Seven effective brainstorming techniques

“You can design, create and build the most amazing place in the whole world, but you need people to make your dream come true,” - Walt Disney.

I bring to your attention the translation of an article from the blog service Wrike. He is dedicated to the subject of effective brainstorming.

Have you ever wondered if meetings for brainstorming were a waste of time? You were clearly aware of the need to jointly discuss an important problem, however, such sessions most often ended in fierce disputes between several people, while the rest of the team preferred to remain silent? In this case, the face of typical signs of errors in the organization of brainstorming.
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Most people tend to forget that the main purpose of brainstorming is not the quality of ideas, but their quantity. Yes, you heard right: it is quantity, not quality. Brainstorming is always the first step in exploring a new project, so it is essential to be open to all fresh ideas, no matter how unexpectedly they sound. Often, problems arise at the moment when the team believes that it is time to evaluate and filter ideas - in other words, to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Another common mistake in brainstorming is a fundamentally wrong approach to the event of its organizers. Often they see the only possible way to have a discussion, which is to discuss the issue with all team members in the meeting room. This approach is not unacceptable, however, it has a number of significant drawbacks that can reduce the effectiveness of the assembly. Typical in this context is an example in which the first few speakers voice their ideas and until the end of the brainstorming session, participants discuss only them. Lee Thomson, a professor of management at Kellogg School, conducted a study of traditional approaches to brainstorming and found that almost always the very few people who took the initiative take 60-70% of the time for the entire discussion. At the same time, fresh ideas simply do not have a chance to be taken into account. Brainstorming theorists have called this shift during the discussion an “anchor”.

So, seven simple brainstorming techniques are presented to your attention, which will help to significantly increase its effectiveness, enhance interaction in the group, and also exclude an appraisal approach to ideas.

1. Brainstorming
   The main point of this approach is to maximize the separation of two processes - the generation of ideas and their discussion. The facilitator voices the topic of discussion, after which each participant makes a list of his own ideas. This approach helps to avoid the “anchor” and invites all team members to provide a personal vision of the issue. In addition, each employee has time to think about their ideas, which is definitely useful for introverts. This technique is especially effective for teams that focus on thoughts that were heard at the beginning of the meeting.
   
2. Brainstorming storm
   Have you ever thought that someone else could handle your problem? Or that not only you can think about an important topic for you? As a result of simulating brainstorming, such a prospect will be quite real. Imagine, for example, that your boss, star idol, or even the president can solve your problem. Try on new shoes - this will help your team to see the problem from a completely different angle. This technique is suitable for teams involved in similar projects of the same type, as a result of which they again and again resort to the same approaches.
   
3. Brainstorm online
   No one is surprised that today in many branches of business teams work remotely. E-mail and other modern technologies have made this way of organizing work the norm in numerous industries. But what if the team needs to get together to brainstorm? Of course, you can exchange ideas using email. However, this will complicate the process of analysis and further analysis of ideas. Thus, it is obvious that for virtual teams it is crucial to have a centralized online room where all participants can interact. In this vein, it is necessary, first of all, to take into account the cloud system for storing documents. Stefan Kendal Gordy, one of Wrike’s best-known clients, uses the service for her many fashion and music companies. In this online system, he created the Ideas folder, where any employee can share his thoughts with the team.
   
4. High-speed generation of ideas
   It also happens that time-limited brainstorming helps generate ideas faster, because the team simply does not have the time to filter them. In this case, the team leader informs the participants in advance about the topic of discussion, the timing and budget of the new project, and also sets a deadline by which each team member can submit his application. At the same time, participants should not evaluate their thoughts. They are allowed to use any means to express ideas: a sheet of paper, a pen, boards, any online tools. Nothing should limit the team, everyone should be as comfortable as possible. The permissible time limit is from 5 to 45 minutes depending on the complexity of the topic under discussion. This technique is perfect for teams that are often distracted from the topic or like to brainstorm.
   
5. Circular brainstorming
   The team gathers in a circle, and after the presenter announces the topic, each of its members takes turns to express their thoughts. The discussion continues until all speak out. The facilitator, in turn, fixes all the ideas with the aim of discussing each of them at the end of the meeting. It is worth noting that until every member of the team speaks out, ideas cannot be evaluated. This method will be good if there are people in the team who prefer to remain silent at each meeting.
   
6. Constellation
   A very interesting approach, focused on finding questions, not answers. During the meeting, the team should come up with as many questions as possible regarding the topic of discussion. Questions can be anything: what, where, when and why. This style of brainstorming helps to consider the project in all its possible aspects. Excellent technique for teams that focus on solving several problems in the project and in the last minutes trying to close their questions.
7. Ladder technology
   This technique was developed in 1992. The point is that the employee gets the opportunity to voice his own thoughts before he hears all other ideas. The meeting leader voices the topic, and all but two of the brainstorming participants leave the room. The remaining two voiced their thoughts to each other. At the end of their conversation, another participant enters the room. He speaks out before he hears the ideas of the participants in the room. The cycle is repeated until the whole team gathers in the room. The method is well suited for teams prone to being influenced by several people. It also helps to reveal shy people who prefer to share their thoughts with two or three colleagues, rather than the full team.