Running a brainstorming session is a great way to capture new ideas or explore potential pivots for your business. And don’t worry if your entire team has just gone remote, Conceptboard makes it easy to run productive online brainstorming sessions on our collaborative online whiteboard.
Brainstorming is a critical part of generating new ideas and solving problems But facilitating an effective session remotely can seem daunting. Without the energy of an in-person meeting, it’s easy for online brainstorming to feel stagnant.
The good news is that by following key best practices, you can conduct an engaging virtual brainstorm that harnesses your team’s creative thinking. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll provide tips to run an impactful online brainstorming session.
Set the Stage with a Clear Objective
Just like an in-office brainstorm, your virtual session needs a well-defined purpose. Be sure to:
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Establish the goal of the meeting in the calendar invitation. What problem are you aiming to solve?
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Frame the objective in the form of an open-ended question to spark ideas
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Share any relevant background materials ahead of time so everyone is primed to contribute
With a specific objective, you’ll maintain focus instead of veering off track.
Choose the Right Virtual Platform
The technology you use can make or break your online brainstorm. Make sure to:
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Use video conferencing that allows screen sharing and collaborative whiteboards like Mural, Miro, or stormboard.
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Test the platform ahead of time and ensure everyone has access. Provide log-in details and guidance.
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Set up virtual breakout rooms if your platform allows for smaller group discussions.
With the right technology, you can replicate the creative energy of an in-person brainstorm.
Establish Guidelines Upfront
As the facilitator, set the tone by outlining some ground rules before diving in:
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Encourage everyone to actively participate and reinforce there are no bad ideas.
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Ask participants to avoid judging or evaluating ideas during the brainstorming phase.
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Let the group know you’ll capture all ideas and review afterward.
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Suggest building on and combining ideas to spark new ones.
Clear guidelines will foster an environment for creativity to flourish.
Kick Off with an Energizing Warm-Up
Get those creative juices flowing with a quick warm-up exercise:
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Do a round robin sharing favorite solutions to everyday problems.
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Show an inspirational video or case study to set the innovative mood.
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Get moving with a silly physical activity like head, shoulders, knees, and toes.
An energetic warm-up sets the stage for big picture, expansive thinking. Don’t skip this step!
Facilitate the Flow of Ideas
During the brainstorm, stay actively engaged as the facilitator:
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Use the whiteboard to visually capture ideas as they come.
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Ask probing questions to encourage participants to build on ideas.
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Make sure everyone contributes by calling on quieter team members.
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Invite participants to collaborate in breakout rooms for more intimate exchanges.
Your facilitation keeps the ideas flowing and ensures everyone is involved.
Wrap Up with Next Steps
To close out the session:
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Do a high-level recap of the ideas and themes that emerged.
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Explain next steps for reviewing, analyzing, and prioritizing suggestions.
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Thank everyone for their time and contributions.
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Send a follow-up email with the idea list, recording, and any next steps or action items.
Wrapping up cleanly brings the energy to a close while pointing the way forward.
Key Tips for an Impactful Brainstorm
Here are some additional best practices to employ:
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Start with a check-in to build rapport and get everyone warmed up.
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Take breaks every 30-45 minutes to refresh attention spans.
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Use icebreaker questions and games throughout to lighten the mood.
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Assign a scribe to capture ideas so you can focus on facilitating.
By keeping the session lively and inclusive, you extract each participant’s best thinking.
Pitfalls to Avoid
Steer clear of these common missteps:
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Failing to clearly define the objective and guiding questions.
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Letting a few loud voices dominate the conversation.
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Not giving the group enough time and space for creative thinking.
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Neglecting to send a summary after to keep momentum going.
With some strategic planning, you can sidestep these issues.
