Brainstorming is a lateral form of creative thinking which employs free association to allow a group of people to spark ideas off one another. It helps to generate a large amount of ideas in a short amount of time and is given its force through the effect of having many people involved. It can generate plenty of original ideas and concepts, engaging people on all levels and allowing them to feel their opinion is valued.
However, there are also disadvantages: overbearing people can dominate, encouraging people to be non-critical can be difficult, and a clear understanding of the problem in hand is needed as well as the ability to know what you are looking for. Here’s how you do it:
A brainstorming session will be far more effective if those involved know what they’re aiming for. The issue should be important enough to justify a large number of people getting involved, but if there is a danger that quieter people will get sidelined it’s a good idea to ask participants to jot down ideas beforehand. This ensures everyone has had a chance to prepare and will feel more confident about contributing their ideas.
This person should try to make participants feel relaxed and create an open and fun environment. Ideas should not be evaluated along the way as the aim is to generate a quantity of ideas which can be critiqued later. Also, junior members of staff will feel more relaxed if they know their suggestions will not be dismissed. The leader should be able to keep ideas moving forward and ensure that the group works as a team and that everyone feels as though they own what they have achieved at the end.
A change of scenery offers the best environment for a brainstorm. People should be encouraged to leave their mobile phones at the office so they can shut out thoughts of tasks they have to do later on.
Going somewhere new can help stimulate creativity as it allows a fresh perspective on the business in hand. Food and alcohol in moderation make good provisions as they help make people feel relaxed and lower inhibitions. Seats are best arranged in a circle or U-shape.
Numbers should ideally be limited to no more than 10 people in order to give everyone a chance to speak although less than five might not be enough to generate creative ideas. A mixed group with different skills should be invited as non-specialists may be able to offer fresh perspectives.
In a brainstorm, anything goes. As ideas are not evaluated at this stage people really should be encouraged to generate wild ideas as well as safe ones as even a seemingly bad idea could be turned on its head to make a good idea later on. A flip chart can be useful for jotting down ideas as a tape recorder may have the effect of inhibiting suggestions.
Warn people about five minutes before the end and explain what will happen next. It’s useful to type up a list of ideas generated and to circulate it within 24 hours of the meeting. Once the list has been circulated the ideas are then ready to be moved to the evaluation stage.
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