COMPOSED BY

OLABAMIJI IBRAHIM ISHOLA

(BSC, HND)

DEPARTMENT OF COMPUTER SCIENCE, KWARA STATE POLYTECHNIC ILORIN,

ABSTRACT Brainstorming with a group of people is a powerful technique to creates new ideas, solves problems, motivates and develops teams, motivates because it involves members of a team in bigger management issues, and it gets a team working together. The project aimed at developing an electronic brainstorming and action planning techniques which is used to eliminate the hand-written communication technique, by employ computerized programs to achieve brainstorming, however, brainstorming is not simply a random activity. It needs to be structured and it follows planning rules. Brainstorming places a significant burden on the facilitator to manage the process, people's involvement and sensitivities, and then to manage the follow up actions. Use Brainstorming well and you will see excellent results in improving the organization, performance, and developing the team. The project work is developed using PHP scripting language and MSQL database management system is used to implement the system.

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INTRODUCTIONBrainstorming enables people to suggest ideas at random. Your job as facilitator is to encourage

everyone to participate, to dismiss nothing, and to prevent others from pouring scorn on the

wilder suggestions (some of the best ideas are initially the daftest ones - added to which people

won't participate if their suggestions are criticised). During the random collection of ideas the

facilitator must record every suggestion on the flip-chart. Use Blu-Tack or sticky tape to hang the

sheets around the walls. At the end of the time limit or when ideas have been exhausted, use

different coloured pens to categorise, group, connect and link the random ideas (Bullinger 1999).

Condense and refine the ideas by making new headings or lists. You can diplomatically combine

or include the weaker ideas within other themes to avoid dismissing or rejecting contributions

(remember brainstorming is about team building and motivation too - you don't want it to have

the reverse effect on some people). With the group, assess, evaluate and analyse the effects and

validity of the ideas or the list. Develop and prioritise the ideas into a more finished list or set of

actions or options (Mansfield, Busse and Krepelka, 1978, Parnes and Brunelle, 1967, Rose and

Lin,1984, Taylor, 1972) .

Planning a new venture, a presentation, or any new initiative, is generally much easier if you

begin simply by thinking of ideas - in no particular order or structure - and jotting them down on

a sheet of paper or in a notebook. Basically this is personal brainstorming, and it can follow the

same process as described above for groups, except that it's just you doing it.

Sometimes it's very difficult to begin planning something new - because you don't know where

and how to start. Brainstorming is a great way to begin. The method also generates lots of

possibilities which you might otherwise miss by getting into detailed structured planning too

early. In some ways, an action plan is a "heroic" act: it helps us turn our dreams into a reality. An

action plan is a way to make sure your organization's vision is made concrete. It describes the

way your group will use its strategies to meet its objectives. An action plan consists of a number

of action steps or changes to be brought about in your community (Fentem, & McDonnell,

1998).

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The usefulness of different colours in written notes is further illustrated (please correct me or

expand on this if you know more) in a wider organizational sense in the UK health industry.

Apparently, black is the standard colour; green is used by pharmacy services, red is used

after death and for allergies, and blue tends to be avoided due to poorer reprographic qualities

(M Belcher 2002). As I say, correct me if this is wrong, and in any event please let me

know any other examples of different coloured inks being used to organize or otherwise

clarify written communications within corporations, institutions or industries. Additionally I

am informed (thanks T Kalota, Oct 2008) of a useful brainstorming/organizing technique

using coloured pens when reviewing a written specification, or potentially any set of notes

for a design or plan.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEMIn order to provide effective and perfect answers to some problems which could be

originating from the hearts and minds of people, this research shall critically analyze the role

played by action planning through brain storming. There is an inspirational adage that says,

"People don't plan to fail. Instead they fail to plan." Because you certainly don't want to fail, it

makes sense to take all of the steps necessary to ensure success, including developing an action

plan.

AIM AND OBJECTIVESThe aim of the project work is to develop a computerized brainstorming and action planning

techniques system to improve the organization performance.

