" - The responses get added to the bottom of your current meeting notes

This makes it easy to preserve the group's thinking without manually copying each response.

Advanced Options

Duplicate boards across meetings if you want to ask the same question in multiple sessions. In the Convener Capture Board Settings, check "Duplicate Capture Board Topic from a Previous Meeting" and select the meeting.

Create multiple boards in one session by adding additional topics. Each topic appears as a separate board that you can show or hide using the checkboxes in "Select Capture Board Topics to Show."

Prevent new responses by clicking "Prevent Response Submissions" when you're ready to move from collecting ideas to discussing them. You can always re-enable submissions later if needed.

Stop sharing entirely by clicking "Stop Sharing Capture Board" when you're done with the brainstorming activity.

Tips for Getting the Most from Capture Boards

Frame your question clearly. The more specific your prompt, the more useful the responses. Instead of "What should we focus on?", try "What are the top 3 obstacles preventing us from reaching more community members?"

Give people time to think. Not everyone processes ideas at the same speed. Set the timer for long enough that both quick and thoughtful responders can contribute.

Consider keeping responses anonymous when asking for honest feedback about challenges, concerns, or sensitive topics. You can always reveal names later if the conversation calls for it.

Wait to show vote counts until most people have voted. Early results can create bandwagon effects where people vote for what's already popular rather than what they actually think matters most.

Use the exported responses as a starting point for discussion, not the final word. The Capture Board helps you organize collective thinking quickly—the real value comes in the conversation that follows.

Common Questions

Can participants edit their responses after submitting them?

Yes, but only their own responses and only if the Capture Board is not in Voting Mode or the GL has not prevented new entries.

Note: Participants can delete their own responses (using the trash icon) at any time.

How many responses can each participant add?

The system has no limit, but Group Leads may give you a maximum number of response. Otherwise, participants can add as many responses as they want while the board is open and the GL has not prevented new entries.

Can participants see who submitted each response?

Only if the Group Lead enables "Show Respondents' Name" in the Topic Options. By default, responses are anonymous.

Do participants need to be in the meeting to see the Capture Board?

Yes, the Capture Board is a live meeting tool. Participants need to be logged into JOD to see and interact with it.

What happens to Capture Board responses after the meeting?

The responses remain available in that meeting's history. Group Leads can view previous Capture Boards from past meetings and can duplicate topics across meetings if needed.

Related articles:

• How to Use The Meeting Space
• Group Voting: Building Agreement Through Structured Proposals
• Using the Planner to Manage Teams/Tables

Updated on: 05/01/2026