9. If the brainstorming session is done out loud, team members can piggyback on others ideas. Here are 50 creative brainstorming activities for your next brainstorming session to break out of routine thinking and generate fresh ideas. To begin starbursting, put an idea on the middle of a whiteboard and draw a six-point star around it. Best for: individual and group brainstorms, extroverted team members. This will help uncover obstacles you might face and maybe even shed light on what youre capable of overcoming. This brainstorming technique is ideal for revamping or building on an existing product or solution. What happens now? Reverse brainstorming 4. Ideal for medium-sized groups of five to 15 people, the step-ladder brainstorming technique prevents ideas from being influenced by the loudest brainstormers of a group. Don't be surprised to notice all brainstorming techniques have much in common. This stifles participation. Online Brainstorming (also known as Brain-netting) - An electronic method of brainstorming, this uses a document stored on a central server, or on a Cloud-based system. An added benefit of this? Best for: group brainstorms, extroverted team members, Reverse brainstorming is grounded in a little bit of chaos. Here are a few ideas. For a larger group, consider having each brainstormer narrow in on only three ideas and give them a longer time limit of six minutes to sketch them out in more detail. This brainstorming technique is great for remote team alignment. Theyd all open their eyes and discuss again, essentially layering on the possibilities for enhancing a product. Generally, brainstormers are asked to take on the role of an average person who will be affected by the idea or solution in question, whether thats an employee, client, or another party, and they act out a scenario that could stem from the idea to help them decipher what problems might arise from it. Problem-framing challenges you to pinpoint the core problem that youre solving for (for example, improving collaboration between your marketing and sales teams) and then draft a problem statement. Youll divide your team into two groups: the failure team and the success team. For example, imagine that your team wants to put together a new webinarbut you havent ironed out any other details yet. Learn more about how to conduct a premortem in this playbook. Silent circuit. Snap. You could also use a blackboard if you are working with a group of people. To contact an expert in your area, visit https://extension.msu.edu/experts, or call 888-MSUE4MI (888-678-3464). Mind mapping. How it works: A premortem is all about picturing the glass half full and then the glass half empty. . Because theyre not putting out their ideastheyre sharing someone elses. ), (A) Benchmarking(B) Brainstorming(C) Goal-setting(D) Problem-solving. When done right, a brainstorming session shouldnt feel like a chore but rather an opportunity to create something together, especially when your brainstorming technique supports different styles of thinking and expression. Everyone must contribute at least one idea before the entire group can give feedback or share a second idea. The following strategies will help you and your team, whether you're in person or remote, through all three stages. Brainstorming is defined as an idea creation method for generating a large number of creative ideas in a short period of time. Go around the room for the favorite large categories on your subject. Supplies Each U-shaped table set up will need a flip chart; a large felt-tip pen; masking tape; and paper, pencil, and 3" x 5" index cards for each participant. When its up to one individual to dream up a solution, it can be time-consuming and cause a lot of pressure. Through dependency mapping, you and your team will identify: Once thats done, you and the team should look back at the risks and dependencies youve identified, and come up with a plan for managing them all. Brainstorming is Classified as a group creative technique, brainstorming is generating spontaneous ideas contributed by its members to solve a specific problem or to explore the creative options of a particular topic. Intuitively add ideas without having to connect them. The Charette Procedure is almost like a scaled-up version of brainstorming. How it works: Youve probably heard of storyboarding in the context of planning out a movie plot or a script. You might want to book a few rooms for this one. Brainstorming is not . The technique has been around for over 70 years and is still used today to engage students in solving a range of problems. Once youve collected several ideas, either individually or from team members, talk through where they fall in the How Now Wow spectrum: How ideas are ideas that are original but not executable. It's extremely popular for design teams because they can expand in all directions. You can think of collaborative brainwriting like a herd of cows grazing in a field, except its brainstormers grazing on ideas throughout a week, anonymously jotting down thoughts or ideas. While brainstorming is an organized effort to get your team coloring outside the lines, it should also be a good time. A few techniques for this type of brainstorming include Step Ladder Brainstorming, Round Robin Brainstorming, Rapid Ideation, and Trigger Storming. Felt-tip markers. When your outline is ready, you need to produce those minor content details that make up a compelling paper. Now, jot down questions that start with each of those terms. Help the group define the goal - this helps establish ownership of the process and outcome 3. When brainstorming, it is best to solicit the ideas out loud instead of using Post-it Notes or some other way of anonymously soliciting ideas. Cite the issue you are brainstorming on, and then ask each of the following questions in order. How it works: Science says that doodling can improve our focus, enhance our