Remote Brainstorming For Teams
Management Summary
#1: Know the team
What personalities do I have in the team? Are you more introverted or extroverted?
Do you prefer to work alone or together? Depending on the constellation, various options arise. A certain amount of anonymity and the calm to think helps the introverted team members, and a little structure helps the extroverts.
#2: Online tools
In principle, there are many different whiteboard tools. It’s not that important which tool you choose, the focus is on preparation and easy collaboration. To give you an overview of our favorites: We like to work in Google Slides because everyone can fill a few slides with thoughts and approaches. We also really like Google Jamboard as a remote tool. Miro and Mural would be further alternatives – with far more options, including when it comes to voting and predetermined structures.
#3: Preparation
Do you know all the members? For workshops with new participants, it is a good idea to hold a short video conference with each individual beforehand to explain the process and (if necessary) the tool. Preparing the online whiteboard: Nobody likes staring at a blank tool. It’s best to prepare an extra frame for each exercise. A given structure helps the facilitator and can be used again for further appointments.
#4: Jump between tools
Whenever you jump between tools, there are time delays and you even lose some participants when switching. Therefore we try to jump as little as possible. Miro, for example, offers the option of integrating slides into the digital whiteboard.
#5: Set up
Even if everyone is well prepared, it usually still takes 5-10 minutes at the beginning until all participants have overcome the digital pitfalls and are present in the video conference and the whiteboard tool – just take this into account in the timing. For the setup: it is best to have two screens available: one for the video conference so that all participants can be seen and one for the online tool.
#6: Shorten remote workshops
Meetings via video conferences are more strenuous than working together as a team on site; over time it becomes difficult to focus. We therefore recommend limiting remote workshops to 4 hours. Also plan some breaks!
#7: Warm up
The warm-ups themselves are important as icebreakers and it is a good idea to interact in the tool straight away: For example, everyone can create sticky notes about themselves on the whiteboard: “My name is…”, “My job is…”, “A fun fact about me:…”
#8: Motivate participants
Right at the beginning, be sure to ask all participants to turn on their cameras. It’s motivating for everyone to see each other. It is also important for the facilitator to get a feel for how each participant is doing during the workshop. This means that the course of the workshop can be adapted and varied somewhat.
#9: Voting & Timeboxing
We like working with votes because they help us to reduce and focus on the essentials. You can do this either with colored dots or with different sizes or colors of the sticky notes. Everyone on the team casts their vote and items are rearranged or highlighted.
Some tools also have built-in timers so that all participants can see how much time is left for each exercise. However, this can also put some people under pressure and therefore not really be beneficial, which is why we prefer to use the timers only as a rough guideline for the facilitator so that the workshop stays within the time frame.
#10: Wrap-up and handover
In the end, the best way to share the results is directly in the online tool. Some exercises are often neglected online in large groups and can be completed later by each individual. For larger workshops, all the highlights can be quickly summarized in Google Slides. Everyone can work on the same presentation and then make it available to the customer as a PDF.
That’s it! We hope that our tips are helpful to you. Happy brainstorming!
