“Hello? Can you hear me? No? Yes? Are you speaking?”
If this sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most online or phone meetings start with technical hiccups, distractions, and a lot of wasted time. But the bigger issue isn’t just poor audio quality: it’s production blocking in online meetings, a major barrier to digital collaboration.
As we explain in our Digital Collaboration Barriers Guide, conversation-heavy formats consistently undermine results in enterprise workshops.
Why Talking Fails in Online Brainstorming
In web conferences and online workshops, conversation creates more problems than it solves:
Some participants can’t join due to technical issues.
Others multitask and disengage because they don’t feel involved.
A few voices dominate, while quieter team members stay silent.
Ideas get lost or forgotten before they’re shared.
The result: fewer ideas, weaker collaboration, and meetings that feel unproductive for most participants.
Research confirms this. In one of the most cited studies, Diehl & Stroebe (1987) showed that oral brainstorming groups underperform individuals working alone. The main culprit: production blocking in online meetings.
What Is Production Blocking in Online Meetings?
Production blocking in online meetings happens when several participants want to contribute ideas at the same time — but only one person can speak. Everyone else has to wait, forget their ideas, or self-censor. Over time, this bottleneck drastically reduces creativity and team performance.
Other side effects of voice communication make things worse:
Dominance: louder personalities steer the discussion and overshadow others.
Social pressure: people hold back for fear of criticism or judgment.
Cognitive overload: ideas disappear while waiting for a turn to talk.
Gallupe et al. (1991) showed that even simple alternatives to talking, like letting participants write ideas down in parallel, significantly improved results.
Signs Your Meeting Is Suffering From Production Blocking
How do you know if your team is experiencing production blocking in online meetings? Look for these red flags:
Only a few people speak regularly while others remain silent.
Participants repeat ideas because earlier contributions were ignored or forgotten.
Long pauses or interruptions break the flow of the meeting.
Important perspectives are missing because quieter team members don’t get a chance to contribute.
Frustration and disengagement — some people check out while waiting endlessly for their turn.
If these sound familiar, your team is likely losing valuable input and wasting time.
Better Alternatives to Talking
The good news: production blocking in online meetings can be solved with structured methods. Instead of relying on conversation alone, try these approaches:
1. Reduce unnecessary chatter
Keep talking for clarification, not for idea generation. Encourage participants to focus on listening and only use voice to add context or explain.
2. Use digital tools for parallel input
Structured brainstorming platforms allow everyone to contribute ideas at the same time, avoiding bottlenecks. This creates a richer pool of ideas in less time.
3. Separate idea generation from evaluation
When participants jump straight into discussing or critiquing ideas, creativity suffers. Keep ideation and evaluation phases distinct to avoid premature judgment.
4. Apply anonymous evaluation methods
Anonymous input reduces dominance and social pressure. Techniques like hidden voting or multi-criteria evaluation ensure fairer results than visible, turn-based discussion.
5. Work individually first, then combine
Even if no tools are available, asking people to note ideas individually before group discussion significantly outperforms open talk.
The Bottom Line
Talking dominates traditional meetings, but it kills productivity in digital collaboration. Production blocking in online meetings prevents teams from capturing their best ideas and leads to disengagement, dominance, and wasted time.
To overcome it, teams need structured methods that enable simultaneous, unbiased contribution – not just endless conversation.
Want to learn more about barriers like production blocking in online meetings?
Read our full Digital Collaboration Barriers Guide
Research Spotlight
Diehl & Stroebe (1987): Found that brainstorming groups produce fewer ideas than individuals due to production blocking.
Gallupe et al. (1991): Showed that electronic and written brainstorming methods outperform oral discussion, especially in larger groups.
These findings remain highly relevant today as organizations shift workshops online. The challenge hasn’t changed — only the setting.