creativity, and give our problem-solving skills a boost. Study notes and guides for Six Sigma certification tests. Best for: group brainstorms (six or more people), introverted team members, vetting ideas thoroughly. If people do not know each other well, or may not be comfortable speaking up in front of each other, have the team quietly write ideas on post-its. Brainstorming is a team creativity activity that helps generate a large number of potential solutions to a problem. Brainstorming workshop for the ELEKS design team (Large preview) Materials. This essentially helps you paint a picture of your topic at hand and what might impact its execution or even expedite it. A visual brainstorming technique, starbursting should be used once you or your team of brainstormers has homed in on a single idea. Or assign people characters to act out a scene and then require them to switch characters whenever someone yells, Switch!. You'll need four flip charts with different questions or different perspectives on the issue for each one. It's not particularly efficient or effective way to get a lot of ideas out quickly. Well, sometimes all you need is to get outside of your own head and explore different perspectives on a problem or question. What does this have to do with brainstorming? For instance, if you pull the limited access disrupt card (which pushes the idea that people love exclusivity), how can you make your newsletter more selective? That gives you a chance to see into the future and steer clear of any roadblocks. It may be helpful to have two flip charts and two people recording responses. Known as LDJ for short, the Lightning Decision Jam brainstorming technique requires 40 minutes to one hour to complete. Having an open conversation about these sorts of questions can encourage some serious out-of-the-box solutions and keep your team from getting too stuck in their own opinions. S.W.O.T. Best for: large group brainstorms, vetting ideas thoroughly. Every brainstorming session should be considered a safe space to share ideaseven unconventional ones. Draw a box at the top of a piece of flip chart paper and clearly write down the problem or solution to be explored. Provide each person with notecards (5-10) and ask them to write one idea per notecard and place it in the middle of the table. Or, what would happen if we eliminated this whole feature? Ensure everyone is participating in the brainstorm session and understands and agrees on the aim of the session. What are brainstorming techniques? Customer journey mapping puts you in the shoes of your customerso that you can potentially identify solutions or ideas that you wouldnt have thought of on your own. You can provide that help up front by setting up the brainstorming process to include everyone in a structured, supportive manner. This ensures quieter members, with still unspoken contributions, to fully participate. Remember, no discussion or evaluation of any ideas is permitted. The idea napkin also includes a column for who the idea is targetingmeaning who youre solving a problem for (customers, teammates, etc. You can pick and choose which angles are most important to your organization. 1. Brainstorming is full of energy, moves rapidly, and is synergistic, creating a large list of ideas that may eventually be boiled down, or funneled down to a smaller list of priority items later in the project. All you need is an individual or group of people, a problem to solve or an opportunity to address, and time. This strategy can be used with students individually, in small groups, or as a whole-class activity. The flipchart should be placed in the office for every member to see. MSU is an affirmative-action, equal-opportunity employer, committed to achieving excellence through a diverse workforce and inclusive culture that encourages all people to reach their full potential. Thats where dependency mapping comes into play. After a few minutes, have them rotate to the next flip chart until they have had a chance to respond to all the category titles. Empower your team by giving them the tools they need to get their thoughts down in print. Brainstormers are added back into the room one by one, with each new brainstormer sharing their ideas before the rest of the group divulges theirs, and so forth. There is a problem with this method, though. And luckily, there are lots of effective brainstorming techniques to choose from. Upon completing the brainstorming session, the team may want to boil down the large list into a smaller, manageable one.One might ask if youre trying to get to a small list, why would you ever brainstorm in the first place? They may pass if they have no ideas that have not yet been added to the board on their turn. Quentin Tyler, Director, MSU Extension, East Lansing, MI 48824. Begin by writing down a topic and then drawing lines connecting tangential ideas to it. Make sure everyone understands the subject of the brainstorming session. Improv games are a lighthearted and often hilarious way to get your team to open up. To brainstorm with Post-Its, you will need: A large piece of empty wall or whiteboard space. Start with a topic or question in the center of the mind map, and branch off to include every participant's thoughts. how to use dependency mapping can be found in this playbook. How to use Force Field Analysis 1. Role storming is similar to figure storming in that brainstormers take on different personalities to dream up ideas, but with one dramatic twistbrainstormers act out those ideas. Best for: individual or group brainstorms, problem-solving, vetting ideas thoroughly. Should it offer discounts or content that nobody else gets? After doing that, you weed through all of the ideas again. Its fun, its team-focused, and it gets people moving around, so they arent falling asleep at the conference room table. Heres how it works: A brainstorming facilitator introduces a topic to their