Just need a respoinse for the 2 separate post below:

Post 1

“Brainstorming is designed to deal with the problem of less structured group discussions—that groups spend too much time evaluating ideas and not enough time generating ideas. The four basic rules of brainstorming are to (1) not criticize any ideas, (2) encourage contributing wild ideas, (3) focus on quantity, not quality, of ideas, and (4) combine and build on the ideas of others. These rules work best when modeled by a leader and reinforced through norms” (Levi & Askay, 2021). Brainstorming is critical in all of our organizational growth and provides the necessary interaction that all of us need as we see more and more organizations transition to a work from home hybrid schedule. If there is anything that the Covid19 pandemic has thought us, is the importance of interaction even if its virtual via Microsoft Teams and or Skype. Brainstorming not only allows individuals to interact, but it allows them to still be proactive and ensure that their concerns, ideas and suggestions are taken into consideration regardless of where they are located.

Describe any foreseeable drawbacks to virtual group brainstorming.

Some of the drawbacks that the virtual group brainstorming can bring is the lack of participation and attendance. When meetings are conducted virtually this can often time lower the amount of engagement and be an easy way for people to avoid discussions and ignore it. For myself, I have experienced this in my work setting where we constantly look for ways to bring in more participation and engagement. A lot of times, prizes, gift cards and other benefits are used as a form of encouragement for people to participate and brainstorm new ideas and suggestions.

Post 2

Brown & Paulus (2021) explained that group brainstorming, also described as electronic brainstorming, can allow all to participate fully in a virtual environment by utilizing computer based brainwriting that promotes uninfluenced ideas without verbal distractions or “traffic jams” from others team members. Some personnel are not comfortable with face-to-face interaction regarding one’s own ideas publicly or in an open forum. I have been in open forums where a facilitator would ask if there were any questions at the end of their briefing and get no response. Once the formal portion of the instruction has ended, personnel are more comfortable to ask or address concerns directly with the facilitator.

There are some drawbacks to virtual group brainstorming. According to Brown and Paulus, personnel have a higher chance of having their inputs ignored due to the amount of ideas being shared which can overwhelm the ability to process all information accordingly. I have experience horrible teleconferences while working in my current career field. It’s bad enough when personnel attending come from different time zones around the world and must accommodate to the hose of the meeting. I have seen personnel speak over others unknowingly which makes hearing or reading information difficult for all participants. In addition, there are moments where personnel do not want to share ideas due to being afraid of being called out or scrutinized due to their lack of knowledge or applicable information.

In general, I believe that utilizing a virtual environment with brainstorming can still be an effective tool to utilize but may not be the primary means. We all faced the pandemic a couple years ago where workplaces worked from home. While this can be an alternative solution, conducting face-to-face brainstorming will achieve better results due to the personal engagement required.