Serendipitous Idea Generation for Hybrid and Remote Quality Teams

A native virtual-ideation format taps into underlying motivations that facilitate creativity

"Ideas and Action" Credit: Rhoni McFarlane

Thu, 02/17/2022 - 12:03

‘I don’t see how we can replace the serendipitous idea generation of hallway conversations,” said Saul, the director of quality management for a 1,500-employee enterprise software company, during a planning meeting about the company’s post-vaccine return to the office. “If we don’t return to the office full-time, we’re going to lose out to rivals who do so and gain the benefits of serendipity.”

ADVERTISEMENT

This is a common issue among organizations and one that can be addressed only by adopting best practices for innovation when returning to the office, as I told Saul and numerous other leaders who consulted me on the matter.

 …

Want to continue?
Log in or create a FREE account.
By logging in you agree to receive communication from Quality Digest. Privacy Policy.

Comments

I enjoyed this a lot. I don't agree with the premise that being in a group in the office is either necessary or efficient when it comes to idea generation. My own belief (and I would love to see a study on this) is that--more often--the steady stream of non-work-related BS going on around you means you lose focus and become less productive. We use teams a lot...with open discussion groups as you suggested, impromptu meetings when someone does come up with an idea, and small group ad-hoc "water-cooler" meetings among colleagues working on problems. 

What might be nice in these ad-hoc brainstorming sessions is to set up roles and rules for these sessions based on something like DeBono's five hats...Maybe color-code comments, or add a circle with black or blue or one of the other colors, and try to (as a group) make sure that all five colors are represented. 

Add new comment