Brainstorming, brainstorming, creative group, can be a fun filled brainstorming meeting as well as a waste of time. For this reason, even though creativity transmits freedom of ideas, spontaneity and participation, chaos must be brought to order.
1. How many people should participate?
2. What kind of people should you invite?
3. Duration
4. What are the 2 phases of brainstorming?
5. Who will be the facilitator?
6. How will the ideas be collected?
7. Should the department head be present?
8. Criteria for evaluating ideas
9. Name three details that can ruin the creative process
1. How many people should participate?
Ideal, between 6 and 10 people. Under 6, you may not get the necessary diversity of ideas. More than 10, too many ideas. All ideas cannot be heard or taken into account and enthusiasm will be lost. Of course if they are large groups, it works, divide them into groups of 6-10 people. From each group you will have a bestial torrent of ideas.
2. What kind of people should you invite?
Diversity is necessary. It is vital to have participants who have had nothing to do with the problem. Different ages and sexes. Why not a customer, a friend, or your child?
3. Duration
It all depends on the magnitude of the problem, but in any meeting, it is ideal to take advantage of the enthusiasm that a group maintains in the first hour.
Later, the spirit falls, and the fatigue eliminates ideas. Plan all the details well (materials, location, logistics) and take advantage of the initial energy.
Speaking of enthusiasm, after a coffee (invited by you), or an orange juice, take advantage of the morning. Then the cell phones start ringing.
4. What are the 2 phases of brainstorming?
Brainstorming, like any creative process, initially consists of:
• Generation of ideas
Great number of ideas, through divergent thinking. No idea should be judged nothing of laughter and jokes (See brainstorming rules).
• Evaluation and selection
At this stage, convergent thinking goes into action, and a concrete and critical analysis is necessary to achieve results. This stage means the first stage of the problem solving process.
5. Who will be the facilitator?
The ideal is an external (neutral) facilitator who has experience, or at least the necessary personality, and very importantly, GOOD WRITING.
You must motivate all the members of the meeting, and stop the dominant ones.
In special cases, a "scribe" may be necessary.
6. How will the ideas be collected?
The use of Post-it (worth the commercial), is very much in vogue. The idea is that everyone participate, give their ideas, and that only in the end they will be judged. Post-it notes are very good for the evaluation stage, because ideas can be
easily grouped.
There are also computer programs, which together with a projector make the perfect combination.
7. Should the department head be present?
If we talk about the dominant boss, definitely NOT. Any inhibiting element must remain outside those four walls. Of course, in a selection and evaluation process, it is important that this (the) that
allocate resources. In case it is present, the best way is to transmit that it complies with the rules, and declare any idea as welcome.
8. Criteria for evaluating ideas
The criteria should not be excessively restrictive. A strategy can be the FAN criterion (Feasible, Attractive, New). Many times, in these brainstorming, ideas are generated that do not agree with a short objective
term, but may be the start of a new business, or profound improvements later.
9. Some details that can ruin the creative process
It's easy to ruin a session:
• Judging ideas (laughs, games)
• A facilitator who discriminates
• That there is no follow-up of the ideas generated
• Not having a clear objective
• Fall into work discussions
• Few ideas.
