How to conduct brainstorming?

The moment one is a manager it becomes mandatory to collaborate with others and play on the strengths of others. Brainstorming is a great tool which will help to collaborate intellectually. It is possible to brainstorm even remotely using collaboration tools like skype, teams, zoom, gtalk, gotomeeting, gtalk etc as long as we follow the ground rules of brainstorming.

The objective of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible from the participants of the brainstorming session. The following points will help you to conduct brainstorming sessions effectively. Once again I will use the PDCA framework to explain this.

before doing it. Usually there will be a moderator for brainstorming who ensures that the basic brainstorming gudelines are followed.

Plan brainstorming

  • Identify the topic for brainstorming.
  • Choose the venue with sufficient space and a big enough white board to capture details.
  • Send invitations along with the topic, start time and end time.
  • Identify the moderator

Do brainstorming

  • The moderator must explain the ground rules of brainstorming to the participants first.
  • All participants must get equal opportunity to contribute
  • When someone is expressing their ideas, no one is allowed to validate them.
  • Participants can build on others ideas.
  • All ideas are captured by the moderator or anyone designated by the moderator.

Check the data captured

  • Group the ideas based on their complementary nature.
  • Eliminate redundant ones

Act

  • Prioritise
  • Take action