Sample Agenda
Here’s a sample agenda to keep your virtual brainstorm on track:
- Check-in and warm-up exercise (10 minutes)
- Review session objective and guidelines (5 minutes)
- Brainstorming on key questions (25 minutes)
- Breakout groups to build on ideas (15 minutes)
- Share back key takeaways from each group (10 minutes)
- Recap next steps for after the session (5 minutes)
Adjust timing as needed to suit your goals.
Key Takeaways
With these tips in mind, you can facilitate an engaging online brainstorm:
- Define a clear objective and guiding questions
- Set guidelines upfront to foster creativity
- Use interactive warm-ups and icebreakers
- Actively capture ideas on a shared whiteboard
- Facilitate full group and breakout discussions
- Wrap up with high-level recaps and next steps
Successful virtual brainstorming sessions tap into your team’s imagination and drive innovation forward. Give these best practices a try for your next big brainstorm!
An online whiteboard is the perfect tool for online brainstorming
It’s pretty hard to hold a brainstorming session without a space to collect ideas. So if your team is now collaborating remotely or distributed, an online whiteboard is the perfect solution. Just like a physical whiteboard, all participants can join the board and contribute ideas simultaneously by way of sticky notes, s, text or drawings. It really is the easiest way for remote teams to creatively brainstorm, edit visuals and discuss ideas. As long as there’s a Wi-Fi connection, there are no other physical barriers to collaboration, meaning location is no longer such a big deal!
To boost the mood, run a video call and ask all participants to switch their camera on. Being able to hear, see, and visualize each other is a simple way to create a collaborative atmosphere online. Setting up a video conference in Conceptboard is easy. Simply click the phone icon in the top right corner of your board and a conference panel will appear. The panel will show the number of active participants involved in your conference.
Advantages of online brainstorming
An online brainstorming session shouldn’t be seen as the second-best option. In fact, it can actually work better than an in-person brainstorming session for a number of reasons:
- The possibility of all members talking at once can be solved by switching on and off speakers via the Moderator mode.
- All ideas can be shared simultaneously, as everyone can add their ideas on sticky notes in real-time
- Conceptboard allows you to upload different content such as s, files, videos, so you can truly contribute anything to the board, not just text.
- Bring your ideas to life thanks to sketches, shapes, arrows and more. Leverage visual thinking to make your ideas tangible and drive engagement.
- An infinite board means you’ll never run out of space for ideas. Zoom-in for details, or zoom-out for an overview!
- Everything is saved on your board, meaning you can refer back to ideas down the track instead of hosting another session. A cloud-based tool like Conceptboard automatically syncs your work across multiple devices.
- No one has to stand up in front of a group, so introverts may feel more willing to share ideas on a computer screen.
Plus, our library of ready-to-use templates allow you to run different styles of brainstorming sessions such as Mind Mapping, creating Team Charters, plotting Affinity Diagrams and creating Mood boards.
Group Brainstorming Techniques [Types of Brainstorming that Work]
What is online brainstorming?
Online brainstorming is the process of conducting a brainstorming session digitally, using sticky notes to share ideas on an online whiteboard. Online brainstorming allows remote teams to connect, collaborate and ideate as easily as ever. Best of all, online whiteboards are big enough to hold all your ideas, so you’ll never run out of space!
What should I do on the day of a brainstorming session?
On the day of the session, hand the keys over to the facilitator and then leave the rest to your team. You want to generate as many ideas as possible, so keep any criticism to a minimum. Gather the ideas first then analyze their value. (Improv comedy calls this the “Yes, and” mindset.)
How can a brainstorming session help your business grow?
Brainstorming sessions have the power to bring the entire team together to help your business grow or pivot. Who knows where that one small idea on a sticky note may lead. Set up a brainstorming session and see what brilliant ideas your team can come up with, the possibilities are endless.
What is a virtual brainstorming session?
A virtual brainstorming session allows attendees to swap ideas while meeting over video conference, retaining the face-to-face element and providing a collaborative virtual space that makes brainstorming in real-time easy. All you need are collaboration tools like Google Docs, Slack, and Miro’s online whiteboard.
