How to run effective remote brainstorming sessions

Run a remote brainstorm in three steps: send a brief a day ahead, have everyone write ideas alone before anyone shares, and only then discuss. Writing first keeps the first idea spoken from steering everyone else, and it leaves the call for building on ideas and choosing. This is how we run it at Kipwise, a 100% remote team, with the tools we use.

Send a brief a day ahead

We share the brief a day ahead instead of on the day, so teammates can think and do background research before they form ideas. The brief says what the session should accomplish, which problem we are solving and the relevant background, such as what we have tried before that didn’t work.

State in the brief who will choose from the ideas and by when, next to the goal. A brainstorm produces options, and a team that doesn’t know who decides leaves either arguing for its favorite or assuming someone else will pick.

Write alone first

At the start of the meeting, remind the team of the goal and explain the exercise, then give everyone solo time to write down their own ideas. Working alone lets each person develop ideas without the influence of the others.

We recommend keeping ideas hidden until everyone has written theirs, because the first idea posted steers the rest. In Miro, Private mode hides new sticky notes until an editor ends the mode (it needs a paid plan); on the free plan, have everyone write in a personal doc and paste the ideas onto the board when the timer ends. If your team spans time zones, run the round before the call: ask each person to send ideas to the facilitator, who pastes them onto the board without names, and spend the call grouping and choosing.

Discuss to build on each other’s ideas

After the solo time, teammates take turns sharing their ideas on our Miro board. To change the order each time, shuffle the names with a tool like wheelofnames.

Screenshot of Miro, the whiteboard tool we use for remote brainstorming

Discussions drift when everyone is excited. Keep a “Parking lot” section in the brainstorming document for ideas that miss this session’s goal but are worth exploring later. When needed, we run another round of solo time so teammates can reflect and build on the ideas just shared.

Wrap up with a recap document

The meeting facilitator turns the session into a recap document so everyone is clear about the takeaways and follow-up items. We write ours in Kipwise: it embeds the original brief and the whiteboard we used, and lists the key takeaways and follow-ups. Share the link in the related Slack channel so the relevant teammates are notified. For a bigger project, create a dedicated Slack channel to keep the conversation in one place (see more tips on how to better organize your Slack channels).

We also recommend listing the ideas you dropped, with one line on why. The shortlist says what you will do; the dropped ideas stop the same suggestion coming back next quarter and tell a new teammate what the team has already tried. Before you close the doc, give each parked idea an owner, a later session or a deletion.

Tools we use

• Canvas: One online whiteboard tool that we like is Miro. It offers a free version if you don’t need unlimited editable boards. For simpler sessions, we sometimes use a Trello board for everyone to list and organize ideas quickly.
• Video conferencing: We use Zoom for its call quality, easy recording and dial-in options, which keep a meeting going when someone’s internet connection is poor. On Zoom’s free plan, meetings stop at 40 minutes, so a longer session needs a paid plan or a second call. Other tools to consider are Google Meet, GoTo Meeting and join.me, which is now part of GoTo and no longer free.