by Caryl Teh
Group brainstorming, if done properly, can promote creative thinking, bring a team together, and help you land on 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.
1. Brainwriting
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.
2. Rapid ideation
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. For this brainstorming technique, you will need to set (and stick to) a time constraint, otherwise you’ll risk losing the sense of urgency.
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.
3. Figure storming
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? It seems like a silly question, but putting yourself in someone else’s shoes can help you and your team approach the problem a different way.
Teammates can sometimes be ashamed or hesitant to put forth their creative ideas, but if someone else’s name is attached to the ideas—Oprah’s, for example—they are more likely to share it. Also, this brainstorming method removes some barriers that usually restrict creative thinking, like budget and time.
4. Eidetic image method
This visualization-based method recommended by author and psychologist Jacqueline Sussman employs vivid images stored in our minds from all of our life experiences. Begin with intention-setting: Have the group close their eyes and clearly set an intention for what they will create—for example, an innovative smartphone. Each person in the group sets the intention in their mind that they will come up with a new phone design unlike previous ones.
After these intentions are set, you will have everyone close their eyes again and pull forth the first eidetic image: the company’s current phone design. Once everyone in the group has that image in their mind, you can all begin building upon that design. Ask the group to picture the current design in their favorite color or at their individual ideal size. Ask them to add features they wish the current design had originally included. Maybe they’ll add a better camera or a larger screen. After everyone has arrived at an image of their ideal phone design in their mind, you will randomly ask a team member to share exactly what their enhanced version looks like. Once they’ve shared, record that idea. Now have everyone picture that new version of the phone and you can begin layering ideas on top of it. In the end, you can end up with hundreds of new concrete ideas—ranging from the color to the features to the size.
This method works best when the goal isn’t to reinvent the wheel but rather to enhance it. While the group should not focus on costs, their ideas should remain in the realm of possibility.
5. Online brainstorming, a.k.a brain netting
For this group brainstorming technique, all you need is a central location for team members to write down their ideas. If all of your employees are in the same time zone, you can host real-time brainstorms over Slack to develop ideas together. If your team is distributed, you can put together a running Google doc that allows team members to write down their ideas whenever inspiration hits, allowing for busy schedules and time differences. For teams in the same city, one option is to use WeWork On Demand or WeWork All Access to book a conference room or common space for in-person brainstorming together.
After everyone writes down their ideas, it’s important to follow up to decide which ideas to pursue, so this technique is best used for idea capture, with separate meetings for critique, planning, and execution.
This technique encourages remote employees to participate and puts everyone on the same playing field. You can also keep everyone’s identity anonymous if that helps the team contribute more freely.
Source:
We Work
