Remote work has been going on for almost a year now and some people have been used to it. However, challenges are still there. Remote work is like working at the office. There will always be some mishaps here and there. When it comes to brainstorming, you did it with your team together in a meeting room at the office. Today, you do it digitally through online platform. Many people still think that in-person brainstorming is more effective than digital brainstorming. Is it true?
Successful digital brainstorming during remote environment
Digital brainstorming can be as, if not more successful and effective as in-person brainstorming, it depends on how you conduct it, how effective the process is and how engaging the people are. Keep in mind that world keeps changing even without the pandemic. And what we can do to keep thriving is to pivot and adjust. Remote work should not be a reason your brainstorming session to fail. Here are what you can do to make it more effective and fruitful:
The most important thing of digital brainstorming session is do not try to recreate in-person brainstorming online. It won’t work because it is different no matter how hard you want to make them same. The vibe, the setting, and the excitement are all different. So instead of trying to recreate in-person brainstorming online, why not trying out different approaches to make is just as or more excellent?
In in-person meeting, sometimes, there are people who participate but are less engaged. They are just there to listen and just agree with the ideas that the others. Or, sometimes there are people who keep rambling about their ideas without truly deliver the message. See, sometimes in-person brainstorming can be less effective.
Meanwhile, you can do differently with digital brainstorming. You can encourage your team to sit down and write down their idea in complete sentence. This way, they are allowed time to fully think before speak. They also gain the power and excitement to create something without social fear often appear during in-person meeting.
Leverage diversity. Pull in people from different functions or department to the brainstorming session. People with different background, experience, cultures, geographic regions and ethnic bring an exponential amount of the fuel to the brainstorming session. Different perspectives in digital brainstorming are not idea blockers. Those differences enable team to come together with the best conclusion and idea even without spending much money on transportation or lodging expense you often did with in-person brainstorming.
Try small actions fr your digital brainstorming session. You can gather feedback completely anonymous, announce a clear purpose of the session, show how to communicate ideas more effectively, etc. Those are small actions but can do wonder with the outcomes of your digital brainstorming with the team. When you find what’s best for the session to end really well, create structural methods you can use later. Also, practice communication that drive out fear. Encourage your team to speak with ease and give feedback without judgment.
