An Effective Guide on How to Brainstorm in a Group

Effective Brainstorming Session

Brainstorming is an effective and informal way to generate ideas and find a conclusion for a specific problem.It is a group or individual creativity technique for concept generation, some branding agencies use them as visualization and spontaneous compositional tools. Traditional  brainstorming  is  conducted  with  a  group of people so that one contributor’s thought builds on or triggers another’s, although it may even  work  better  when  modified  for  individual use, since there is no holding back.

Some points to remember while brainstorming in a group:

1. Clearly and succinctly define the problem. Determine criteria.

2. Appoint two people: (A) a good note taker and (B) an effective facilitator responsible for running the brainstorming session. (An oversized note pad, a marker board, or an interactive whiteboard screen is useful. Or record the session. Notes should be evaluated at conclusion.)

3. Including participants with a different expertise is optimum.

4. Participants should openly contribute.
  

5. Stay focused on the problem under discussion.
  

6. During the brainstorming session, do not judge any contributed ideas. Creativity should not be stifled, no matter how harebrained the idea offered.

7. A second round of brainstorming builds onto ideas suggested in round one.

Average time: 30- to 45-minute session. At the conclusion of the session, ideas are evaluated. 

The advantages of brainstorming include:

•  It is an effective idea-generation tool
•  Encourages creative thinking
•  Generates many ideas
•  Provides an opportunity for collaboration

So what points do you take care of while brainstorming in a group?