Brainstorming Tips for More Productive Teams

Whether or not team brainstorming is effective has been up for debate in recent years. Some studies and managers think that it’s ineffective, while other manager’s swear their best work comes from the collaboration of a team.

Reasons behind brainstorming not working are: Extroverts overcome introverts by doing all the talking, some team members are smarter than others thereby contributing most of the work, and nothing ever is accomplished after the brainstorm.

These criticisms are true of managers who don’t know how to put together an effective brainstorm. Here are 6 brainstorming tips for more productive teams so that you can produce the best results, here’s how to prepare.

Prep Your Team

Some team members will be very good at brainstorming off the cuff, others will feel uncomfortable and on the spot. They fear of rejection of their ideas, or are just not great with improv. Make sure you send an agenda with the brainstorm, and let them know what the problem is, what the expectations are, and allow them to come with 7-10 ideas before the meeting begins.

This helps introverts overcome their fears and will allow them to be more productive. Also asking them ahead of the meeting to participate and warming them up to the idea will get them excited about the brainstorm.

Invite Newcomers

One of the biggest problems with brainstorming is that the creative team may come up with great solutions, but nothing gets done. These experts might be ones that will execute the ideas.

For smaller companies, these newcomers also could be people who are board members who bring their Rolodexs and may also be able to bring additional resources to execute in the brainstorm.

For even smaller companies, it may be a good idea to invite a few friends over for lunch. One of the best brainstorming sessions that I had for my startup Due was when we had a few of my local entrepreneur meetup group friends over. Their are some very smart individuals that helped us come up with some of the best ideas we’ve had for our startup.

Pick the Right Facilitator

A good facilitator will make the meeting fun. This doesn’t have to be the manager, but a team member who is good with people, will invite suggestions from the introverts, and will organize the ideas using color and patterns. This person should be the most open-minded, friendly, and well-liked amongst his or her peers.

Create Rules

Criticism of ideas is not allowedEvery idea is encouragedEvery participant should try to add to other’s ideasAs many ideas as possibleNo interruptingParking Lot–topics that have nothing to do with the problem at hand go into a parking lot for later discussion

Have your team contribute to the rules, this starts the meeting off with brainstorming and gets everyone comfortable talking. Ask introverts or quiet team members to provide a rule to get them started.

The List Matters

Creating a list matters, but it should start with the central problem and goal. Color coordinate based on what problem the team is trying to solve. Some color coordinate based on verbs, nouns, adjectives, other’s color coordinate features around who it benefits. Come up with something that works for your team

Combine “Brainswarming”

Harvard Business Review recently claimed brainstorming didn’t work, and that the solution is “brainswarming”. Dr. Tony McCaffrey explains by starting with a goal, and giving the team resources, they can independently come to conclusions on their own without needing a brainstorming session, eliminating talking. Although the concept has elements that can work for a team, combining both could be a really interesting concept. A team could use brainswarming as their meeting prep, and then have a very small brainstorming session using their individual brainswarms, and possibly come up with even more ideas.

Brainstorming sessions can be highly valuable, but they have to be handled correctly, otherwise they wind up being a waste of time. Do you have other strategies you use to get the most out of brainstorming session.