In advertising, the brainstorming They are our daily bread. As we are always looking to give a twist to the creativity and strategy of our campaigns, we need to generate ideas that are out of the ordinary.
So we brainstorm with our team often but are we really doing it right? A poorly organized brainstorming session can demotivate your team, while a well-executed one can mean the success of your next campaign. Here’s what you need to know to do a really effective brainstorming session.
Before you start: the basics of brainstorming
A brainstorming (also called “brainstorm” either “brainstorming“) is a creative technique that seeks to generate new ideas to solve a given problem, in a group and in a relaxed environment. The idea is that the interaction between group members enhances creativity and makes ideas emerge that would otherwise remain in the inkwell.
The brainstorming They are mainly used to generate large amounts of ideas when we don’t know where to start when facing an issue, find unexpected creative solutions and look for new opportunities to solve problems or improve processes.
The 4 rules of good brainstorming
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Quantity is preferable to quality. When a brainstorming is organized, it is normal that the first ideas are the most common, those that have surely already occurred to others. The more we keep scratching, the more likely we are to find something original. And furthermore, the more ideas we produce, the more possibilities there will be to combine and filter.
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Create a safe space. For a brainstorming to be truly effective, all team members must feel comfortable saying whatever comes to mind, no matter how absurd or impossible it may seem. Freedom of thought is fundamental.
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Trials are prohibited. The goal of brainstorming should be to freely produce ideas, not to judge their quality or value. It is very important that team members are aware of the need to avoid criticism. During the session, we will limit ourselves to writing down all the ideas that arise.
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You can take ideas from others as a starting point. One of the main keys to the effectiveness of brainstorming is what is known as the multiplier effect: combine ideas to get a better one or propose variations on a partner’s idea. Often, this is how the definitive solution to a problem is found.
What do you need to organize a brainstorming?
Before starting, it is essential that we have been able to adequately define the problem and be able to explain it clearly to the team members. If not, it will be impossible for the ideas to be on the right track.
We will also have to define the different roles for the session:
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The moderator. This person will be responsible for directing the brainstorming session so that it is effective and meets the set objective. The moderator will be in charge of explaining the problem to be solved, energizing the session and clarifying the doubts of the participants.
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The Secretary. This person is in charge of writing down all the ideas that arise and solving possible problems that arise. Depending on the number of participants in the session, she may or may not participate.
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Participants. In general, it is recommended that between 3 and 5 people participate in a brainstorming session. It is also interesting that some are not experts on the subject, since being less exposed to it, they will have less risk of falling into trite solutions.
Finally, it may be interesting to start the session with some kind of warm-up exercise, for example, “let’s say names of objects made of metal.” This helps us get into creative mode and make contact with the group.
10 techniques to organize an effective brainstorming with your team
1) Quick ideation
This technique is based on putting a time limit and ask all team members to write down as many ideas as possible before discussing, criticizing or developing them. The time limit is important to create a sense of urgency and spur creativity.
The advantage of this technique is that it prevents ideas from being discarded before they have time to develop and transform. Thus, we ensure that ideas are captured in an environment that is 100% criticism-free.
2) Brainstorming with character
The group chooses a person who is not in the room, for example, a celebrity or a fictional character, and talks about What would that person do to solve the problem?. For example, “What would Chuck Norris do to generate more leads?”
The beauty of this technique is that pretending to be someone else can help you and your team approach the problem in a different way. Sometimes team members may be hesitant to express their ideas, but doing so on behalf of someone else eliminates that problem. Furthermore, this technique eliminates some barriers to creative thinkingsuch as budget and time.
3) Reverse Brainstorming
Normally, the brainstorming is proposed to find a solution to the problem. But in this case, we turn the starting point on its head to stimulate creative thinking: instead of looking for solutions, we look for problems related to the starting idea. Thus, it is possible to anticipate possible difficulties before they arise.
4) Non-verbal brainstorming
In this method, the session begins by leaving a few minutes for all team members to write down three ideas related to the brainstorming topic.
Once they have finished, everyone passes the paper with the three ideas to the person on their right (or left). Once again, the timer starts and everyone gets busy. develop the ideas that have come to themadding lists or creative strategies.
When the time is up, the process is repeated: the paper is passed one more place and the timer is started again, and so on until we have gone around the entire table. When we have finished the process, the group discusses the ideas that have emerged and decides which ones to continue working on.
5) Brainstorming in rounds
This technique is designed so that all team members can participate equally. So, each person says an idea in turn. The rule is that all team members have to have contributed an idea before a second idea can be said or the ideas presented can be criticized, developed or debated. It is also not worth saying “My idea has already been said.”
6) Mind maps
On many occasions, an idea gives rise to others that open up in the form of a tree, and it is in this diversification process where we can end up arriving at the definitive idea.
To facilitate this, we can propose brainstorming in the form of mind map. The moderator stands in front of a large blank board and places the ideas as they arise. This technique is especially useful for people who think more visually.
7) Change of scenery
Physical spaces have a great influence on our way of thinking. If you always organize brainstorming in the same room and with the same group of people, the sessions may start to seem repetitive and uninspired. The solution is give a change of scenery and convene your team somewhere elseFor example, a cafeteria or even another floor of the building.
8) Charrette
This method is very suitable for making large-scale brainstorming. We gathered a group of more than 20 participants from different departments and divided them into smaller groups of 2 or 3 people. The topics or problems to be solved are distributed among the groups for them to debate.
He Charrette method works great for getting immediate results and opinions, while allowing all participants to participate equally in the decision-making and brainstorming process.
9) Online brainstorming
For this group brainstorming technique, you need a central location where team members can write down their ideas. For example, you can organize online brainstorming in real time through Slack or create a collaborative document in Google and leave it open for contributions for a certain time (ideal if your team works from different time zones).
10) Starbusting
This technique is used for later stages of brainstorming, when the team has already selected an idea to develop and execute.
The method is based on choosing a specific idea or challenge, drawing it in the center and creating a six-point star around it. Each dot represents a question: who, what, when, where, why and how. For example, who is this product for? What does it contribute compared to the competition? When would be a good time to launch it?
By focusing on questions rather than answers, this brainstorming technique encourages the team to examine the idea from all points of view and collaborate to find solutions.