- The CEO of Fireside told The Wall Street Journal ditching group brainstorms helped his team.
- With idea generation starting outside of meetings, Drew Himel said meetings now avoid digressions.
Some CEOs are saying bye bye to brainstorming meetings.
While some company leaders are calling workers back into the office in the name of in-person collaboration and brainstorming, others are saying it may be time to leave behind the traditional brainstorm, a recent report in The Wall Street Journal reveals.
One CEO who did exactly that, Drew Himel of e-commerce strategy firm Fireside, told The Journal his decision to ditch group brainstorming has actually helped his team with idea generation — they just do it on their own now.
Himel's 16-person team still convenes in virtual meetings to flesh-out their ideas. But now idea generation is starting outside of their group meetings.
Himel told Insider over email that since making the change, he's noticed his team has shown up well-prepared to contribute to meetings. He said his employees' feedback to the changes has also been overwhelmingly positive.
The change has also helped Himel cut down on the number of meetings, freeing up significantly more time in the workday. Himel said Fireside used to have 20-minute daily meetings, but they've cut those meetings down to one weekly 20-minute meeting. In addition to saving time, cutting down on meeting time could actually save companies money, as well, Insider previously reported.
"If you think about how that compounds with each individual's time spent in meetings, we're saving tens of hours on a weekly basis now," Himel told Insider.
While the adjustment seems to be working for Himel and his fully remote staff, many companies are sticking to in-person collaboration.
Some business leaders have slammed remote workers and the "laptop generation." Many companies are requiring employees return to working in-office — and stressing a need for in-person collaboration as one of the main reasons. Both Amazon and Apple are requiring their employees to work in-person at least three days a week. They've said these changes will foster better, in-person collaboration.