The objectives of this project are as follow:

1. To brainstorm ideas and suggestions having agreed a time limit.

2. To categorise/condense/combine/refine.

3. To assess/analyse effects or results.

4. To prioritise options/rank list as appropriate.

5. To agree action and timescale.

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6. To control, monitor and follow-up the sales.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDYThere are lots of good reasons to work out the details of your organization's work in an action

plan, including:

1. To lend credibility to your organization. An action plan shows members of the

community (including grantmakers) that your organization is well ordered and dedicated

to getting things done.

2. To be sure you don't overlook any of the details

3. To understand what is and isn't possible for your organization to do

4. For efficiency: to save time, energy, and resources in the long run

5. For accountability: To increase the chances that people will do what needs to be done

SCOPE AND LIMITATION OF THE STUDYThe scope of this project is  to formulate a new stock description for an organization, take the

record of customer services ; to formulate a series of new promotional activities for the next

transaction; to suggest ways of improving cooperation between the sales and stock departments;

to identify costs saving opportunities that will not reduce performance or morale. This project is

limited to some comp

LITERATURE REVIEWOsborne (1963), Rawlinson (1981), Chen (1998), Higgins (1996), European Commission (1998).

See also Annex, Brainstorming phases. A special type of brainstorming tool is PMI in which the

participants are directed to brainstorm the Plus points, then the Minus points and finally the

Interesting points (De Bono 1992, 1993). Related to brainstorming, which is characterised by

verbal communication, is also the hand-written communication as a brain-writing technique. The

process is that ideas generated by individuals are written down on a piece of paper, and then

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exchanged and combined with those of the other individuals in the group. Written ideas are

circulated and read by the other participants in the group each of whom, in turn, write down new

ideas. A variation of this hand-written communication is the 6-3-5 method in which each of the 6

participants in the group generates and writes 3 ideas related to the problem on a piece of paper

in 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, each participant passes the piece of paper to the person on the

right, who reads it and adds 3 new ideas in 5 minutes.

Mind Mapping CREATIVITY INNOREGIO project (Dr E. Sefertzi 2010) It is an individual

brainstorming mapping technique designed by Tony Buzan. It begins with a central focal point, a

problem, an object, a name or issue, written in the centre of a piece of paper with a circle around

it. Each major facet of the problem or the solution to the problem originating from the central

idea is then brainstorming in order to generate new ideas. Each of those ideas are then written on

lines drowned outward from the circle. The next step is to brainstorm those ideas in order to

identify issues related to the problem, or solutions that are written on smaller lines that are

drowned on the prime lines forming a branch. Additional perspectives such as implementation

factors or further definition of the solutions could go on those lines. One branch may also be

chosen in order to develop a whole new mind map based on that branch. When a mind map is

completed, its possible interrelations and possible multiple appearances of issues, and its overall

meaning in the context of the problem must be examined (Buzan, 1983).

Excellent work has been done in this area, both by Debbie Hicks (2001), of the Reading Agencyi

, and by a team of researchers in the West Midlands, led by David Chamberlainii . Working to a

brief set by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council, Ms Hicks provides a thorough-going

audit of work in the related fields of bibliotherapy and Books on Prescription, with detailed case

studies and contact details for many of the key projects. The work of Chamberlain and his team

is complementary to the Hicks audit. Their project was in two parts: the first a literature review

of what Chamberlain calls “Information on prescription”, and the second a survey sent out to

those library authorities who subscribe to national survey standards. The returns were written up

into a summary document, which underlines the quality and breadth of bibliotherapy and Books

on Prescription in England. In addition to the academic work done in this area, the subject of

books as therapy has captured the attention of the media. As early as 2002, the Guardian was

reporting on the pioneering being carried out in Kirklees (1998), under the banner “The Reading

