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Learn how IdeaBloom helps you lead your team from problem to an aligned action plan in under an hour.
Super-fast, all together — IdeaBloom helps people think together better.
What is IdeaBloom?
The Problem We Solve
Endless meetings and scattered input kill momentum and make even strong leaders look stuck. You've done everything right—led the meeting, gathered input, followed up—yet decisions still stall.
Every new idea sparks another round of discussion instead of momentum. The longer alignment takes, the more trust and energy your team loses.
Our Solution
IdeaBloom equips you to turn complex challenges into clear, shared action—fast, fair, and without another meeting.
Our one-hour process transforms group complexity into collective clarity, giving every voice space while helping you make confident, aligned decisions in real time.
Who It's For
Non-profit and SMB management teams who need to align quickly and produce a concise action plan with committed tasks.
Getting Started
Creating Your First Session
As a Session Leader, you'll create a session by defining:
- Session title - A clear name for your session
- Problem description - What challenge are you trying to solve?
- Desired outcome - What does success look like?
- Participants - Invite team members by email
- Schedule - Set dates and times for synchronous phases (Align and Act)
- Settings - Configure consensus threshold (default 80%) and quorum (default 75%)
Understanding Your Role
Session Leader
- • Creates and manages the session
- • Advances phases when ready
- • Can override approvals if needed
- • Can de-anonymize participants post-session
- • Participates as a voter in all phases
Contributor
- • Submits ideas and perspectives
- • Ranks clusters and votes on plans
- • Assigns action items to teammates
- • Participates anonymously during the session
- • Receives final action plan and tasks
Session Settings
- Consensus Threshold: The percentage of participants who must agree for a decision to pass. Default is 80%, but you can adjust this based on your team's needs.
- Quorum: The minimum percentage of participants who must participate before Phase 3 (Align) can begin. Default is 75%. This ensures you have enough input before making decisions.
- Async Windows: Phases 1 and 2 run asynchronously over 24 hours each, giving participants flexibility to contribute when they can.
The Four Phases
Spark Ideas
Phase 1 – Spark Ideas (20 minutes within 24h window, async)
This phase captures divergent ideas and concepts relevant to your session's desired outcome. Every voice gets heard, and nothing gets lost.
How It Works:
- • Solo window (first 5 minutes): Each contributor sees only their own entries
- • After solo window: A "brainstorm cloud" appears with de-duplicated peer inputs and AI-generated seed ideas
- • Anonymous in-session: No one can see who submitted which idea during the session
- • Time-boxed: 20 minutes of active participation within a 24-hour window
- • No submission cap: Contributors can submit as many ideas as they want
Tip: Enter stand-alone ideas, concepts, or thoughts. The system may also insert dynamic prompts to help spark new perspectives.
Idea Generation
"Enter stand-alone ideas, concepts, or thoughts relevant to the session's desired outcome."
Shape Perspectives
Phase 2 – Shape Perspectives (20 minutes within 24h window, async)
Prioritize ideas through clustering and total-order ranking. The system groups similar ideas together, and you rank all clusters to show what matters most.
How It Works:
- • Auto-clustering: Similar ideas are automatically grouped (cap of 30 clusters)
- • Rank all clusters: Use drag-and-drop to rank from highest to lowest priority
- • No ties allowed: Each cluster must have a unique rank position
- • Weights calculation: Rankings use exponential decay (α=0.6) to compute cluster weights
- • Anonymous in-session: Your rankings are anonymous to other participants
- • All clusters advance: Every cluster carries its weight forward to the next phase
Tip: Rank all items—drag to reorder from highest to lowest quality. No ties.
Cluster Ranking
"Rank all items—drag to reorder from highest to lowest quality."
Forge Alignment
Phase 3 – Forge Alignment (20 minutes, synchronous)
Build consensus on a coherent general plan. The system generates a draft plan from Phase 2 results, and you vote to concur or provide feedback for refinement.
How It Works:
- • System-generated plan: AI creates a draft plan from weighted Phase 2 clusters
- • Concur? (Yes/No) vote: Quick vote on whether the plan works for you
- • Early exit: If Yes votes ≥ consensus threshold, phase ends early and moves to Phase 4
- • Concern collection: If threshold not met, share concerns (overall or per-item)
- • Regeneration loop: System regenerates plan based on concerns, then re-vote
- • Quorum required: 75% of participants must be present to start (Leader can override)
- • Anonymous voting: Votes are anonymous, but concerns are linked to names for the Leader
Tip: Do you concur with this draft plan to proceed? Yes / No
Consensus Building
"Do you concur with this draft plan to proceed?"
Launch Action
Phase 4 – Launch Action (20 minutes, synchronous)
Turn decisions into action. Approve action items, assign owners, and generate committed tasks that everyone understands.
