How to Conduct Brainstorming a Session

Sometimes it's difficult to conduct productive brainstorming sessions. A good process and framework can solve this problem. I conduct many fruitful sessions at my organization to get new and inspiring ideas.

In the article below I will cover some techniques and methods. Which I use to conduct brainstorming sessions and hope these will help you.

To enhance the effectiveness of a brainstorming session. Must establish clear objectives. Facilitator should provide activities that are easy to understand. such as brainwriting, round-robin brainstorming, mind mapping, and question-storming.

Clear the Purpose of the Session

The clarification of objectives is very necessary for unbiased results. In this way, the process is not influenced by anyone's interpretation or feelings. Every participant should be aware of the goal before entering the meeting room.

This technique is also beneficial for introverted people. who take time to think about their ideas before putting them in the group discussion. The ideas which people already have before entering the room. these act as a catalyst for generating other ideas.

The quantity of Ideas matters more than the quality. so make participants feel free to share their ideas even if they have ridiculous ideas. because the worst idea also can generate other ideas which are helpful to solve the problem.

Facilitator of the Brainstorming Session

You must appoint a facilitator for the session to keep the participants on track. The brainstorming session is usually organized to solve a problem.

He provides a framework and process for the meeting. which makes it easy to achieve the intended solution. Facilitator should not take part in the brainstorming. because it is difficult to perform two roles at the same time.

He ensures that the meeting is going toward its target. If another idea overpowered a good idea. then, the facilitator can remind the group by putting it forward again.

Easy-to-Understand Activities

You should execute a set of activities in the meeting for brainstorming. These activities lead to a session that ends with the solution to the problem.

Organizers should provide activities that are easy and exciting for participants. Brainstorming does not need any level of competency or qualification. The only need is to move ahead by giving ideas that aid others to conclusions.

Improve Team Morale

Brainstorm sessions are often fun and energetic by their nature. the games and exercises that focus on idea generation allow everyone to contribute. and feel heard as part of their team.

Everyone wants to take part in developing new ideas and being creative. Make sure that the activity designs enable introverts to make active participation. and their ideas are not suppressed by extroverts.

The idea generation activities can help bring a team together. These activities improve team morale too.

Round-Robin Brainstorming

It is A tried and tested idea-generation technique. Round-Robin Brainstorming provides a little more structure. It ensures everyone in a group can contribute to brainstorming. by ensuring the discussion isn’t dominated by the loudest voices.

In this group method, seat everyone in a circle and hand them an index card. In silence, everyone writes an idea on their index card before passing it to the person to their left. Each participant then writes an idea based on their neighbor’s card and passes that along.

Encouraging idea development and cooperation can create a more effective brainstorming session. Ensure that everyone hears each other during the session. Perfect for teams with big personalities

Brain Writing

No single person is as smart or as creative as a group. The brainwriting technique involves accessing ideas. Furthermore, it includes the approaches of many collaborators and co-creates can be challenging.

Start by writing down the topic. Have all team members. write down an idea related to the topic on a card and then pass it to the person to their right. The receiving player reads the card. then adds an idea inspired by the original before passing the card along.

By asking participants to grow and improve on one another’s ideas. Brainwriting helps a group brainstorm better ideas. You can make this a virtual brainstorming activity by using an online whiteboard. and having participants pass post-its to the working spaces of their partners.

Mind Map

Mind mapping is for those who prefer a more organized approach to idea generation. it is a great activity for creating quick ideas. Begin by writing the key topic in the center of a piece of paper or on an online whiteboard.

Invite participants to brainstorm related topics and ideas. by adding branches to the central idea and creating new nodes or elements. The facilitator should group ideas by color. Then, also amend the thickness of the branches to show the strength of various ideas and concepts.

When you’re done, Mind Map will result in a diagram. that represents your group brainstorming activity. and makes it clear how the various ideas interrelate. It is a great resource for idea development or future sessions

FAQ's

Why ask Brainstorming Questions?

Our first instinct when it comes to problem-solving. often be to jump straight to giving answers and finding solutions. Though this can be effective. when it comes to generating creative ideas, a different tact can be more effective.

With this reverse brainstorming game, challenge participants to offer questions instead of solutions. so they can respond to a central concept from a new angle.

If you’re finding your group becomes blocked when generating ideas. it might be due to your existing questions or frameworks aren’t enough. By taking a new ideation approach, you can unblock your team!

What is Role Storming?

In this technique, the participants pick a well-known figure who is not in the room. It might be a boss, a fictitious character, or a well-known public figure. then you can talk about how that person would handle the situation or consider this proposal.

You may ask, for example, how Bill Gates would tackle this issue. It may appear to be a ridiculous question. but putting yourself in the shoes of others might help you and your team to tackle the problem.

When teammates are afraid to share their innovative ideas. Role-storming makes them more inclined to do so. Associate someone else name with ideas, such as Bill Gates in this case.

How to Craft a Clear Session Summary?

To Craft the session summary you should have someone write it out. so that you have the lists of the ideas and what happened at the session. then give it to someone who was not at the brainstorming session.

Convey the summary to the person. who will have the responsibility of making the final decision. on which idea gets pushed forward. so that's another way of having someone give you feedback on those ideas with a fresh set of eyes

Conclusion

In summary, the first thing you should do is to be clear about your aim before starting brainstorming. Appoint a facilitator for your whole session who keeps participants engaged with objectives. He facilitates brainstorming techniques such as brain writing etc.

At the end of the session, I would also encourage you to start to focus on some of the ideas. In whichever way you feel is right for your organization so start to work out well.