What is brainstorming or brainstorming?
It is a group work tool that facilitates the emergence of new ideas on a certain topic or problem. Brainstorming is a group technique to generate original ideas in a relaxed environment.
This tool was created in 1941, by Alex Osborne, when his search for creative ideas resulted in an interactive, unstructured group process that generated more and better ideas than individuals could produce by working independently; giving opportunity to suggest on a certain matter and taking advantage of the creative capacity of the participants. When it's used?
Brainstorming should be used when there is a need to:
- Unleash team creativityGenerate a vast number of ideasInvolve opportunities to improve
Allows us
- Raise and solve existing problems Raise possible causes Raise alternative solutions Develop creativity Discuss new concepts Overcome conformity and monotony
How is it used?
- The topic or problem is defined. An exercise leader is appointed. Before starting the "brainstorm", he will explain the rules. Ideas are freely emitted without drawing conclusions at this stage. Ideas are listed Not to be repeated Not criticized Exercise ends When there are no new ideas, they are analyzed, evaluated and organized, to assess their usefulness according to the objective that was intended to achieve with the use of this technique.
How to use
The technique, "Brainstorming", can be used in 3 different ways:
Unstructured (free flow)
- Choose someone to be the facilitator and write down the ideas Write on a flipchart or on a board a phrase that represents the problem and the topic of discussion Write each idea in the fewest number of words Check with the person who made the contribution when the idea is being repeated. Do not interpret or change ideas. Establish a time limit (approximately 25 minutes). Encourage creativity. Build on the ideas of others. Members of the "brainstorming" group and the facilitator should never criticize ideas. Review the list to verify your understanding Eliminate duplications, minor issues, and non-negotiable issues Reach a consensus on issues that seem redundant or unimportant.
Structured (in a circle)
It has the same goals as unstructured brainstorming. The difference is that each team member presents their ideas in an orderly format (eg, from left to right). It's not a problem if a team member gives up their turn if they don't have an idea right now.
Silent (written brainstorm)
Similar to brainstorming, participants brainstorm ideas but silently record their ideas on paper. Each participant puts their sheet on the table and exchanges it for another sheet of paper. Each participant can then add other related ideas or think of new ideas. This process continues for about 30 minutes and allows participants to build on the ideas of others and avoid conflict or intimidation by dominant members.
Aspects to consider for the success of a brainstorming session
Preparation of the meeting
For a meeting to be useful it has to be well prepared, for this you have to take into account the material aspects as well as the functional ones. They can be divided into 4 steps:
1. Definition of the objectives:
- Set the objectives of the meeting. Types of objectives. Those to be achieved.
The secondary objectives: those that would be interesting.
If the priority objectives are many, several meetings are held.
2. The choice of participants:
The effectiveness of a meeting depends a lot on the participants. One would have to see if people are compatible.
3. Plan the development of the meeting:
It is defined in the agenda, which is a development of the issues to be addressed.
4. Organization of the meeting material.
We have to keep in mind:
- The documentsPrepare the roomAnnex aspects: the bottle of water, wastebasket, pens… Make a reminder of the callMake sure they will attend.
Development of the meeting
1. Presentation of the participants. It is important to know in which area of work each one specializes, what it is good for, it is also particularly relevant that they form and form a true work team.
2. Give them confidence. Through the presentation, a climate of trust is created. In order for the participants and the entertainer to feel good, they must be comfortable. At first, the participants will feel anxious because they feel observed by the others. We have to take time into account.
3. Presentation of the meeting topic. What is being talked about? Why do we talk about this topic? Why are we interested in talking about this topic? What are the problems raised?
4. Set the objectives of the meeting. Explain the agenda we have, comment on it. Establish the priority objectives and clarify them within the meeting period, if there is time we will move on to the secondary objectives and so on.
