Virtual Ideation Tips
Today I ran my fist virtual ideation session with the team at Micronclean. I’ve facilitated lots of creative sessions in person, but this was the first remote one from home (err Covid), and I thought I’d share my tips for what worked and improvements.
This was a technical ideation to help solve a design problem with a mixed team of innovators. We used a warm up, a download/brainstorm and SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking) as the methods over two hours on Zoom.
Tips:
Physical flipchart with it’s own camera, paper in landscape orientation & write big.
Zoom: facilitated break out groups
Gallery view participants on separate monitor, use a conference speaker/mic
Pre-work, gift pack, warm ups
Use a structured thinking tool (e.g. SIT)
Use “thinking time” to get insights from Introverts, and plenary’s for the Extroverts
Since we were all at home, I set up in my daughters bedroom (quiet, big enough for the kit, and a clean background), with an improvised flipchart from an art easel. I raised the laptop camera to shoulder height so that there was a clear view of me standing up presenting and the white board; much more natural than sitting at a desk. I also used a conference speaker so I was not reliant on the laptops small directional mic and speaker.
A second monitor had the gallery view (Muppet-show-style) of the team members on Zoom; which meant I could see all of them whilst presenting and capturing notes. This was on the opposite side of the board to me at an angle, which meant it was really easy to see them from the flipchart.
The team are not involved in the projects; so were sent a three slide intro, a video of the process and a 10 minute homework exercise as a pre read a couple of days before. This is great practice for any w/s and meant that everyone had something to share, and questions to ask in the download section.
This worked very well with each team member asking questions, sharing points and challenging our assumptions. Running as a download (not specifically to ideate), naturally gave some direction; and as with in person w/s I probed some of the directions they took us in.
We summarised the intro again, and played the video over Zoom; again to pull questions from the team.
My college sent a gift pack to all the participants with post its, sharpies, sweets and tea/coffee – this had the double effect of being great tools in the W/S (and what you’d normally have in the room) and also getting the energy and engagement up in advance. You could also send samples/prototypes for the same.
For each section of the w/s the tools were introduced on a shared presentation. In my case I had this on the laptop and could see them in the gallery view large [oddly Teams I can’t figure out how to do this in a separate window/monitor ].
The warm up exercise (a quick fire business model ideation around other companies doing our industry), was done in two virtual breakout rooms on Zoom. This is a fab tool as you can time the breakout and jump between them. I had nominated my college to run the other session and led one myself.
But, with breakouts, they also need to have a set up with a whiteboard and facilitator; otherwise it’s back into the dry video-conference world, and, unlike in person w/s where you can just hand someone the pen, you can’t let someone else leas for minute whilst you check on the other group. So plan the breakouts and ensure they have a mechanic to capture.
In both the warm up and the main part of the workshop I really struggled to get the Introverts to contribute without signalling them out. I’ve not experienced this in real life workshops, but the “screen” is a real psychological barrier.
Next time, and perhaps in person as well, for each step I would ask them to capture their thoughts/ideas on post its, and then ask a more random selection of people to share them in plenary. This would mean that those who need to think on their own are more likely to contribute, but still allow the extroverts to talk through / think through their insights in the group.
Using the physical flipchart on the call was brilliant. It was so much easier to capture and jump around on the paper than typing on the virtual boards on the screens. Having used Team’s Whiteboard on a previous w/s, doing it by hand is faster, cleaner, more natural and easier to make connections for the next steps.
But, it wasn’t perfect. Being at home I didn’t have flip chart paper and used wallpaper instead… going to get me a flipchart pad for the next one.
I could really have done with a camera mounted parallel to the flip chart on a separate channel so that the team can always see the notes. To do this I’d probably invite my personal account and use my phone on a tripod. You can then have this as a locked-video spotlight during ideation and switch it off when doing demos.
This would help with the facilitation as I can then use the laptop camera for close up, or for general facilitation
You need to write larger than in an in person W/S as most of the participants are seeing it on a small laptop screen.
Consider having the pad landscape, again to fit better on the screen
Technology will always fail you… despite lots of practice, setting up before and everything else, the call dropped just as we were starting. In the agenda I’d allow at least 10 mins of faffing to get everyone online and working. You also need longer between sections to transfer between breakouts/mechanics
SIT (Systematic Inventive Thinking), which is a structured tool; worked very well online.
Since you can split the problem in components and thinking tools, and each step helps the participants work through the process it was very effective at helping as stay focused.
But I would make sure that each stage I get an innovative-focused “write your thoughts on post its” before the groups share back.
We ran for two hours without a comfort break and probably needed a further 20-30 mins, but with a 10 min break in the middle.
Unlike a physical w/s the teams are sitting, and although the energy was high (and sugar filled); longer than this needs a break and a re-warm up to get back into the zone.
For shorter sessions use tools that the team have been trained on (saves 10-15min)
Adapt, be flexible, listen to the team, the attention look at their faces; move on when tools are not working. And rehearse and practice timings, mechanics and questions to the camera (you can even try recording and playing back too.
Have Fun!
PS Before you ask, the Angle Grinder, and Lego were all part of introducing SIT tools.
