Manage an effective brainstorming meeting

A problem to solve in a company or in a group? A desire to do things differently and better than before? A desire to find new areas of development, avenues to explore for new activities ?

You want to work in a group with your colleagues on a subject and brainstorming could help you do this. This method to overcome our conceived ideas, our old stubborn and sometimes bad habits, and open our minds to other possibilities to the point of perhaps changing the paradigm on our activities. All these subjects are difficult to understand without a method, I present to you a proven approach that works and which can allow you to move forward effectively in a group meeting.

Brainstorming or the art of transforming a simple idea into a shower of innovations !

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“Brainstorming” what is all about ?

In a company, brainstorming is a technique which consists of bringing together a group of collaborators so that they collectively produce as many new ideas as possible on a given theme.

A brainstorming can be organized each time a satisfactory and ready-made solution to a problem is missing….

The problems that can be solved by brainstorming are varied. It can be an innovation process: new product, new concept, new advertising campaign… In this case, the goal is to harness the creativity of all stakeholders. It may also be a question of launching a project. Before actually undertaking it, meeting allows us to identify the different ways of going about it. We can also wonder about the future in general: where is the company going and what new directions will it have to take to respond to the various technological, societal and economic challenges ?

Brainstorming also allows you to solve daily management problems. The manager examines with his team how to improve a particular process, product or practice.

If brainstorming is developed in the professional world, it originally comes from the world of advertising. It was theorized in 1939 by Alex Osborn, vice president of BBDO, a New York advertising agency. It is therefore a management tool as well as an advertising creation tool or an aid to carrying out a market study.

A method for effective brainstorming

How to brainstorm? The success of a brainstorming session is based on several fundamental pillars: a small motivated group, the creation of a creative state of mind, respect for the rule of deferred judgment, the proposal of ideas, their confrontation with reality then follow-up on the ideas expressed.

The ideal brainstorming session has between 8 and 10 people

• A small, motivated group: Brainstorming sessions require a lot of energy from the participants: They must engage cognitively but also physically and emotionally. Favoring volunteer collaborators is therefore recommended because, to be effective, brainstorming must be carried out by people who are committed to solving the problem. The approach can nevertheless be imposed when it is an internal team session, led by the manager.
• Creating the conditions for creativity: The first step in a brainstorming session occurs before the actual production of ideas. You must start by clearly explaining why the people present are gathered and what is expected of them. Participants must take ownership of the issue and want to solve the problem posed. This role of “midwife” falls to the facilitator: through his questions, he must help the participants change their frame of reference. Some warm-up exercises to awaken creativity can be carried out: finding an intruder among random words, telling a story using terms drawn at random. The location of this brainstorming is also important, we must favor places less known to the participants, or even new ones. The context also allows us to forget these points of reference and open up to other thought patterns.
• The rules of deferred judgment and constructive criticism: A creativity session does not mean a gathering where anything goes. Quite the contrary. In brainstorming, the basic principle is the rule of deferred judgment: To avoid restricting creativity, we must preserve phases where we produce without trying to evaluate ourselves. Everyone’s ideas must initially be able to coexist without value judgment or criticism. Secondly, the critical thinking of the participants must of course be used. However, it must be transformed into constructive and proactive criticism: avoid saying “I do not agree” but rather “this solution has such advantages but I also have such fears”.
• Propose ideas: There are many techniques for mobilizing creative thinking. It is always a matter of looking for stimuli linked to the problem and which will trigger solutions. We can proceed by analogy: the problem is transposed to another universe. It is also possible to use daydreaming: participants let their imagination wander in a story related to the problem. We can also proceed by combination: we break the object of the research into two, for example for a cosmetic product, the packaging and its use. We list the different formats and possible uses then we cross-reference them to find a new type of product.. Several techniques can obviously be used successively during the same brainstorming session. To maximize the results of this work, it is necessary to vary the different modes of producing ideas. You can alternate the oral with writing, even drawing, mime, photo collage… You can do work all together and individual work or in small groups of two or three. We can chain production phases where we take our time and those where ideas are bombarded. The different personalities present will thus have more chances to feel comfortable and express themselves. Sticking only to large group exercises can lead to only extroverts expressing themselves, so be careful. Once all these ideas have been born, it is a matter of grouping them and releasing concepts to organize this creative thinking.
• Confronting ideas with reality: During this stage, participants are asked to project their idea as if it were becoming reality. What are the strengths and weaknesses? What resistance to change might appear? What skills should be acquired? It is at this moment that the critical thinking of the participants must be solicited, in order not to oppose the idea but to examine what it contains in terms of positive and negative points.
• Follow-up of the ideas put forward: To be truly effective, a brainstorming session must be subject to real follow-up. After selecting the ideas to keep, it is strongly recommended to write summary sheets for decision-makers who did not attend the meeting. These sheets should explain why the idea is good, how it offers opportunities and what needs to be done to make it possible. This synthesis work may eventually be left to the brainstorming facilitator alone. To be effective, the results must not remain a dead letter. Likewise, signs of recognition for the work carried out must be given. And under no circumstances let a superior take sole responsibility for the results of this collective work.

