Host a brainstorm

What’s it handy for?

Getting folks together to brainstorm new ideas is a great reason for a meeting. But sometimes, people aren’t in the same room. Or they’re afraid to speak up and share their ideas. Plus, when you’re done with any in-Slack virtual meeting, you’ll have a transcript of the meeting already in your channel.

Use a brainstorming meeting in Slack to:

• Get many teams from around your organization to participate
• Avoid needing a physical space big enough for everyone
• Solicit ideas over a longer period than in a single meeting

How to host a brainstorm in Slack

1. Decide on a specific channel to conduct your brainstorming meeting
2. Send calendar invites and remind invitees what #channel the meeting will take place in so everyone can prepare
3. At the agreed-upon time, write a message that kicks off the meeting and gives everyone a prompt to get started
   
4. Everyone can post their ideas as new messages, others can join in and riff on the best ideas while others can help refine and focus ideas
5. Have team members upvote the best ideas with a ➕
6. At the specified meeting’s end, post another message to let people know their time is up
   
7. Copy and paste the best ideas from the channel for future work or meetings