Building a Better Brainstorm

In the past weeks, as we all look ahead at the new year, I’ve been thinking a lot about the creative brainstorm and how to make it more efficient and productive. Granted, not all brainstorms are conceived of the same way, intended to achieve the same results, or will be judged by the same criteria, yet I do think that everyone can make theirs a little bit better. The primary reason for a brainstorm is to get great ideas, but the primary concern you should have heading in is for the people involved. Will they participate? How can you make them feel more at ease? Is this a valuable use of the company time?

Whether you’re getting a few people together or a large group, or you’re assessing a small campaign or an annual gameplan, these are questions worth considering and addressing. As I reflect on the brainstorms I attended in 2013, I would like to propose five recommendations for improving the quality of the sessions. You should do the same self-assessment of your to come up with five of your own. Maybe some of mine will resonate with you. Here they are:

Focus on the task at hand.

Brainstorm are designed to be loose and open to all kinds of ideas. Still, you need to keep everyone on point with the project of the hour. If people begin to stray into other ideas for opportunities, you’ll lose your crowd. Bring everything back to the topic du jour, even if it might feel strained or forced. People can challenge the premise or existing plans, but it must be constructive and focused.

Leaders: If you have a sense already of what you want, share it with the group.

Sometimes people leave a room feeling that their supervisors knew ahead of time what they were going to do, and just used the meeting to make it seem like it was done by a group consensus. Let’s get away from this. Chances are, ahead of the brainstorm, only the directors have carefully thought through the idea. The brainstorm is the time to bring everyone else into the conversation. So give them a brief, but detailed, rundown of what has occurred beforehand and where things are headed.

Keep the managers at home.

This might be tough to execute, but it’s important and worthwhile. When your boss is in the room, you will behave differently. We all do. It’s part of worklife. Brainstorms are intended to bring out all ideas — whether deemed good or bad — and if your boss is in the room you will be more reluctant to share what’s on your mind. You’re simply not ready to present a finished idea in front of him. As a result, your ideas may die in your head. That is, in my opinion, the worst thing that can happen.

Be flexible on the fly.

Plan the hour (or afternoon) with time allotted for different activities that will get people thinking creatively. However, if the conversation is productive and engaging, let things run as they will, naturally. Even if it means losing out on some other segment of the day. You don’t want to interrupt anything that will lead to the solutions you seek.

Follow up accordingly, individually.

No matter how well your brainstorm runs, you don’t want it to exist inside a vacuum. Nor does the group that gathered, who will wonder what ever became of all of those ideas they shared. Don’t drop the ball on the collaboration down the line; include people as you go on, afterward. But don’t send an email or share a Google document. Do it in person by encouraging people to continue to participate. Let them know that the brainstorming is still going on, beyond that one session.

Do you run into any of these issues? How did you solve them?

What would you change about your brainstorms?