Free planning and prioritization tools
Organize ideas, find what drives what, and decide what to work on first, as a team. Ten tools, including five of the seven management and planning tools, with live diagrams, worked examples and exports to PDF and Excel.
- 100% free
- No sign-up
- Built for team sessions
- Export to PDF, PNG & Excel
Affinity Diagram
Sort a brainstorm into natural groups: drag sticky notes between columns and name the themes.
Open tool → Free toolInterrelationship Diagram
Map cause-and-effect links between issues and find the key drivers and key outcomes.
Open tool → Free toolTree Diagram
Break a goal down into the means and actions needed to reach it, level by level.
Open tool → Free toolMatrix Diagram
Show the strength of relationships between two lists with ◎ ○ △ symbols and weighted totals.
Open tool → Free toolPrioritization Matrix
Weight criteria by pairwise comparison, score the options and rank them.
Open tool → Free toolImpact/Effort Matrix
Plot ideas by impact and effort to find the quick wins; drag to re-rate.
Open tool → Free toolDecision Matrix
Score options against weighted criteria and see what drives the winner.
Open tool → Free toolPugh Matrix
Compare concepts against a baseline with +, S and − to find the best design.
Open tool → Free toolMultivoting
Narrow a long list with dot voting rounds, using the N/3 rule for votes per person.
Open tool → Free toolNominal Group Technique
Rank ideas individually, then combine the rankings into a team priority list.
Open tool → Free toolCause-and-Effect Matrix
Score process inputs against weighted customer outputs to prioritize the vital few.
Open tool →Which tool do you need?
| You want to… | Use |
|---|---|
| Organize a long list of ideas into themes | Affinity Diagram |
| Find which issues drive the others | Interrelationship Diagram |
| Break a goal down into concrete actions | Tree Diagram |
| Relate two lists (requirements, steps, people) | Matrix Diagram |
| Shorten a long list quickly | Multivoting |
| Rank a list fairly with everyone's input | Nominal Group Technique |
| Spot the quick wins | Impact/Effort Matrix |
| Choose between options on several criteria | Decision Matrix |
| Agree weights when criteria are contested | Prioritization Matrix |
| Compare and improve design concepts | Pugh Matrix |
From ideas to a decision
- Generate ideas with a brainstorm or the nominal group technique.
- Organize them into themes with an affinity diagram.
- Understand how the themes drive each other with an interrelationship diagram.
- Narrow the list with multivoting or an impact/effort matrix.
- Decide between the finalists with a decision matrix.
- Plan the chosen option with a tree diagram and the project planning tools.
From decisions to managed work
A decision only matters if it is carried out. Cloudtheapp turns team decisions into assigned tasks and approvals with owners and due dates, keeps the decision record with the work, and shows progress on live dashboards.
Frequently asked questions
What are the seven management and planning tools?
The seven management and planning tools (7 MP tools, or "new" seven quality tools) are the affinity diagram, interrelationship diagram, tree diagram, matrix diagram, prioritization matrix, process decision program chart and arrow diagram. They help teams organize ideas and plan, where the seven basic quality tools analyse numerical data.
Which prioritization tool should I use?
For a quick screen of many ideas, use multivoting or an impact/effort matrix. To rank a list fairly with everyone's input, use the nominal group technique. To choose between a few options on several criteria, use a decision matrix, or a prioritization matrix if the weights are contested. To compare design concepts, use a Pugh matrix.
In what order are the planning tools used?
A common flow: an affinity diagram groups the ideas, an interrelationship diagram finds the drivers, a tree diagram breaks the chosen goal into actions, a matrix diagram assigns responsibilities or relates actions to goals, a prioritization matrix ranks the options, and a PDPC and arrow diagram plan the implementation.
Can these tools be used remotely?
Yes. Share your screen and edit the tool live, or collect votes and rankings in a chat and enter them. Every tool saves in your browser and can be exported to PDF, PNG or Excel or saved as a file to continue later.
Are these tools free?
Yes. Every tool is free, needs no account and keeps your data in your browser.
Turn priorities into managed, tracked work
Cloudtheapp turns team decisions into assigned tasks and approvals, with owners, due dates, reminders and dashboards, in one AI-powered, no-code cloud platform.