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and You Scheme” (RAYS)iii. The scheme was set up as a result of a brainstorming session

amongst library staff

BRAIN STORMING TECHNIQUES

1. Story boarding

It is a creativity technique for strategic and scenario planning based on brainstorming and used

mainly by groups. It requires a leader, a secretary and takes place in a group of 8-12 people. The

leader arranges the ideas generated by brainstorming in a logical order on a white board creating

a story. This technique allows identify the interconnections of ideas and how all the pieces fit

together. It can be used to identify issues, problems, solve a complex problem and determine

ways to implement solutions. The story boarding process includes four phases:

a) planning

b) ideas

c) Organization

d) Communication

Each phase includes a creative session (it takes 45 minutes) and a critical session, in which

participants critique their story board. · The planning phase begins with the problem definition

or the issue being examined - the topic header. Purpose header, a miscellaneous column and

other, normally 10-12, headers (column titles) are placed and brainstormed in order to give Ideas

and then items, which are listed under the headers (the purpose header is listed first). · The

second phase - the ideas board, is to take one column from the planning board, which becomes

the topic header and the items of that column become headers of new ideas. · In the third phase -

the organisation board, participants identify who is responsible for implementing chosen

solutions, what has to happen, and when. · In the last phase - the communication board,

participants identify who must communicate with for all of the events identified in the

organisation board to take place. Through the process, visual graphics to summarise or present

relevant points CREATIVITY INNOREGIO project Dr E. Sefertzi 9 are presented by the leader.

These might be strategic models, places or things (Higgins 1996).

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2. Checklists

This creative technique is used mainly for product improvement or modification. It involves

applying a series of words, verbs, adjectives or phrases contained in checklists or tables to an

existing product or service or its attributes. Osborn’s Checklist is the best known and includes

the verbs: put to other uses, adapt, modify, magnify, minify, substitute, rearrange, reverse and

combine. Each verb contains also an expanded definition in the form of questions. For example,

the description of the verb substitute is: Who else instead? What else instead? Other ingredient?

Other material? Other process? Other power? Other place? Other approach? Other tone of voice?

(Osborn 1963). The method is to apply each of the verbs and its expanded description to a

product or service. See Annex:, Table 3: Osborn’s checklist). Another checklist technique is Van

Gundy’s PICL (product improvement checklist). Used in the same way as Osborn’s list, gives

many options containing 792 words, both standard and unique, that can be applied to existing

products or services, and 102 stimulation questions (Van Gundy 1988, 1993).

3. Morphological Analysis

This method is another product improvement technique, permitting the in-depth analysis of

products or processes. It involves applying a set of words to an item another set of words.

Normally, one set of words is verbs and the other set are attributes of the product. Another way is

that one set of words would be components of the product (breaking the product down into its

parts) and the other set of words would be alternative solutions. The method is to combine each

word of one set with each word of the other set. These two sets of words result in a two-

dimensional matrix. A three dimensional matrix can be created by adding a third list of factors.

The difficulty of this technique is the large number of ideas deriving of the multiple

combinations that can be made (Higgins 1996, European Commission 1998). Mapping Process

The use of maps is particularly useful in strategic management thinking in organisations, helping

to organise discontinuities, contradictions or differences, and bring pattern, order and sense to a

confusing situation, acting as a spatial representation of a perspective

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RESEARCH METHODOLOGYThe data used in the compilation of this write-up are gathered using the internet with the

use of several search engines such as yahoo, Google, search.com, msn.com, bing.com,

pdfdatabase.com and the likes. This method is used because it is not easy to gather the

information needed for the actualization of this project work. In comparison with the present

system, it is not easy to get all the insurance informations all in a single system so that’s the main

reason why the internet is consulted.

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DESIGN OF THE SYSTEMSystem designs calls for the creativity of the analyst. Therefore, creating an

acceptable design, the system analyst must exclude all prejudice.

The design of the system is the approach of work out how best computers

together with other resources may be applied to perform data storage, management

and retrieval for decision making.

OUTPUT DESIGN

Figure 4.1: INDEX PAGE IS THE DASH BOARD THAT PRESENT THE ISSUE POSTED

BY THE ADMIN TO THE STAFF THAT BRAINSTORM AND SUBMIT IDEAS.

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Figure 4.2 Administrator panel : Admin view the submitted techniques by the staff in contribution to the ongoing planning .

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Figure 4.3: Staff contributed idea view containing the username and the contibution of each staff.

Figure 4.4: Generated techniques shows the the view of a staff idea

INPUT DESIGN

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Figure 4.5: Submit plan an input design to submit plan by the staff.

