Brainstorming

Group brainstorming, done well, can raise creative thinking and bring a team together so you can reach a complete, ideal idea.

In this article we will cover:

10 effective team ideation methods

5 tips for running effective team brainstorming sessions

The benefits of team brainstorming

A productive group brainstorm can truly feel like a win: the team feels energized, successful, and excited about the next steps.

Effective brainstorming techniques can help you get there. On the other hand, when a brainstorm is not productive, the team feels inefficient, repetitive, or negative, and may simply feel bored.

Many factors can derail brainstorming. Here are some of the common reasons:

• Unbalanced conversation: Extraverted, talkative personalities dominate the discussion and leave little room for other teammates.
• Anchoring effect: Participants converge on the first ideas raised in a session, which suppresses new ideas and stalls the team.
• Awkward silence: When participants are unprepared, you get an hour of painful silence—or worse, a meeting people attend only to escape their day-to-day work.

Using the group brainstorming techniques below can help you avoid these common pitfalls and instead bring a team together so you can reach your complete, ideal idea.

10 effective team ideation methods

Brainstorming usually has three stages: ideation, discussion and critique, and selection. The strategies below help you and your team in all three.

1. Brainwriting

In this nonverbal brainstorming method, each person writes down three ideas related to the topic. Allow about four to six minutes. Then everyone passes their ideas to the person on their right (or left, whichever you prefer), who builds on those ideas and adds key points or creative strategies. After a few more minutes, everyone passes the paper again until it has gone around the table. Once the ideas have circulated, the group discusses them and decides which ones are worth pursuing.

This method reduces two of the biggest brainstorming problems—unbalanced conversation and the anchoring effect—by making sure everyone has a chance to contribute and by reducing bias toward the first idea.

2. Rapid ideation

In rapid ideation, everyone writes down a number of ideas in a set time before any discussion or critique. For this method you must set a time limit (and stick to it), or you lose the sense of urgency.

This exercise is useful for avoiding a very common scenario: ideas dying before they have a chance to grow, evolve, and improve. Rapid ideation stops premature shutdown by letting people capture their ideas before critique begins. The time limit also stops people from talking themselves out of an idea before they share it with the group.

3. Figure storming

In this method the group chooses a well-known person who is not in the room—a boss, a fictional character, or a public figure—and discusses how that person would approach or think about the issue. For example, you might ask: How would Oprah Winfrey handle this problem? It may sound silly, but putting yourself in someone else’s place can help you and the team approach the issue differently.

Teammates may sometimes feel embarrassed or hesitant about sharing creative opinions, but if someone else’s name is attached to the ideas, they are more likely to share them. This method also removes some of the constraints that usually limit creative thinking, such as budget and time.

4. Visual phenomenon method

This visualization-based method is recommended by Jacqueline Sussman, an author and psychologist. Start with a goal: ask the group to close their eyes and clearly focus on what they want to build—for example, an innovative smartphone.

After setting those goals, everyone should close their eyes again and form the first image in their mind.

The company’s current phone design: once everyone has that image, they can start building on it. Ask the group to imagine the current design in their preferred color or ideal size. Ask them to add features they wish had been included from the start. Maybe they add a better camera or a larger screen. After everyone has an image of their ideal phone design, randomly ask one team member to share their upgraded version in detail. Once they share, capture the idea. Now everyone has a picture of that new version, and you can start grouping ideas from there. In the end you can finish with hundreds of related new ideas, from color to features to different sizes.

This method works when the goal is not to reinvent the wheel but to improve it.

5. Online brainstorming, also known as thought networking

For this group method, all you need is a central place (software) for team members to write ideas. If everyone is in the same time zone, you can run a live brainstorm on a communication tool such as Slack and develop ideas together.

If the team is spread across time zones, you can create a running Google Doc that lets people add ideas whenever they occur—useful for busy teams with time-zone differences.

For teams in the same city, one option is WeWork On Demand or WeWork All Access to book a conference room or shared space for in-person ideation.

After everyone has written their ideas, deciding which ones to pursue matters, so it is better to hold separate sessions for critique, planning, and execution.

This method encourages remote employees to participate and puts everyone on a common playing field. You can also keep identities anonymous if that helps the team contribute more freely.

6. Round-robin brainstorming

In a round-robin brainstorm, each participant offers one idea. The first rule is that before anyone can offer a second idea, criticize, or discuss any of the ideas, every member must have shared at least once. The second rule is that no one can say, “My idea was already said.” In that case you can come back to them at the end of the round so they have more time to think and share. It is also better to give the team time before the session to prepare ideas.

