This brings us to a million-dollar question:

“How do my team and I generate good ideas… working remotely?”

Well, the basic requirements of a virtual ideation include

1. Internet connection with decent bandwidth
2. A group of enthusiastic people

To make normal discussions seem less mundane and more interesting, here are a few Online Brainstorming tools that can set the tone for a fruitful virtual discussion.

STORY DICE– A STORY IDEA GENERATOR

If storytelling helps your group ideate better, this is for you. Developed by creative expert Dave Birss, Story Dice is an online story generator, giving a digital twist to classic storytelling.

The rules are simple. The storyteller [here, your team member(s)] narrates a story using all the five images generated on the dice.

 

 

While random images are great for warming up the brain, one might need more specific pictures while brainstorming campaigns for a particular sector.

In that case, choose five images that would suit your ideation. If you are ideating for a real estate client, place images like building, furniture, landscapes etc, that fit your brief and get rolling. Narrating stories can help overcome blocks and set the stage for interesting campaign ideas.

Story Dice is also a fun activity for children to help flex their creative muscles with storytelling.

IDEABOARDZ AKA VISUAL WHITE BOARD

Do you note down ideas for better visualization? Is the whiteboard & marker what you miss the most while working from home? Well, it’s time for you to meet your new best friend- Ideaboardz, a tool that helps teams share ideas over virtual sticky notes.

The UI of Ideaboardz is quite simple. One can create multiple boards for any number of projects. Share the link with your team, collaborate and get started. Ideaboardz also allows voting, making it easier for discussions and detailing out ideas.

 

BRAIN NETTING

One of the oldest techniques in the book, this method encourages shy, reticent members of the team to open up during ideations.

This is how it works. Share a brief or problem statement with your team. Ask each member to share their ideas with you personally or as collaborated thoughts on a single document. With their ideas as talking points, take the meeting forward. The biggest advantage of Brain Netting is that it can be used across online forums-from video calls to chat groups!

Other quick online brainstorming techniques include:

RAPID IDEATIONS create a sense of urgency among the team. Teammates tend to think on their feet, resulting in ‘out of the box’ ideas. It can also be used as an exercise to strengthen your creative muscles.

In ROLE STORMING, every member of the team takes up the role of a stakeholder of the project and starts discussing ideas from their point of view. The pros and cons of each idea is identified and discussed in-depth, resulting in impactful campaigns.

‘WHAT IF’ BRAINSTORMING is an interesting ideation technique. By asking ‘What if?’ questions to the project that you are ideating, teammates experiment and discuss different perspectives of the project. This also helps identify roadblocks that one might encounter in the future and prepare for it as well.

Productive brainstorming is an important part of our job. With the uncertainty and realm of changes around us, we need to make the best of the resources we have. Try out these activities and get creative with online brainstorming. After all, it is the new normal!