ClickUp Brainstorming Guide

ClickUp makes it easy to run structured brainstorming sessions by combining visual mapping, collaboration, and task management so your best ideas quickly become action items.

Based on the workflows used in popular visual tools, you can recreate powerful brainstorming boards inside ClickUp and connect them directly to your projects, sprints, and roadmaps.

Why Run Brainstorms in ClickUp

When you host brainstorming sessions directly in your work management platform, you avoid copy-pasting notes, losing context, and forgetting action items.

Building your brainstorming process inside ClickUp helps you:

• Capture every idea in a single workspace
• Organize concepts visually with diagrams and lists
• Prioritize with voting, tags, and custom fields
• Convert sticky notes into tasks in seconds
• Assign owners, set due dates, and track progress

The source article on visual templates for brainstorming, available at this guide to brainstorming templates, shows common structures that you can comfortably adapt into ClickUp views, Docs, and Whiteboards.

Step 1: Plan Your ClickUp Brainstorming Session

Before you create any boards, decide how your team will use ClickUp during the session.

Define the goal in ClickUp

Start with clarity on the problem you are trying to solve. Create one of the following in ClickUp as your single source of truth:

• A parent task named after the brainstorming topic
• A dedicated list just for the workshop
• A new folder if you will run several related sessions

Add the session goal, agenda, and decision criteria in the task description or a linked ClickUp Doc, so every participant sees the same context.

Choose a brainstorming structure

The original brainstorming templates highlight a few common patterns you can easily rebuild in ClickUp:

• Simple idea parking lot
• Affinity diagram for grouping related ideas
• SWOT or similar analysis
• Prioritization grid (for example, impact vs. effort)
• Roadmap or timeline-focused exploration

Pick one pattern that best fits your goal, then mirror it with views, custom fields, and ClickUp Whiteboards.

Step 2: Set Up a ClickUp Whiteboard for Ideas

Whiteboards give your team a visual space to capture and connect thoughts during the live session.

Create your ClickUp Whiteboard

1. Open the list or folder created for the workshop.
2. Add a new Whiteboard view and name it after the session.
3. Share the view with every participant and ensure edit access is enabled.

Use shapes, sticky notes, and connectors to visually mimic the templates described in the external guide.

Structure the Whiteboard in ClickUp

To keep the session organized, prepare sections in advance:

• Problem space: A clear, visible statement of the challenge.
• Idea zones: Columns or areas for different categories or themes.
• Parking lot: A spot for off-topic or future ideas.
• Decision area: Where shortlisted ideas move during voting and prioritization.

This mirrors the best practices described in many visual brainstorming resources while staying native to ClickUp.

Step 3: Capture Ideas in ClickUp During the Session

Once your board is ready, invite the team and set rules for participation.

Use ClickUp for silent ideation

Begin with focused, silent brainstorming so everyone can add notes without influence:

1. Ask each participant to create sticky notes on the Whiteboard.
2. Keep one idea per sticky note to make clustering easier.
3. Encourage volume over polish; refinement comes later.

You can also allow teammates to add quick subtasks or checklist items to the main brainstorming task if they prefer a more structured format.

Cluster and label ideas in ClickUp

After capturing ideas, move into grouping:

• Drag related sticky notes into clusters.
• Rename each cluster with a clear theme.
• Use colors to indicate categories or departments.

To prepare for execution, turn strong clusters into ClickUp tasks with a single click from the Whiteboard so you do not lose context.

Step 4: Prioritize Ideas in ClickUp

Effective brainstorming ends with decisions. Use fields and views in ClickUp to prioritize clearly.

Set up ClickUp custom fields

Add custom fields to your brainstorming list to evaluate each idea:

• Impact: A dropdown or numeric score.
• Effort: Another score to estimate required work.
• Owner: Person responsible for exploring the idea.
• Status: For example: Proposed, Under Review, Approved, Not Now.

Apply these fields to every task created from your Whiteboard ideas so your team can sort and filter consistently.

Use ClickUp views to rank ideas

Leverage different views to make prioritization easier:

• List view: Sort by impact or status to see top candidates.
• Board view: Drag ideas across columns such as New, Shortlisted, and Selected.
• Table view: Compare impact, effort, and owner side by side.

This approach follows the same logic as impact–effort grids or other prioritization templates while using native ClickUp features.

Step 5: Turn ClickUp Ideas into Action

Brainstorming only pays off once ideas are executed. This is where ClickUp excels over standalone whiteboard tools.

Convert brainstorming outputs to ClickUp tasks

For each chosen idea:

1. Create or open the corresponding task generated from the Whiteboard.
2. Add a clear description summarizing the idea and context.
3. Set assignees, due dates, and relevant tags or custom fields.

Group implementation tasks in sprints, roadmaps, or project lists so you can track delivery against your existing workflows.

Set follow-ups and reviews in ClickUp

To keep momentum after the brainstorming workshop:

• Create recurring tasks for follow-up review sessions.
• Save the Whiteboard as a reference and link it in each key task.
• Use comments and assigned comments to coordinate next steps.

Over time, you will build a searchable archive of past brainstorming sessions within ClickUp, making it easier to revisit and reuse ideas.

Improve Your ClickUp Workflow Over Time

As your team runs more workshops, refine your templates and views so future brainstorming sessions start faster and stay more consistent.

If you want help designing scalable workflows around ClickUp and other productivity tools, you can explore additional resources at Consultevo, a consulting site focused on optimizing digital operations.

By adapting proven visual brainstorming structures into ClickUp, and connecting them directly to tasks, fields, and views, you gain a complete path from idea capture to delivery—all in a single platform your team already uses every day.