How It Works:
- • Action items: AI-aggregated from clusters (default 12, range 10-15)
- • Per-item approval: Vote Yes/No on each action item
- • Passing items: Items with Yes ≥ consensus threshold advance to assignment
- • Non-passing items: Move to Backlog/Objections (Leader-only visibility)
- • Assignment stage: Single-choice vote—pick one teammate to own each item
- • Winner display: Shows as
### // Name // %(e.g., 001 // Bob // 65%) - • Task generation: System synthesizes task list from "what needs to be done" inputs
- • Task approvals: Per-task Yes/No votes using consensus threshold
- • Task cap: Leader-selectable cap (default 20); top-scoring tasks are kept
- • Anonymous voting: All votes are anonymous in-session
Tip: Approve this action item? Yes / No | Who should own this item? Pick one teammate.
Action Planning
"Approve this action item? Yes / No"
Important Concepts
Anonymity
During Phases 1-4, all submissions and votes are anonymous in-session. This means:
- • Contributors cannot see who submitted which idea
- • Votes are anonymous (only aggregates shown)
- • Concerns in Phase 3 are linked to names for the Leader only
- • Post-session: The Session Leader can de-anonymize to see who contributed what
- • Contributors only see the final action plan and committed tasks
Consensus Threshold
The percentage of participants who must agree for a decision to pass. Default is 80%, but the Session Leader can adjust this.
- • Applied to Phase 3 Concur votes
- • Applied to Phase 4 action item approvals
- • Applied to Phase 4 task approvals
- • If threshold not met, items move to Backlog/Objections
Quorum
The minimum percentage of participants who must participate before Phase 3 (Align) can begin. Default is 75%.
- • Hard gate for Phase 3 start
- • System will block start if quorum not met
- • Session Leader can override to continue
- • Ensures enough input before making decisions
Session Leader Powers
As the Session Leader, you have special capabilities to guide the session:
- • Create and configure the session
- • Advance phases when ready
- • Override approvals at finalize if needed
- • De-anonymize participants post-session
- • View Backlog/Objections (others cannot)
- • Edit the final plan narrative (2-3 paragraphs)
Session Output
1-Page Action Plan
- • Session header (title, date, participants)
- • Leader-edited narrative (2-3 paragraphs)
- • Note linking to Task Addendum
- • Available to all participants
Task Addendum & Backlog
- • Committed tasks with owners
- • Backlog/Objections (non-passing items)
- • Leader-only visibility for backlog in-app
- • Exported as CSV for task list
Exports Available:
- • Email summary (inline) sent to all participants
- • PDF 1-pager attached to email
- • CSV task list for import into project management tools
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I invite team members to a session?
When creating a session, you'll add participants by email. You can also invite additional participants later by clicking the "Invite" button in your session. Participants will receive an email invitation with a direct link to join the session.
Can I save a session and continue later?
Yes! All sessions are automatically saved as you work. Phases 1 and 2 run asynchronously over 24 hours each, so participants can contribute when convenient. Phases 3 and 4 are synchronous (20 minutes each) and scheduled in advance.
What happens if I miss a phase?
If you miss Phase 1 or 2, you can still participate in later phases. However, your input won't be included in the clustering or plan generation. For Phases 3 and 4, quorum requirements ensure enough participants are present before decisions are made. If you miss these phases, you'll still receive the final action plan and can see what was decided.
How does anonymity work?
During the session (Phases 1-4), all submissions and votes are anonymous. You cannot see who submitted which idea or how individuals voted—only aggregate results. After the session is finalized, the Session Leader can de-anonymize to see who contributed what, but regular contributors only see the final action plan and tasks.
What if we don't reach consensus?
In Phase 3, if consensus isn't reached on the plan, the system collects concerns and regenerates a new draft. This loop continues until consensus is met or time expires. In Phase 4, action items and tasks that don't meet the consensus threshold move to the Backlog/Objections section, which is visible only to the Session Leader. The Leader can review these later and decide how to handle them.
How do I export results?
When a session is finalized, all participants receive an email with an inline summary, a PDF 1-pager attached, and a CSV task list. In the session summary page, you can also download the PDF and CSV directly. The Session Leader has access to additional details, including the Backlog/Objections section.
Can the Session Leader change things after the session?
The Session Leader can edit the final plan narrative (2-3 paragraphs) before finalizing. They can also override approvals at finalize if needed. However, once finalized, the session results are locked. The Leader can still view de-anonymized data and the backlog, but cannot change the committed tasks or action plan.
How long does a full session take?
A complete session takes approximately 48 hours for the async phases (24h for Phase 1, 24h for Phase 2) plus 40 minutes for the synchronous phases (20 minutes for Phase 3, 20 minutes for Phase 4). However, individual participation time is much shorter—about 20 minutes per phase. The total active participation time is roughly 80 minutes spread over 48 hours.
Contact & Support
Response Times
- • Email: Within 24 hours
- • Priority Support: Within 4 hours
- • We aim to respond to all inquiries promptly
Need More Help?
Our support team is here to help you get the most out of IdeaBloom. Don't hesitate to reach out with questions, feedback, or suggestions.
Contact Support