The role of the meeting leader
It has to perform the following functions:
Clarification function:
- At the beginning of the meeting, to ensure that the purpose of the meeting is clear to the participants and that it is in compliance. During the course of the meeting, to help the participants understand each other well. Constantly asking questions to ensure that what has been said has been understood, and if not, try to clarify it.
Control function:
With this function, the leader of the meeting tries to help the group to establish its procedures, that is, to establish a series of rules (more or less authoritarian) that allow communication.
It also allows:
- Regulate the meeting by preventing anyone from monopolizing Bring participants back to discuss the topic of the meeting in question Stimulate non-participants Manage time well.
Relaxation functions:
- The driver must eliminate any tension that may occur in the meeting, caused by ignorance of the participants, opposition of characters, opposition of opinions, etc… The driver must create a climate of trust and relaxation that allows group communication, not suppressing possible conflicts, but harmony is achieved in them. You should choose the role of conciliator and choose to modulate the course of the meeting.
Dynamization function:
It consists of urging the group to feel like doing "something", motivate it, fill it with enthusiasm, etc…
Characteristics of a good meeting conductor
Show security in front of the group:
Fear of the group is very common for the actor. From the outset there is this fear, but then it is over. This security shows. If the driver becomes nervous and does not know how to hide it, he transmits this sensation to the group and the latter ends up becoming nervous. What the group wants to think about is that it is in good hands.
To avoid this fear you can do:
Physical training:
- How to position the body. Gestures and postures are as important as words. Strive to look into the eyes of people in the auditorium. Fight against defensive postures (arms crossed). Move to occupy space.
Psychological preparation:
- Overcome fear for group trials Think that the meeting will not work. We must get past this. It is important to find a common thread for when we see the issue drift.
Brainstorming's relationship with other problem-solving tools
Affinity diagram
It is a tool that organizes a large number of ideas based on affinity, that is, on the relationships that exist between them.
Cause-effect diagram (Ishikawa)
It is a cause and effect analysis technique for solving problems, which relates an effect to the possible causes that cause it.
Use:
It is used when you need to find the root causes of a problem. It greatly simplifies the analysis and improves the solution of each problem, helps to visualize them better and make them more understandable, since it groups together the problem or situation to be analyzed and the causes and sub-causes that contribute to this problem or situation.
Other names:
- Fishbone Diagram Cause Effect Diagram
Check list
This technique is very useful in data analysis to find opportunities to improve. The following types of data sheets can be made: data collection sheet, location sheet and checklist.
Nominal Group Technique (TGN)
The members of the group interact very little and contribute their decisions individually, later adding their results and using voting as a means of achieving a group assessment. With more than twelve members, we will work in subgroups to select some ideas before continuing with the entire group.
Goals:
Exchanging information, making common decisions, achieving a high degree of consensus, balancing the degree of participation among group members and obtaining a clear idea of the group's opinions.
Development:
After the description of the problem by the moderator, the rules are set out: respect silence for the established time and do not interrupt or express our ideas to another participant until the moderator indicates it. For a few minutes (between four and eight), the participants write down all their ideas in silence; After that time, there is a round in which each participant presents a single idea at a time, although the only possible interaction is between moderator and participant, and to clarify the idea that the first one will write on the board.
When all the ideas are written, a discussion begins among the participants to clarify any doubts that may exist about what has been written, and some contribution can now be modified. Again in silence, each assistant, using some cards, hierarchically orders the contributions that seem most important to them. All the individual votes are added together and a hierarchy of ideas is obtained with which the process is repeated again until the final vote is reached.
Multivoting
It is used to narrow down a list and evaluate which are the most important ideas. Preferred over direct vote
Use
- We take the list obtained from Brainstorming and combine those ideas that can go together. All items are numbered. How many items each member will vote is defined (must be at least 1/3 of the total). Each member writes the selected items. We count the votes. number of votes. We repeat the previous steps with the reduced list until we reach a list where all the items have the same weight. With the final list we discuss in groups until reaching a decision.