group of brainstormers and then dismisses all but two brainstormers from the room. Resist the urge to fix the work or ideas right now. Opportunities: what else can you capitalize on based on this idea? Intrigued? Other ways of brainstorming include the use of yellow stickies (Post-It notes or similar). At least one day is standard but as little as two to 10 minutes is useful. Theres quite a bit to it (and you can get the full rundown in this playbook), but the gist is that you should have your team break into groups, and have each group brainstorm as many ideas within a theme as possible. Finally, ask participants to read aloud all the ideas on the cards and without identifying who suggested the idea, discuss enough so the ideas are understood. The SCAMPER brainstorming technique encourages brainstormers to look at an idea from different angles and it uses its acronym to inspire each lens: Substitute: consider what would happen if you swapped one facet of a solution for another. Hemmingway Notebook - collect ideas 7. Consider the following brainstorming methods and tools to generate and qualify ideas. totaling (47) students taught through brainstorming strategy within the course of developing thinking skills in the academic year 2012/2013, and the second represents the control group totaling (51) students. Contrast brainwriting with a typical brainstorming session, in which one person throws out an idea, another builds on it, and yet another person builds on that build. No criticism. A tool is a device that aids in accomplishing a task. Freeplane. This big vertical space allows all members room to "storm" at the same time, but you might have to copy down the results onto paper later. As this name implies, this brainstorming technique is a little random. Thats when its time to ask a lot of hypothetical questions in the form of what if? For example, what if the problem were worse? Stop any comments that evaluate ideas. For instance, one brainstormer might be wearing an impact hat and only concern themselves with the impact of an idea and another might be wearing a constraints hat and only looking at the constraints of an idea. At the conclusion of the session, ideas are categorised and ranked for follow-on action. Sort of the reverse of the affinitization methods. Best for: introverted team members and developing a surplus of ideas. In Six Sigma, brainstorming goes well with the following: A simple tool for groups in which everyone is comfortable speaking out. Another visual brainstorming technique, mind mapping addresses the anchoring effecta common brainstorming challenge where brainstormers fixate on the first ideas instead of coming up with new ones. Standard yellow sticky notes (7 packs per team of 5-8 people). Head on side of the page with 'Forces that help' or 'Pros' on the other side of the . Have people pull out a slip of paper one at a time and try to come up with ideas as if youre the person named on the paper. Yvonne (Bonnie) Wichtner-Zoia, Michigan State University Extension - To kick off the brainstorming questions, a team leader will usually ask, How do we cause [insert problem]?. Once finished, the ideas are put onto a board and then organized into groupings (affinitize). Although all of the above techniques can help create content ideas, here are several brainstorming techniques that offer specific benefits at this stage. Consider it another way to put yourself in someone elses shoes, especially those your solution impacts. How it works: This technique helps you visualize how customers experience your product or service, as well as how they feel along the way. The 4-H Name and Emblem have special protections from Congress, protected by code 18 USC 707. The silent circuit is a quiet brainstorming activity helps groups ideate across multiple topics while still being inclusive for quieter participants. 2) Reverse Brainstorming This technique is also known as reverse thinking in which people find ways to introduce barriers in your way and try to prevent you from the objective you are trying to achieve. Allow a minute or two of silence for everyone to think about the question. Free for teams up to 15, For effectively planning and managing team projects, For managing large initiatives and improving cross-team collaboration, For organizations that need additional security, control, and support, Discover best practices, watch webinars, get insights, Get lots of tips, tricks, and advice to get the most from Asana, Sign up for interactive courses and webinars to learn Asana, Discover the latest Asana product and company news, Connect with and learn from Asana customers around the world, Need help? Stage 4: Generating Content Ideas. Figure storming 6. Brainstorming is a divergent thinking - group process aimed at generating a lot of ideas, topics or solutions. Best for: group brainstorms, remote workforces, tight deadlines, honing in on an executable solution. Try these ideas: Tell a story a word at a time by going around in a circle. Anecdotally, it takes five "why?" questions to get to the bottom of any issue. To use this brainstorming technique, simply keep asking yourself or your team of brainstormers: Whats driving [insert problem]? and then, Whats driving [insert answer to the previous question]? Similar to why analysis, the deeper you dig into a problem, the more well-vetted it will be and the more confident you will be in executing solutions for those problems. For example, if brainstorming how to implement a rain garden in a community space, the categories might be native plants, community partners, and funding. From there, youll move into disruptive brainstorm loops that last 10 minutes each. A mind map consists of concepts that are linked to and arranged around a central idea. Then, exchange writings and come up with alternative ideas based on those given by your co-workers. 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