Leader: “We really need to take our business to the next level. So, today we’re running a brainstorming session to generate new product ideas. Let’s hear your suggestions!”
Team: [Stares at floor. Collectively picks fingernails.]
Who hasn’t experienced the awkward silence of a brainstorming session fallen flat? One where nobody is prepared, nobody feels comfortable throwing out ideas, and nobody says what they really think. Even I, a performance-loving extrovert, have felt shy and uninspired to throw out suggestions when pressured to deliver brilliance on-the-spot.
Your team is not the only one experiencing lackluster results. Research confirms that not only do most brainstorming sessions feel awkward, they actually produce fewer good ideas than an individual working alone. In a March 2015 article, Harvard Business Review cited a meta-analytic review of 800 teams concluding that “individuals are more likely to generate a higher number of original ideas when they don’t interact with others.”
The good news is that there’s a better way to plan a brainstorming session that works. There’s a method to avoid the silence, awkward stares, and rehashed suggestions. A method that will inspire even the most restrained introvert to contribute. Building on the idea that people generate more original ideas alone, I developed a brainstorming approach that strikes a balance between individual and group work. This method allows people to generate and critique ideas in private while expanding and refining on them with others.
Here’s how to transform a painful brainstorming experience into an effective idea generation session:
Before the meeting
Define the problem. The first step toward building a better brainstorm is to clearly outline what problem you want attendees to solve. If you want to generate new product ideas, for example, define your target market. Outline your company's competitive advantages. Summarize customer insights. Then, package all of this information in a “Brainstorm Brief” to adequately ground participants in your problem space. Equally important in that brief is to explain why it’s crucial for your team to solve the problem. Are you under competitive threat? Are you struggling to retain customers? Providing a compelling reason for taking the exercise seriously will help make the case for action.
Allow attendees to prepare. This is the most important step in transforming a typical brainstorming session: give people the opportunity to generate ideas by themselves first, before facing a group. A few days is best. People need time to consider, research, and reflect away from the office. Original ideas often come from non-work settings, when people are relaxed or when they’re exposed to new stimuli. (Think about your own brilliant insights. Do they come when you’re in the shower? Commuting to work? Traveling?)
Before the session, send an email explaining what you’re solving for. (Hint: Attach the Brainstorm Brief). Tell attendees their homework is to generate ideas before the group comes together. Instruct participants to write out each one of their ideas on a post-it, in as few words as possible. One idea per post-it. (This is important. You’ll see why later.)
Set a target number. Request that each person generate at least 20 ideas. Yes, I’m serious. 20 different ideas. This might seem like an excessive number, but setting a high target challenges people to push themselves. Typically, one’s first few ideas are safer, less original, already known possibilities. Once you move past initial knee-jerk fallbacks, you must think more expansively to reach the target. To really get things going, consider a competition. Who can generate the most ideas beyond 20?
During the meeting
Read aloud each idea. When each person has prepared a list of ideas, it’s time to host the meeting. Ask a volunteer to go first and read aloud their ideas, without comment, judgment, or interference from the team. This is a crucial step. Everyone needs to hear all of the team’s ideas before discussion begins. Enforcing silence during the flow of ideas helps people to consider novel or controversial concepts before automatically rejecting them out of reflexive mental patterns. If your team members are really shy, invite people to submit ideas anonymously and have a facilitator read them aloud. Nobody has to know who came up with what.
Group similar ideas. For each idea shared, take the post-it and stick it on a large wall. Post each subsequent idea on the wall too, grouping like ideas together. Ensure there are no comments from the peanut gallery. Each person should voice their ideas free from derision or challenge.
Build on the best. When everyone’s ideas are posted and grouped, open the floor for comments, suggestions, and questions. To start, ask if anyone has ideas for building on or refining what’s already been suggested. For all new ideas generated during discussion, ask a note-taker to capture them on post-its and group them on the wall with the original ideas. Building off of the ideas people generated privately is where the true team brainstorming begins. You’ll be surprised at how much easier it is to generate new ideas once everyone has had a chance to prepare and safely contribute. Be sure to follow the rules of a typical brainstorming session here: be encouraging, be open, and don’t limit ideas!
Vote on favorites. After discussing the ideas, ask attendees to vote on their favorites. This is couched as an individual activity to prevent a dominant personality’s pet notion from winning the day. To do this quickly and effectively, distribute three stickers to each attendee (I like star-shaped ones). Ask participants to stand up, walk to the wall, and place a sticker on a post-it to vote. People can stick a single star on three different post-its, or place all three stars on a single one. It’s okay for participants to vote for their own ideas. When everyone has voted, you’ll see at-a-glance which ideas the group feels are the most promising. Ask attendees to explain why they voted for their favorites. This activity closes the meeting with a recording of the team’s individual and collective preferences, and provides a starting point for which ideas to pursue first.
After the meeting
Act on the results. Although not part of the brainstorming meeting proper, take responsibility for acting on the ideas generated. Over time, people will stop expending mental energy solving tough problems if nothing is ever done with their contributions. Assign an individual or small team to research, refine, and test the ideas. Create concepts and mock-ups. Check market potential and technical feasibility. Get stakeholder and customer feedback. Show your team that their ideas can impact your business. Share progress updates on what’s happening and involve your team in further refining and shaping products, features, or process changes resulting from the initial meeting. Give credit back to the person who came up with the idea in the first place. Being a good corporate citizen will help keep your team engaged and ready to help out the next time you tap them for ideas.
Not only will these techniques help your team successfully generate creative ideas, but structuring the session in this way will make your team feel empowered instead of cowed. You’ll get great ideas and you’ll look like a hero.
What ways have you found to facilitate more effective brainstorming sessions? I’d love to hear your tips and stories.
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