Abstract

Decision meetings may be considered as composed of a divergent part and a convergent one. The divergent part has a discussion of the agenda items. This stage can be computer-supported and it can be done asynchronously during a short period of time. Aspects of the design of a software system intended for this purpose are presented. The discussion of the agenda items is organized in a structured manner, letting users make contributions for any item of the discussion structure. Using our developed tool, people can discuss in a distributed way. The system was tested with actual executives and professionals of a large organization. Results from their evaluation are discussed. These results are encouraging, since according to participants, the system use lets them improve the outcomes of the succeeding meetings. © Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2007.