Top tips to Brainstorming

Successful brainstorming meetings can be very effective if conducted properly. It can be on an idea you want to develop or a problem that needs to be resolved. Brainstorming is a powerful tool and can bring teams or people with expertise together to produce brilliant ideas.

Here are just a few tips for you to consider:-

Venue/Time

If possible try and find somewhere private away from the workplace, due to the number of interruptions from staff or the phone. Keep the session short.

Invitations

Depending on the subject of your brainstorming meeting, think about the people who will be involved in pushing forward this idea. However, make sure you have not excluded someone who might even be the person answering the phone, as they may have some good ideas themselves.

Agenda

Send an email around to the people attending the meeting at least 2 weeks prior to the date, giving them a brief of what the meeting is about. This will then give them time to start thinking of ideas to discuss. Ensure everyone understands the idea, the problem and the final solution of this meeting.

Meeting room equipment

Depending on the meeting and the number of people attending, the material listed can vary on requirements:-
Notepads/ Flip chart /nobo board or just cover a wall in Sticky Notes. Encourage people to discuss their ideas, one person's idea can often trigger a new idea from someone else.

Contribution

Make sure everyone has had the opportunity to speak, control anyone repeating themselves and encourage anyone who has not had the chance to speak

Organising / Problems and Solutions

Once you have lots of ideas, the next thing to do is to organise them. Remember to keep everyone involved. Categorising the ideas in order of importance. Ask the team if they can foresee any problems on each of the areas and come up with solutions. Try to get the right people to sign up to take ownership of the ideas to ensure you meet the deadlines set.

Summarise the Meeting

At the end of the meeting – thank everyone for their time and effort. Go back over the notes to ensure everyone is happy with what they have take ownership on, agreed to the deadlines set and if needed everyone is available for the next meeting to discuss progress