Like rapid ideation, this method encourages everyone to participate and lets team members get all of their ideas out before the critique stage.

7. Stepladder technique

The stepladder technique is a bit more complex, but it is a great way to make sure people are not influenced by the first or most ambitious ideas in the room.

To use it, a facilitator first introduces the brainstorming topic, then everyone except two people leaves the room. Those two ideate for a few minutes before a third person returns. The third person shares some of their own ideas before discussing what the first two were talking about. People return one by one and share their ideas before they know anything about the other ideas already discussed. Outside the room, other teammates can keep brainstorming and writing ideas, or go back to individual work, but they should not talk about their ideas with others until they are in the room.

If your group is very large, it is better to use a simpler technique, because the stepladder method takes time.

8. Using a mind map

Sometimes the first idea raised in a group is not the right one, but it can spark three better ideas—that is where a mind map comes in. The group starts with one idea and then connects sub-ideas to it with lines. Mind mapping is a visual way to approach brainstorming and can help people who think visually.

9. Starbursting

Starbursting is a next-step brainstorming technique you can use once a group has chosen an idea to explain and potentially implement.

In starbursting, the team starts with an idea or challenge in the center and then draws a six-pointed star around it. Each point represents a question: who, what, when, where, why, and how. For example, who is this product for? When is the right time to launch it? What is our motivation for creating this product?

Because it focuses more on questions than answers, starbursting encourages the group to examine an idea from every angle. The person who proposed the idea does not have to defend it or present an implementation plan. Instead, the team works on solutions together.

10. Change of scenery

Moving brainstorming sessions outside—sometimes to a restaurant, or even to a different floor in the building—can help new thoughts flow. Physical space has a large effect on how employees work, think, and feel. When a team brainstorms with the same group, over and over, in the same room, the session can become repetitive and uninspiring. A completely new space, even for a short time, can help people think differently and invent new ideas.

Five tips for running effective team brainstorming sessions

No matter which technique you use, these tips can help you get more from your sessions:

• Let people prepare: Coming up with ideas on the spot at work is hard, so allow preparation time. Email the topic or problem you want to solve as soon as possible so the team can start ideating on their own. That means at least a full day before the meeting; two to ten minutes before the session is not enough to spark creativity.
• Set a clear goal: Are you looking for highly practical ideas that could happen this month, or ideas that have never been done before? Make sure your desired outcome is clear before the session starts.
• Invite new people: If a team brainstorms together every week or every month, ideas go stale and the group may converge on the same few ideas each time. Inviting a fresh perspective changes the dynamic, so make sure you invite people from different backgrounds and teams.
• Foster a supportive environment: “There are no bad ideas” has become a cliché, but if someone’s idea is shut down quickly, they are less likely to share the next one.
• Follow up. Check that brainstorming serves a purpose that grows new ideas, solutions, products, and so on—but you must follow through to put those ideas into practice. Make sure you set aside enough time to narrow the ideas and pursue a few of them in a structured way.

Benefits of team brainstorming

Traditionally, brainstorming is used to generate new ideas, but done well, the benefits can go far beyond that.

1. It boosts group morale

Brainstorming as a group raises morale because the team is working toward a shared goal. In-person brainstorms let teammates spend face-to-face time together, which matters for team bonding. Holding critique out of the ideation stage is essential to getting this benefit.

2. It promotes creative thinking

People often move from task to task all day without a moment to breathe, even when they work in a creative field. Setting aside time specifically for ideas to flow freely, without distraction, matters and helps keep creativity alive. Championing a shared topic or idea can also help employees feel less isolated, and in fact more productive.

When people walk into a traditional meeting, they are expected to be ready and to have answers. Brainstorming removes that pressure and lets people offer half-finished ideas even if they have not fully thought through the solution. Those ideas can spark new ones in others, and ideas build on each other (see: using a mind map).

3. It brings diverse ideas together

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts: brainstorming in a group can produce better results than brainstorming alone, because each person brings their own strengths and perspective.

4. It produces a large number of ideas

The volume of ideas generated in a group brainstorm can be a strong argument for its effectiveness. Not every idea will be practical, but among those the team offers, a handful are worth pursuing. That is why it is important to follow every brainstorm with a planning session to turn ideas into reality.

These group brainstorming techniques help you get sessions to maximum effectiveness.

Atefeh Abbasizadeh

Source:

https://www.wework.com/ideas/worklife/effective-brainstorming-techniques