Idea capturing & planning
Capture first.
Structure later.
Groundwork is where every BPM initiative begins. Brainstorm ideas freely, sort them into meaningful groups, then classify them by priority and release — so you know exactly what to build, in what order, and why.
One-time purchase. Runs locally. Your ideas, your files. No subscription, no cloud, no IT ticket.
How it works
Three Phases.
One Continuous Flow
Groundwork is built around a simple idea: most planning tools force you to structure
your thinking before you’ve done your thinking. Groundwork doesn’t. Capture everything
first, then bring order to it — at your own pace, in any order.
Brainstorm
Type ideas as fast as they come. Press Enter and the next card is ready. No categories required, no priority fields blocking you — just a fast capture bar and cards appearing on the right.
Anti-JIRA: capture first, structure later
Sort
Drag cards onto a freeform canvas. Draw zones — rectangles, ellipses, or polygons — to group related ideas. Cards in overlapping zones show split-color borders, making cross-cutting concerns visible at a glance.
Venn diagram, swimlanes, whatever fits
Classify
Add structure to your zones: effort estimates, MoSCoW priority, dependencies between zones, audience, and status. This is where a brainstorm becomes a plan — without losing any of the ideas that got you here.
A brainstorm that becomes a real plan
What’s Inside
Everything ideas need
Nothing they don’t.
Cards with real structure
Every card has a title, optional description, category (the colored dot), priority (the left-edge strip), release label, and a URL link field. Cards can be stacked — group related ideas into a stack with a single title that exports cleanly.
Flexible zones
Draw zones that match your mental model — rectangular swim lanes, ellipses for Venn-style overlap, or free-form polygons for anything else. Cards join zones automatically when you drag them inside. Move a card and its zone membership updates instantly.
Export to the rest of the BPM OS
Cards and stacks export to Atlas nodes and CourseFlow tasks. Zone dependencies become Atlas paths. Every exported item carries its Groundwork permalink so you can always trace an Atlas node or a CourseFlow task back to the original idea that created it.
Built-in templates
Start with the right categories for your project type. Four templates ship out of the box — each sets up the category colors and names for that domain. Edit them freely after, or build your own templates in the admin panel.
search and filter
The search bar filters cards as you type — across titles, zones, and tags. Filter to see only what matters right now. Search works across all phases without switching modes.
Multi-project support & Git backup
Each Groundwork installation supports multiple projects — one per initiative, one per client, one per program workstream. Every project is stored as plain JSON files. Connect a Git repository for full version history of every card and zone change.
Built-in Templates
Start with the right
Categories for your project.
Each template pre-loads the category set for that type of work. You’re not starting from
a blank canvas — you’re starting from a canvas that already speaks the language of
your domain.
Training Development
System Roll-out
Software Development
General
What BPM Teams use it for
The beginning of every
BPM initiative
learning and development
Curriculum Planning
Capture every course idea, learning objective, and content requirement. Sort them into the training development zones. Classify by release (v1, v2, v3) and export to Atlas for visualization and CourseFlow for project management.
Process Improvement
Improvement backlog
Brainstorm every process pain point, improvement idea, and constraint. Group them by process area. Score by business value and feasibility in the Classify phase — your prioritized improvement backlog emerges naturally.
Systems Development
Requirements Capture
Use the System Roll-out template to capture requirements by type — readiness, technical, enablement, go-live, adoption. Sort into releases. Classify dependencies between zones to reveal the right sequence before work begins.
Program Planning
Workstream definition
Map every workstream, initiative, and dependency for a larger BPM program. Zones become workstreams. Zone dependencies define the sequencing. Export to Atlas to build the program roadmap that stakeholders will actually read.
Consulting
Discovery output structuring
Drop every finding, pain point, and opportunity from a discovery workshop into Groundwork. Sort into themes. Classify by effort and priority. The Classify output becomes the basis for the roadmap you present to the client.
Org Change
Change Planning
Plan the org change management activities for a BPM implementation. The Training Development template includes an Org. Change category with Awareness, Understanding, Readiness, Reinforcement, and Feedback capture waves pre-defined.
Where Groundwork fits
The start of every
BPM OS workflow.
Groundwork is step one. What you build here flows directly into the rest of the BPM OS
— Atlas visualizes it, CourseFlow manages it, Outline structures it, Playbook documents it.
Groundwork
Brainstorm, sort, and classify ideas into a plan
Atlas
Brainstorm, sort, and classify ideas into a plan
Playbook
Brainstorm, sort, and classify ideas into a plan
Cards and stacks export to Atlas nodes and CourseFlow tasks — with permalinks that trace everything back to its origin in Groundwork.
Pricing
One Price.
No surprises.
Buy Groundwork on its own, or as part of a bundle with the other BPM OS tools. Every option
is a one-time purchase — no subscription, no per-seat fees, no renewal.
Groundwork
Just the idea capture and planning tool
$99
One-Time Purchase
most popular
Practitioner Bundle
Atlas + Groundwork + Playbook
$199
One-Time Purchase
Save $98 vs. buying separately
Full BPM OS Stack
The complete stack – all apps
$299
One-Time Purchase
Save $225 – every current and future app in 2026 included
Common Questions
Things people ask
Before they buy.
How is this different from a sticky note tool like Miro or FigJam?
Miro and FigJam are general-purpose visual tools. Groundwork is purpose-built for the brainstorm-to-plan workflow in a BPM context — with built-in categories for the domains you work in, a Classify phase that adds real planning structure, and export to the rest of the BPM OS. It also runs locally with no subscription.
Do I have to go through all three phases?
No. Phases are freely reversible — you can move between Brainstorm, Sort, and Classify at any time without losing any data. Some projects never need the Classify phase. Some people skip Sort and go straight to Classify. Use what fits the project.
How does export to Atlas and Playbook work?
In the Classify phase, each card and stack has a permalink. You copy that permalink and paste it into the URL field of an Atlas node or a Playbook page. The receiving app stores the link, giving you traceability back to the original idea. Direct import (JSON handoff) is planned for a future version.
Can multiple people use it?
Yes. Run Groundwork on a shared server and your whole team accesses it through their browser. Set passwords by role — viewers can see the board, editors can add and move cards, only admins can touch the settings. It’s designed for collaborative brainstorm sessions.
What’s the difference between cards and stacks?
A card is a single idea. A stack is a card with other cards nested inside it — useful when one idea has many sub-components. On export, only stacks and standalone cards export; the child cards inside a stack stay in Groundwork as detail notes. This keeps the exported list clean and actionable.
Can I create my own category templates?
Yes. The admin panel has a templates section where you can create, edit, and save custom category templates. If none of the four built-in templates fit your domain, build your own and it becomes available for all future projects.
Ready to get started?
Every Good plan
Starts with groundwork.
Stop planning in spreadsheets that miss half the ideas and lose the thinking behind the decisions. Groundwork captures everything, structures it at your pace, and hands it off to the rest of the BPM OS when you’re ready to build.
Part of the BPM OS from What’s Your Baseline?