Written by Andrew Spence - andrewspenceonline.com
Did you know that
the brain is able to generate 75 % of ideas within the first 50% of a
brainstorming session?
What happens in the rest or latter 50% of the time?
Well, several things tend to happen:
·
People get stuck on one seemingly ‘good’ idea and
stop thinking about other innovative ideas- this is also known as anchoring or
conformity pressure
·
Those who have a propensity to talk more and to
strongly defend their ideas often take over the meeting and sideline those who
are less inclined to present their ideas in a crowd
·
The session swirls out of control and into a black
hole of too many ideas
Are brainstorming sessions necessary? Yes,
especially if you care about innovation as a way of staying competitive.
Some
of the largest companies including Apple and Google have dedicated entire
groups to brainstorm and come up with feasible ideas that will help the
companies stay ahead of the game for many years to come.
A great way to productively make the most of
ideation sessions is to actually make them shorter to avoid the pitfalls
presented above.
Here are some practicable ideas for shortening your
brainstorming sessions to come up with truly innovative and implementable
ideas:
Keep
it intimate
If you have ever been to a meeting that has one too
many people tagging along, you know that the experience is often overwhelming.
Such meetings end without any tangible results or bounce off points for
subsequent meetings. When it comes to generating ideas or problem solving, one
of the best ways to keep the sessions short and to tap the best ideas is to
have a maximum of the five most relevant people in attendance.
To ensure that these sessions are productive, try
to invite team members who are not characteristically contrarian or too
domineering as they could unnecessarily prolong the meetings.
There’s
need for a designated leader
Just like in any meeting, brainstorming sessions
need a leader who will set the parameters for discussion. Of course, the goal
of brainstorming is to generate several ideas before discussing and
implementing the most feasible one. However, too many ideas generated in an
unstructured meeting often creates a black hole of protracted sessions that are
ultimately futile.
A
designated leader will be able to point out when a discussion is going beyond
the parameters, thereby refocusing the meeting to maximize on the time
allotment.
Practice
brainwriting
Research shows that brainwriting sessions are 40%
more productive than a typical, think-out-loud brainstorming gathering. As the
name suggests, brainwriting entails writing out ideas prior to coming together
to discuss them.
Why is this process more effective than the
traditional method of ideation?
First, brainwriting
solves the black hole scenario. Instead of having too many people talking over
each other and presenting different ideas all at once, brainwriting allows team
members to present their ideas systematically, each one at a time. More
importantly, presenting and discussing ideas systematically helps to eliminate
overwhelm and save time.
Second, brainwriting eliminates the problem of
anchoring. During a brainstorming session, the first ideas that are presented
typically set pace for the rest of the meeting and subsequent ones. The problem
with clinging onto these first ideas or succumbing to the pressure to conform
is that it erases the spirit of innovation and true ideation.
Third, done right, brainwriting can reduce the
competitive nature of traditional brainstorming sessions, for example by
requiring participants to anonymously present their ideas to a team leader
prior to coming together to discuss the ideas.
Void of competitiveness, brainstorming sessions
tend to be more productive and unbiased.
Lastly, brainwriting allows team members to think through their ideas before presenting them. A major problem with the traditional brainstorming session is that it encourages participants to blurt out ideas that are not thought through or are simply not feasible. In effect, a lot of time is wasted sifting through these unprocessed ideas. On the contrary, writing before speaking creates an atmosphere of relatively refined ideas that can be polished up for implementation.
Brainstorming Tips
With teams facing a lot of pressure on their time,
there is greater need to reduce the time spent on meetings while still
supporting innovation. Cutting your brainstorming time into half is not only
feasible; it also allows team members to focus on producing the best ideas that
are anchored on a spirit of invention.
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