Agreed, in fact for non trivial problems almost the opposite is true in my experience. For me at least spontaneous brainstorming meetings are usually a waste of

Agreed, in fact for non trivial problems almost the opposite is true in my experience. For me at least spontaneous brainstorming meetings are usually a waste of time; I'd much rather take some time alone to think over a problem and put my thoughts on paper or email than coming up with half-baked brainfarts on the spot. Similarly for understanding and evaluating what others have to say, the signal-to-noise ratio of a well thought written paper/email/presentation is more meaningful than a bunch of random ideas thrown around in a meeting. Once there is a basic plan in place, face time (or phone/IM) are fine to flesh out smaller issues, Q&A, etc.