How can you generate and evaluate ideas with your remote team?

"Unleash creativity from every corner of the globe." With your remote team, dive into digital brainstorming using platforms like Miro or Mural, sparking real-time idea sharing. Embrace diverse thinking with techniques like Six Thinking Hats, enriching discussions. Keep energy high with breaks, fostering unexpected insights. Democratically evaluate ideas through voting, ensuring everyone's voice shapes the future. Wrap up with a clear action plan, keeping the team's creative momentum charging forward. This approach doesn't just generate ideas; it harnesses the collective genius of your remote team, turning distance into a strength.

Before diving into ideas, you've got to know what you're tackling. It's like setting coordinates for your journey. This ain't no vague mumbo jumbo. You need a problem statement that's sharp as a razor, one that tells you exactly what needs fixing, why it matters, and how you'll know when you've nailed it. Think SMART: ? Specific ? Measurable ? Achievable ? Relevant ? Time-bound Don't wander in the fog. It's the beacon that guides your remote squad through the storm.

Defining the problem is split into two stages. 1) Identifying the root of the apparent "problem" that is drawing attention, and 2) Breaking that root cause into clear, tangible pieces that can be understood and relayed to the wider team tasked with combatting the problem. The process of tackling this problem, once its' cause has been thoroughly defined, should be designed using multiple perspectives. Separately consulting multiple people to gain fresh perspectives on mitigation tactics is crucial as each new person can highlight the issue in a new light, thus opening up the conversation to different measures that could be taken. Consulting people separately rather than in groups is better as human behaviour can change in each setting.

You can't define the problem without the team understanding the vision or the targeted goal(s). So, I would say, clear understanding of the Vision would create an environment to be able to define the problem in alignment with the vision or goal.

In my opinion and experience, Miro + Google Meet are an amazing duo for creating brainstorming sessions on any topic. You can easily see what everyone else is doing and be aware of ideas that have already been considered to avoid repetition. A great workflow would be: 1. Think about how the team will do things > Figure out how to display the information > Prepare everything on your Miro panel 2. Introductory meeting + brief > Make sure everyone has an understanding of the panel > Define roles in case of need > FAQs time 3. Get to work! > Using the instructions given earlier, let everyone express themselves 4. Evaluate findings 5. Communicate decisions to the team Hope this is helpful! =)

Yes, there are nice methods to adopt like brainstorming, mind mapping, problem reversal, SCAMPER (Substitute, Combine, Adapt, Modify, Put to another use, Eliminate, Reverse), and the use of open ended questions like "what if" questions or random stimulus. These techniques encourage creativity and help generate a wide range of innovative ideas. But the mean thing to consider first is that the method to use is relative to the kind of them you have. But I believe one of the best method to consider is brainstorming method. This give room to understand the term and also get different elevated innovative ideas.

To evaluate ideas with your remote team, blend dot voting for quick, democratic selection, SWOT analysis for in-depth examination of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, and experimentation to test ideas with real users. This approach combines quantitative voting, qualitative analysis, and empirical testing, ensuring ideas are feasible, desirable, and viable. It's an effective strategy to harness team creativity and develop impactful solutions.

So, you've got a ton of ideas swirling around with your remote team, but how do you separate the diamonds from the rough? Enter evaluation — the crucial step in the innovation process. We're talking about dot voting, a democratic way to let team members show love for the ideas they dig. Then there's SWOT analysis, a deep dive into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of each concept. And don't forget about good ol' experimentation — putting ideas to the test with real users or customers. These methods aren't just fancy jargon; they're the secret sauce to turning brainstorming sessions into actionable plans. So, get evaluating, unleash that team creativity, and watch those solutions take flight.

What brings about Evaluate the ideas is building or creating an inclusive kind of team. What makes a for pool of ideas isn't just a singular idea but a collective idea. So an inclusive team is having a team that are ready and willing to contribute or share innovative idea and one of the ways this is achieve is through open communication.

I believe it’s vital to host a welcoming and rewarding space for simply generating ideas alone! Often, team settings can be intimidating spaces to share bold ideas, especially if management tends to push back or sweep most under the rug. Considering that many remote teams use digital trackers, recognizing the hard work colleagues put in when their ideas aren’t immediately used becomes even more challenging. It's important to ensure appreciation for their effort and to withhold criticism for an idea that isn’t the right fit at a given time but could potentially be tweaked and used later. Rewarding teammates and coworkers for creativity, research, and thinking outside the box is commendable and leads to better outcomes.

I would definitely share the topic and ask for feedback from the team first via an online meeting and then follow up with an online survey to capture any information or after thoughts, once the topic has digested. This way you get the best of both worlds - fresh eyes and thoughtful and considered feedback. Take this feedback and analyse it and come back with a framework and ideas to create a timeline and actions. You could create an online or virtual portal or space for members to add their ideas as they brainstorm and ensure you acknowledge everyone’s input plus run through it all in an interactive virtual meeting.