Ideation interaction

Virtual platforms and video calls have become commonplace yet their queues of monologues cannot match the directness and rigour of in-person conversations, as exemplified by the ideation workshop. It is when the participants interact in the real studio, with the power to improvise and cross-talk that the creative juices start flowing and ideas spark. The in-person interaction electrifies the ideation process, forces the participants to think at pace and enriches the conversations from which the participants learn from each other. Virtual platform meetings may have their place in formal or business-like contexts but rarely sits comfortably in creative environments as virtual discussion can only superficially compensate for the full three-dimensional chemistry of face-to-face conversations. With the body language and all the tiny cues that form the visceral insights that come from in-the-flesh interactions missing, how to tell whether the participants are fully engaged in or really understand the ideas discussed?