One thing that no company denies is that innovation is the basis of growth. To achieve this, you need new good ideas from your team, and one way to do that is through a brainstorming session - a technique to stimulate creative thinking to solve problems.
First, before knowing how to conduct a brainstorming session, it's important to understand what brainstorming is, right? So, let's get to it.
What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is not an actual storm made of brains. This just means that ideas flow freely.
Thus, a brainstorming session is a moment when you and your team gather to have ideas about something: a marketing campaign theme, a new product, or a solution to a problem.
There are several techniques to help organize this flow of ideas, but the most important thing is that you know that brainstorming should be a safe space to welcome all kinds of ideas. Start with quantity, without censorship, to then reach innovation, building the final idea together as a team.
How to conduct a brainstorming session
The first step is to decide on the topic of the brainstorming session: Will it be to have ideas about a problem, product, or a new solution?
After that, choose a brainstorming method - we will detail some below, but the most common is for people to receive the question that the brainstorming session wants to answer, gather at a scheduled time, and bring their answers, ideas, and solutions to develop together.
Regardless of the method, it is essential that someone leads and prepares it, keeping in mind the two golden rules:
- The environment must be relaxed and light
- Every idea is valid - no censorship or laughing at colleagues' ideas allowed
It is also crucial to choose a way to register the ideas that are coming - even the craziest ones. You don't want to miss anything, believe us!
How it works: Types, examples, and techniques for brainstorming
Brainstorming is a technique, and there are some ways to make it happen. We will go through them here, so you can choose the best way to prepare your brainstorming, according to the ideas you want and the way to make the team more comfortable.
Types of brainstorming
There are three basic types of brainstorming: structured, unstructured, and reverse.
- Structured
This is the organized type, which is scheduled beforehand, and people have time to prepare. The session is divided into rounds for people to give and defend their ideas. Here, it is easier not to get a mental block, as everyone comes prepared to contribute. But whoever gives an idea ends up being more exposed as people take turns.
- Unstructured
This one is more spontaneous and may not even be scheduled - the question arises, everyone who can joins the session, and the exchange of ideas on the topic begins. Without structure, those who are shy may feel more at ease without a specific time for the spotlight, but some people may struggle to come up with ideas.
- Reverse
Here, the team gathers to understand how an idea can go wrong. That's why it's the opposite. The idea is already in place, but it is put to the test before going public.
Brainstorming techniques
Now that we've seen the types, let's talk about brainstorming techniques to help stimulate the team to create the best ideas.
Preparation: This is the most common one we talked about. The question is given beforehand, people prepare, and everyone comes and presents their ideas on a scheduled day.
Mind Mapping: This is a collective mental map of the problem. It starts by reducing the problem to three words. Then everyone connects related words to it, until a good idea comes up.
Post-it notes: The person leading the session presents the problem to be solved and hands out post-it notes. The team then has ideas, writes them down, and sticks them on a board. With technology, you can use online boards like Vani for this purpose.
SWOT: Yes, we're talking about the matrix that maps out SWOT points - Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. The focus is to generate more ideas for the opportunities section.
Brainwriting: This technique is about writing down everything that comes to mind in half an hour. Afterward, people share their ideas. The goal is to have as many answers as possible from each person, so you can leave the session with many ideas to choose from and develop.
The silver lining after the (brain)storm
Remember when we said that one of the essential points of brainstorming is to write down all the ideas? Well, that's crucial to ensure no good idea is left behind. After all, we want innovation - according to McKinsey, 6 out of 10 CEOs consider seeking new opportunities a top priority.
Brainstorming is just the beginning of the work. The next step is to put the incredible ideas developed by the team into action. It's crucial to have a method.
Here at Qntrl, for example, we turn our great ideas into projects with clear stages to ensure that the team's innovative efforts yield well-deserved results. We collaborate on the progress of each task through workflows - the key is for everyone to work together to make these brilliant ideas come to life.
