Brainstorming: The Essential Guide to Weathering Brainstorms in 3 Steps

Brainstorming is a tool to bring about solutions that are tightly correlated with fixing an issue or enhancing the strength of a solution. I have had many first hand accounts of seeing many businesses having the wrong notion of what is a brainstorming session, how to apply it, and even when it is actually necessary. Misconceptions and misinterpretations are actually quite common in the industry and can harm your business by wasting time or even straying your overall objective off course.

If you look at the technical term in a dictionary, it is defined as a conference technique for solving specific problems, amassing information, stimulating creative thinking, developing new ideas, etc., by unrestrained and spontaneous participation in discussion.

This isn’t quite right and is very generalized, so it’s easy to see how you can get a wrong understanding of it. What you need to know is that brainstorming is not a bunch of people tossing around ideas in a conference room to see if something sticks, it is mainly about key individuals suggesting strong approaches to solve an issue, bringing new perspective, choosing a direction, and moving forward from there. Here I’ll share some insights that have helped me conduct extremely productive brainstorming sessions.

1. Casting an “A” Team for “A” Results

The first thing I identify is that I want grade “A” results, therefore I need grade “A” individuals participating in the brainstorming session.

In order to get the best results possible from the brainstorming session, I need to cast the right members of the team that will bring in the most value to the brainstorming session. The best practice for identifying these individuals is to throughly understand the issue that needs remedy. The issue which could very well be oriented towards new business development, a new approach applied to marketing efforts, or even existing client-work. Whatever the case, it will naturally assist me with the selection process which will then lead me to identifying those that should be responsible for the outcome.

Let’s face it, it’s easy for anyone to suggest ideas, but if they have no sense of the responsibilities required, then those ideas may not be what I need in a practical sense. I need individuals that will take into account how it could be executed in the best practical way, the resources it may require, and even weigh or have an understanding of the overall scope of their ideas when put into practical application.

So why would you have individuals present in the brainstorming session that won’t be participating in the actual work? It’s just not smart, unless they are responsible for guiding or adding value to the brainstorming session, then you simply don’t need them.

Yes, I have heard and even read that the janitor can bring in some fresh perspective to an issue not seen by the rest, and although that may be true to a certain extent, frankly, that really is more of a story for aspiring entrepreneurs or business owners to understand that inspiration can be found anywhere.

If you are looking for outside perspective, then do it the right way. Hire a consultant that knows what they’re doing and can genuinely offer new and effective approaches. I am not interested at the moment to inspire you with an anecdote about a janitor (which I have nothing against), I am more interested in sharing with you how to get the best results.

It’s also important to note that you should always keep the group that will be attending the brainstorming session to a manageable size. A manageable size for me would be between 6-12 individuals, even if there will be 24+ individuals that will actually be involved once it’s pushed into the development mode. I also like to bring in team members that have a real sense of “ownership”, such as the leads of the departments that need to be involved or those of the team that are the key talents and can bring genuine insight.

And by all means, try to avoid having all the “Chief” titles or other executives there. That will only slow you down. You only need the ones that need to be there, so let’s avoid spectators. This is not about title, it’s about getting things done quickly and effectively. Anything that came about the brainstorming session can be shared afterwards, but only the key concepts with those that need to know.

Side note: Keep in mind that a kick-off meeting, is not a brainstorming session. So try to avoid confusing them. A brainstorming meeting happens before a kickoff meeting. Kickoff meetings are usually to introduce the timelines, responsibilities, and so on to the team or teams that will be intimately involved (in other words, the 24+ previously mentioned could attend a kick-off meeting).

2. No Staring Contests, Especially with the Ceiling

I always try to encourage independent insight before the brainstorming session even begins, so make sure that everyone attending has been given the appropriate data and time to do their own research and individual brainstorming. Depending on how tough the issue is should give you some insight as to how much buffer time you should provide them before the meeting. Don’t usually expect miraculous and jaw-dropping ideas if you give them a 10 minute notice.

The reason for allowing them to know beforehand is simply brought about by common sense. It’s not really efficient or smart to toss everyone into a room and then present the issue, you’ll get a lot of staring around. Lot’s of companies see this as just a natural part of the process, but sadly, it’s not. It’s just wasted time and poor planning. There may be some individuals that are better thinkers when they are alone or given the time to process their thoughts. Others may not fair well under pressure or be intimidated by the nature of how the meeting is conducted, so they take a backseat approach at the meeting or even worse, toss in an incoherent idea into the mix because of nerves. Give them a fighting chance to bring you ideas.

Tip: I particularly prefer giving them a 5-7 day notice with 2 well timed reminders before the brainstorming session. But being witness to how unorganized companies are internally, I would at least recommend a 48 hour notice. Remember that these individuals are more than likely busy attending to other responsibilities within their given department or role in the company.

3. Make it Count, and Define the Key Concepts

Something that I do, is really listen, because even though I may be leading or guiding the team, it’s called a 'brainstorming session' and not a “my-idea-is-the-only-valid-one-here” session.

Even if I’m also introducing one myself, I really listen to what is being suggested and learn of the reasons to why it's being suggested as a viable solution or idea.

I do this with follow up questions to what is being presented, such as “Why do you feel this would work for us?” or “How did you arrive at this suggestion?”.

Another very important aspect is to encourage the collaboration of others during the brainstorming session, because you have to counteract the psychological preconceptions you put into motion when you asked of them to do independent research or thinking beforehand.

In other words, they will naturally feel competitive and that’s natural, but you have to guide them away from that. Their expectations should be guided to more positive behavior during the brainstorming session.

When they show up to take part of the brainstorming session, they may be more focused on pitching their idea and get caught up in the fantasy of being chosen and praised. When in reality, they should be taking note of the ideas that others are presenting and how those ideas or suggestions may influence each other as a whole, to better arrive at a much more enhanced solution.

The way I encourage collaboration is by asking each to weigh in on the others’ ideas in a positive manner. For example, after one person has presented their idea and I have had a chance to explore it, I ask another individual to tell me why they believe we can leverage from it. In the case where by the concept is not viable, I do not proceed to asking the opinions of others regarding the suggestion and simply move on to someone else. Although I do make sure that I give each individual’s suggestion a fair try by allowing them to present it and then exploring it with them.

Aside from this, I also make sure that either myself or someone is notating some of the key suggestions offered by everyone. From there it’s a simple matter of bringing together only the best suggestions and try to have a round of discussion around a unified concept that takes into consideration the best suggestions to reel it home.

In conclusion, keep the group to a manageable size, only have those attending that will lend the best value, give them time beforehand to get the most out of them, stimulate and encourage interaction, and finally, unify the best concepts at the end of the brainstorming session to get the best results.

Do you have any great approaches to brainstorming that you would like to share? If you do, what are they? Share in the comments below. And if this has been helpful, please like and share with others. Thanks.