The 4 laws of brainstorming

1. Quantity before quality: “as many ideas as possible”. 
2. No criticism, discussion or comment: “the flow of ideas must not be disturbed”. 
3. Taking notes of all ideas: “appoint someone to take notes”.  
4. Thinking outside the box: “a multitude of ideas taken independently of each other”.

Organize an effective brainstorming session in 10 steps

1. Define the objective: Start by clarifying the objective of the brainstorming and what is expected. For example, generating ideas to solve a specific problem or developing new strategies.

2. Create a diverse group: Invite people with different and complementary perspectives. This promotes the generation of varied ideas.

3. Choose a facilitator: Designate someone to lead the session, ensuring that everyone can express themselves freely and maintaining focus on the objective. The facilitator can also be the one who transcribes the ideas but more effectively, it will also be necessary to appoint an editor.

4. Create a conducive environment: Choose a comfortable place free of distractions. Ensuring everyone feels comfortable sharing their ideas without fear of judgment.

5. Use brainstorming techniques: Encourage creativity using methods such as free brainstorming, mind mapping or Bono’s 6 hats technique.

6. Encourage quantity: Encourage the production of a large number of ideas without initial judgment. Quality will come later during the selection phase.

7. Capture ideas: Use whiteboards, post-it notes or mind mapping software to record ideas in a way visible to the whole group.

8. Evaluate and Select: Once enough ideas have been generated, they should be reviewed to determine the best options to explore further.

9. Develop an action plan: Identify the next steps to take to implement the selected ideas, including responsibilities (who? does what?) and deadlines.

10. Follow up: Ensure that the progress of the selected ideas is carefully monitored and reassess if necessary.

By following these steps, you can maximize the effectiveness of your brainstorming session and generate innovative ideas for your project.

Brainstorming games and techniques

Specialists in marketing, coaching, market research, management or project management are teeming with ideas to successfully complete the brainstorming process.

Here are some ideas for games that are very easy to set up, often called free brainstorming, mind-mapping, Bono hats techniques. Of course, it is possible to invent games depending on the context and the solution to be found. The use of a method will depend on your audience, the context of the brainstorming and using several methods during a session is often very effective.

Being someone else: This involves asking participants to put themselves in the shoes of a celebrity, a famous person, an athlete, etc. and to imagine what they would be like to say.

Place yourself in the future: Participants will then imagine themselves in a context 100 years later. What would our environment be ?

Visualization of images: Method which consists, before the work of exchanging ideas, of exposing images and photos in the context of the subject can bring ideas about what already exists.

Work in several teams to share ideas: During the session, share the group to work on other ideas at the same time.

Word associations: With this technique, it involves starting with a word to gradually bring out ideas around it.

Present a concept in 140 characters: Like the Twitter of the past, it’s about working to present an idea as concisely as possible.

Draw the ideas that arrive / mind mapping: Starting from the center with as much information on the project as possible, draw branches with the subjects to be treated: on the right the context = Inspiration / Objective / Target / Concrete results. On the left then on the Actions / Partners or stakeholders to request.

Use Bono’s 6 hats technique: Developed by Edward de Bono, it involves first asking the subject and then adopting each of the hats to explore new solutions. Ideally 10 minutes per hat: blue (organization) > white (neutrality & facts) > green (creativity & ideas) > red (emotions & feelings) > black (negative criticism) > yellow (positive criticism) > blue (organization). We focus on one channel of thought at a time.

Blue hat	the facilitator	Guarantor of the smooth running of the 6 hats: Supervision, reminder of the rules, listening, note taking without selection.
White hat	the factual	“The facts, nothing but the facts”. Known and unknown facts, objective information, dates and figures.
Green hat	the creative	“All your ideas, even the craziest.” New ideas, concepts, hypotheses, alternatives.
Red hat	the intuitive	Feelings, emotions, feelings, intuitions.
Black hat	the negative	“What should we be wary of?” Risks, fears, obstacles, fears, judgments.
Yellow hat	the optimist	Benefits, feasibility, added value, positive contribution, potential gains.
Blue hat	the facilitator	Guarantor of the smooth running of the 6 hats: Supervision, reminder of the rules, listening, note taking without selection.

In the age of the Internet and the massive arrival of AI in our daily lives, it is more than necessary to put our minds to work and develop our ideas. The brainstorming meeting has many advantages for making a group work together, bringing out new ideas, promoting teamwork which will motivate the implementation of a new idea which is born from group reflection. As much as in the content of the ideas and the importance of the follow-up that we make of them, one of the most “determining” stages is often the conditioning: the physical space plays an important role.

Creating a favorable environment, getting out of your comfort zone, your benchmarks, no longer giving yourself barriers or even brakes to bring out new ideas is always the best start to organizing an effective brainstorming meeting. Finally, why not invite external speakers out of context? This contribution of an external view also allows us to escape from our reflections, often inspired by our daily life and context !

Have a good brainstorming meeting !