Figure 4.6: ISSUE AT HAND, administrator post the issue i.e the subject matter through this design.

Figure 4.7: Login form , to gain access to any of the administrator page, it

required the authorization code known to the administrator alone.

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DATABASE DESIGN

Figure 4.8: ADMIN ISSUE posted by the administrator

Figure 4.9:

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Figure 4.10: Techniques submitted by staff

PROCEDURE DESIGNThis refers to the ways in which the proposed system will be used and the steps

are as follows:

a) Click WampServer on the desktop

b) Click start on the computer desktop

c) Select all programs

d) Select any browser e.g. internet Explorer, Mozilla Firefox, Google Chrome e.t.c

e) Type the url (Uniform Resource Locator) of the system into the address bar

(localhost/brain storming/index.php)

SYSTEM IMPLEMENTATION

CHOICE OF PROGRAMMING LANGUAGEThe programming language used in the proposed system is php. PHP meaning

(PHP Hypertext Preprocessor) is a server-side programming language. It is an open

source server-side scripting language that has taken web-based development to a new

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level of sophistication. The PHP scripting engine is well optimized for the response

times needed on web applications, it can even be part of the web server itself improving

the throughput even more.

If it were only a matter of improving the speed of the scripts, then PHP will be

one of many solutions. But there is more to the PHP equation than that. There is the

simplicity and robustness of the language and the scripting engine. There is the

connectivity to an ever increasing number of database servers, the shorter development

cycles and the ease (encouraged by the syntaxes and constructs) of creating modular

and reusable components.

HARDWARE SUPPORTThe hardware needed are the basic hardware of the computer system such as

VDU (Visual Display Unit), Central Processing Unit (CPU), Mouse, Uninterrupted Power

Supply (UPS) and a Keyboard.

SOFTWARE SUPPORTThe software required are basically any web browser (internet explorer, firefox

and the likes), WampServer and a network service, be it wired or wireless.

IMPLEMENTATION TECHNIQUES USED IN DETAILSThe system will be implemented using the parallel approach. This approach is

considered because it ensure that the new system is tested along side with the old

system to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency of the system.

SYSTEM DOCUMENTATION

PROGRAM DOCUMENTATION The system must be used as instructed according to the hardware and software

supports so as to make optimal use of it.

OPERATING THE SYSTEM

a) Click start on the computer desktop

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b) Select all programs

c) Select any browser e.g internet Explorer, Morzilla Firefox, Google Chrome e.t.c

d) Type the url (Uniform Resource Locator) of the system into the address bar

(localhost/brain storming/)

MAINTAINING THE SYSTEMThe following instructions must be strictly adhere to in other to make efficient use

of the system. Install an anti-virus and always make sure it is usually updated to.

SUMMARYThe project brain storming and action planning techniques has been carefully studied

where we examined the list of challenges again and choose one that you feel most

committed and confident about addressing through a plan of action. Once you’ve done

this, the next step is to evaluate the challenge more objectively and thoroughly.

Evaluate the challenge in relation to five primary areas: Background, Need, Constraints,

Resources Available, and Resources Needed. The project work developed an

application where organization issue is being posted on the dash board where various

organization staff can login and make contribution to the planning techniques of solving

the present problem.

CONCLUSIONConclusively, the most crucial part of the action plan: the action steps. Essentially, the

action steps are a realistic list of solutions and activities that will address the challenge,

thus fulfilling the goals and working to achieve the mission. But to develop the action

steps, you must first brainstorm a list of possible solutions using your background

evaluation earlier developed. Especially keep in mind your Need, Constraints,

Resources Available, and Resources Needed assessment.

RECOMMENDATIONS

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I wish to make the following recommendations for future improvement. staff should be

exposed to decision making within an organization as this program provided a platform that

allow the staff both junior and senior to contribute their own quota to the advancement and

execution of organization task. Also, tertiary institutions should computerize their result

processing system for greater efficiency, neatness, and reliability. This will go a long way to save

the organization of all the trouble they go through trying to get their task done in one form or

the other.

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