Researchers from Columbia Business School and Stanford wanted to know whether brainstorming over video is as good as brainstorming in the same room.
In a lab experiment, teams were asked to come up with new uses for frisbees and bubble wrap, either face to face or over video, and the in-person teams generated between 15% and 20% more ideas. The researchers then took the test into the field with 1,490 engineers at a multinational company across five countries, where the in-person teams again came up with about 15% more ideas and their ideas were rated as more original.
The test: find novel uses for frisbees and bubble wrap.
Tracking where people looked helped explain why. On video, people kept their eyes fixed on the screen, which narrowed their focus, while the in-person participants took in and remembered more of the room around them, and that extra recall went hand in hand with more creative ideas. As one of the researchers put it, "If your visual field is narrow, then your cognition is likely to be as well."
There was good news for remote teams too. When it came to choosing which idea to take forward, the video groups were no worse than the in-person groups, and there was preliminary evidence that they might even be better at it.
How to use it with your team
Save the brainstorm for the same room: If your team is hybrid, plan idea generation for the days people are together and keep video calls for updates and decisions.
Split the generating from the choosing: Come up with options in person, then hold a separate, shorter video call to pick the strongest one.
Give eyes somewhere to wander: If you have to brainstorm online, it's worth experimenting with a few minutes off camera so people can stroll about, look around and get inspired, rather than staring at a grid of faces.
Drop any novel uses for a frisbee and bubble wrap that come to mind in the comments!
And, if you'd like help designing meetings that get the best out of hybrid teams, book a free 30 minute consultation and we can talk it through.
Source
Brucks, M. S., & Levav, J. (2022). Virtual communication curbs creative idea generation. Nature, 605(7908), 108-112.