for Better Brainstorming

Effective Techniques

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Does brainstorming ever feel like a total waste of time? You feel it’s necessary to get your team’s input on a topic, but the session usually just turns into a few people bickering, and

the other participants saying nothing at all.

Many people forget the key to brainstorming is quantity, not quality. Brainstorming is the first step in the exploration phase of a new project, so it’s important to be open to all ideas and possibilities.

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Problems arise when team members think they need to filter out the good ideas from the not-so-good ones due to fear of being judged or

rejected.

Another problem with brainstorming is that many people think it can only be done one way: an open discussion in a meeting

room with everyone involved.

This  method  is  not  necessarily  wrong,  but  it  can  lead  to  some  largely  unrecognized  social  drawbacks  that  might  contribute  to  an  

unproductive  session.

Here are 5 easy ways to brainstorm effectively,

encourage collaboration, and eliminate judgment:

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Brain Writing

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The team leader shares the topic with the team, and everyone writes down their ideas individually. This helps eliminate

anchoring and encourages everyone on the team to share their own ideas.

This brainstorming technique works best for teams who seem to be greatly

influenced by the first ideas presented during a meeting.

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Online Brainstorming

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Have a central location where team members can archive their ideas so it's easier for remote teams to brainstorm. Redfoo uses Wrike to brainstorm music and clothing ideas for his companies. He

created an ideas folder in Wrike where he can jot down new concepts and share them

with his team.

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Rapid Ideation

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Set a time limit for team members to write down as many thoughts or ideas around a topic as possible, using any

mediums available. This style of brainstorming is great because it's

completely customizable to meet the needs of each team and project.

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Round Robin Brainstorming

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Have everyone stand in a circle while the facilitator presents a

topic. Then, have each person share an idea one after the other until

everyone shares.

Simultaneously, a facilitator records each idea so they can be discussed once the sharing is over. It’s very

important to not evaluate any ideas until everyone has the opportunity

to share.

Starbursting5

This technique challenges the team to come up with as many questions as they can about your topic. An easy way to begin a session like this would

be to start listing questions that deal with the who, what, where, when, and why. This style assures that all aspects of the project are addressed before

any work goes into executing it.

Try out each method and evaluate the response from your team. It's important to keep them involved in figuring out

which method works best.

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Try out your next brainstorming session

on Wrike!

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here