Productive group brainstorming can really feel like a win: The team leaves feeling energized, accomplished, and excited for the next steps. Effective brainstorming techniques can help achieve this.
On the other hand, when a brainstorm session misses—whether it feels unproductive, repetitive, or negative—the team may collectively feel uninspired. There are a lot of factors that can derail a brainstorm, but here are some of the common reasons a brainstorming session goes wrong:.
Implementing the group brainstorming techniques that follow can help you avoid these common woes and instead bring your team together to yield the perfect idea. Brainstorms typically have three steps: idea capture, discussion and critique, and selection. The following strategies will help you and your team through all three stages.
In this nonverbal brainstorming method, everyone writes down three ideas that relate to the topic of the brainstorm. Allow about four to six minutes for this process. Then everyone passes their ideas to the person on their right or left, whichever you prefer , who will then build off of the ideas, adding bullet points or creative strategies. After another few minutes, everyone will pass the piece of paper again until it makes it all the way around the table.
Once the ideas have made it around the circle, the group discusses them and decides which ideas are best to pursue. This technique can alleviate two of the biggest brainstorm pitfalls—unbalanced conversation and the anchoring effect—by ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to contribute and eliminating the bias toward the first idea. In rapid ideation, everyone writes down as many ideas as possible in a set amount of time before any ideas are discussed, critiqued, or fleshed out.
This brainstorming exercise can be helpful to avoid the all-too-common scenario when an idea is shot down before it has time to grow, transform, and develop.
By allowing everyone to capture their ideas before the critique begins, rapid ideation avoids the inevitable, premature shooting down of ideas. The time constraint can also prevent people from talking themselves out of an idea before they share it with a group—a common brainstorming mishap.
In figure storming, the group picks a well-known figure who is not in the room—it could be a boss, a fictional character, or a well-known public figure—and discuss how that person would approach the problem or think about this idea. For example, you might ask: How would Oprah Winfrey approach this problem? Also, this brainstorming method removes some barriers that usually restrict creative thinking, like budget and time.
This visualization-based method recommended by author and psychologist Jacqueline Sussman employs vivid images stored in our minds from all of our life experiences. Make sure these roles are known well in advance to set clear expectations. In fact, 50 percent of ideas from passionate champions tend to make it through internal and external vetting, and percent make it to final concept. When you start your meeting, challenge people to come up with the worst possible solution to the problem at hand.
Not only does this activity create a playful and creative environment, but it also puts the participants on a level playing field.
After all, some employees might feel uncomfortable sharing wild ideas with their boss in the room. If senior-level people in the room share equally ridiculous ides, it gives everyone else permission to be unconventional. A word exercise can help get brainstorm participants out of their comfort zones and into a new, more creative mindset that will set the stage for a brainstorm. A favorite and easy! Then, go proud the room and ask each participant to say other words that come to mind from that first word.
Make sure the facilitator writes down each word that is said for the room to see, so they can continue to be inspired with new words or phrases. In the end, quantity should facilitate quality by allowing your team to explore divergent, innovative thinking.
Focus on collecting ideas quickly, then come back later to reflect on and build off of the ideas you shared earlier. Each idea should be expressed and recorded simply to keep your team from getting too hung up on details. Brainstorming sessions operate best in open, supportive, encouraging environments in which participants feel free to express any idea. Criticism is counterproductive to the creative process, discouraging potentially thought-provoking ideas and preventing participants from opening their mouths for fear of judgment.
While you may not be in the market for outlandish or wild ideas, they can serve to ignite better, more innovative ways of thinking. Encourage your participants to approach your topic or problem without assumptions or from a new point of view to promote more inventive ideas.
Not only should all ideas be vocalized—they should all be recorded and revisited. No idea is too outlandish to be considered. One of the benefits of working in a group is the synergy that comes from feeding off the ideas of others. Encourage your team to listen to each idea shared within the group and use them as inspiration for their own ideas.
The ability to dissect, build on, and improve ideas that have already been shared can be just as valuable as the ability to generate ideas out of thin air. It can also be a great exercise in encouraging active listening and team-building amongst your team members. With infinite space to spread out and come up with new ideas, as well as tools to keep your meeting running and reach consensus, Lucidspark can help you facilitate an energetic, productive meeting in which your best ideas are highlighted.
When brainstorming online, make sure your team comes prepared with ideas at the ready. Vote on your ideas to make sure that only your best are turned into action items. Sign up today to get all of the benefits of a classic brainstorming session—with the convenience of remote access, cloud-based features, and integrations that keep you connected with apps like G Suite, Slack, and Lucidchart. Turn your next team brainstorm into an idea machine using these 4 group brainstorming techniques.
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