The most successful companies are the ones that are constantly coming up with new and innovative ways of doing business. They are always searching for the one great idea that will launch a successful product line or cut costs in difficult times.
Progressive and savvy companies know that great ideas aren’t developed in a vacuum and that ideas can come from anyone in the organization. Taking a cue from their colleagues in advertising, they implement brainstorming sessions to encourage employees to express their ideas.
Brainstorming spurs employees to develop solutions for a problem in a freewheeling and exciting group atmosphere. The result of a successful brainstorming session could be a list of several hundred ideas, not just one or two. From this wide-ranging list, there may be the one idea that changes the course of the company.
Before you can implement brainstorming in your company it’s important to understand what brainstorming is and is not. Brainstorming is not a solution to a problem but, rather, a way to identify a number of possible solutions.
There are three stages of problem solving that you need to be aware of for brainstorming sessions to be effective. They are: problem definition, idea generation and evaluation. In fact brainstorming itself facilitates the second stage by defining a set of possible solutions, because ideas are generated when individuals are relaxed and free to develop creative solutions.
While brainstorming is meant to be a freewheeling, open discussion, there are four important rules that need to be followed.
1. The participants should never criticize any ideas. Brainstorming should encourage a wide range of ideas. Criticism inhibits the participants, and a great idea may be lost because of it. The leader should do whatever is necessary to ensure that criticism or evaluation is not permitted during the session.
2. The participants should let go and have fun. Once it’s been established that criticism is not permitted, each participant should feel free to say whatever comes to his or her mind. No idea is too off-the-wall or bizarre. Successful sessions encourage creative, even impractical solutions. In the most successful sessions, fun and laughter are key elements. Bizarre ideas encourage that type of atmosphere.
3. Encourage a quantity of ideas and not quality. The goal of a brainstorming session is to produce a large number of ideas. The more ideas a session yields, the greater the chance that one truly great idea will come out of it.
4. Expand on previous ideas. All the participants should be encouraged to expand on each other’s suggestions. For example, someone may suggest that a toy company develop a mechanized stuffed animal. Another participant may suggest a mechanized stuffed animal that talks. Specifically state that developing other people’s suggestions is a goal, so participants won’t feel embarrassed about “stealing” someone else’s idea.
Once you have decided to implement brainstorming techniques in your company, you need to set up your first session by deciding who will participate. You should include anyone with an interest in the problem. It is always a good idea to involve someone from outside the department as well. For example, if your goal is to develop a new marketing campaign invite someone from the manufacturing department or one of the wholesalers. Someone from the outside can bring a new perspective to a problem.
The optimal size of a group for brainstorming is approximately 12 people. In a larger group, there is less pressure on individuals to participate. In a smaller group there are fewer people to suggest and develop ideas. Everyone present in the room needs to be a participant, if people are just observing and not participating, it will only inhibit the process.
The choice of a leader is very important to the success of the session. The leader needs to be someone who has the ability to control the group and keep the meeting on target without intimidating the participants. The leader must be able to encourage participation and keep the mood light. The person who leads should also be well-versed in the rules of brainstorming.
Holding a brainstorming session in a neutral surrounding makes it much more effective. When you hold the brainstorming session away from your company it allows people to be more relaxed. They will be a lot more free in expressing their ideas knowing that their boss is not standing outside the door listening. In addition, you should make sure that the room has comfortable chairs and no tables or desks. If possible, disconnect the telephone in the room and make sure every participant has his or her cell phone turned off.
A few days before the session is to be held, the leader should send out a memo to all the participants stating the location of the meeting and the problem to be discussed. This will give all the participants time to develop ideas on their own. It also helps to outline the brainstorming rules in the memo. Don’t set a time limit on the session. A session should end when the ideas do.
A brainstorming session should always begin with a warm-up exercise to encourage creative thinking. It could be something very simple such as asking, “How many uses are there for a paperclip?” A warm-up exercise encourages creativity and sets up an atmosphere of levity for the meeting.
Once the meeting starts post all the ideas on the wall. Use large sheets of paper, and number your ideas with a bright marker. Posting the ideas encourages the participants to build on previous suggestions and gives them a point of reference. Referring to previous ideas is also a good icebreaker when one of those inevitable silent periods arises.
It is important that you only write down the idea, never who suggested it. If you write down the person’s name it will discourage the participants because they will fear that their boss may see it.
Finally, after the session is over, evaluate the ideas. Designate someone to enter all the ideas into a computer and give a printed copy to all the participants. It is important that whatever the eventual decision on any of the ideas, that the participants in the session be kept up to date on the results. This will encourage others to become involved in the process and make it easier to recruit people for your next session.
Brainstorming is a proven and highly effective technique for coming up with a truly great idea. When you learn the basic rules, and conduct brainstorming sessions on a regular basis you will watch your organization reap the benefits and reach the highest levels of success.
Copyright(c)2006 by Joe Love and JLM & Associates, Inc. All rights reserved worldwide.
Joe Love draws on his 25 years of experience helping both individuals and companies build their businesses, increase profits, and achieve total success. He is the founder and CEO of JLM & Associates, a consulting and training organization, specializing in personal and business development. Through his seminars and lectures, Joe Love addresses thousands of men and women each year, including the executives and staffs of many businesses around the world, on the subjects of leadership, achievement, goals, strategic business planning, and marketing. Joe is the author of three books, Starting Your Own Business, Finding Your Purpose In Life, and The Guerrilla Marketing Workbook.
Reach Joe at: joe@jlmandassociates.com
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