Shelter’s Edge

In the last week three different people asked me for some tips on brainstorming – it must be the season. So I thought I’d post them here for everybody who wants to use them.

Step One: Post these guidelines in big letters for the group to see:

1)    Our Goal =
2)    Our Time =
3)    Evaluate Later
4)    Think OUT of the box
5)    Idea Build
6)    Be Brief

Step Two: Check with the group to make sure all members understand and agree to the guidelines

Step Three: Conduct the brainstorm, holding everyone to these guidelines

Step Four: Celebrate!

Guidelines Defined:

1) Goal – Write the goal of the session clearly to help keep the group focused. For example: “Everything we can think of to increase adoptions.” If you prefer, you can state the goal as a question, such as “How can we reduce cat length of stay?”

2) Time – Clarify the amount of time for the brainstorm session. Time is a powerful container – harness the power! If participants know there will only be 10 minutes, they will kick into rapid-fire idea generation. If the brainstorm is to be 30 or 60 minutes, participants will expect to be able to build on each other’s ideas and expand possibilities in more detail. The time you set is up to you, and depends on your goal for the session. Whatever time you set, make sure the group knows it – and you stick to it.

3) Evaluate Later – This is the hardest guideline for people to follow, but it’s essential for a brainstorm that produces new ideas. More typically you’ll see this guideline stated as “no editing” or “anything goes,” but in my experience people with analytical minds have great difficulty setting their filters aside. For this reason, I find it useful to write the guideline as it is here – to clarify that there WILL be a time to evaluate these ideas, but that comes AFTER we generate as many ideas as possible. As facilitator, you’ll want to clarify this when you post the guidelines and cut off any evaluation the minute it begins to crop up during the brainstorm, reminding the person that evaluation will take place at another time. Stay on top of this, because once evaluation begins, it has a snowball effect. Not only will other people start evaluating verbally, but still others will filter their own ideas in their heads before they offer them up to the group.

4) Think OUT of the box – Encourage the group to imagine there’s no limit to time, money, space or other resources…no idea is too crazy or outlandish.

5) Idea Build – Urge participants to jump off of or add to other people’s ideas.

6) Be Brief – Remind the group that the objective is to generate as many ideas as possible in a short timeframe, therefore brevity is critical. If you find a number of people are struggling to be brief, consider a few minutes of quiet time for people to organize their thoughts.

Facilitating and Managing Participation

Be sure to inform the group that once they accept the above guidelines, your job will be to hold them to it – that way you have their permission to cut them off if they start evaluating ideas, etc.

At the beginning of the session, give everyone two minutes of quiet time to jot some ideas down before launching into the storm. This helps folks to organize some thoughts and to gear up for an active session, and assists them in being able to articulate ideas briefly.If your group is typically unbalanced in terms of participation (i.e.: the same people always talk first or longest), you can start the brainstorm with a quick round robin – getting one idea from each person (pass is ok) and then open the floor to anyone in any order.

When you experience a lull, try another return to two minutes of quiet thinking time before one more lightning round to finish the storm.

Enjoy! Brainstorms should be fun as fun feeds creativity – use color (markers and paper), food, music, a new or creative space and laughter to help your group get into the groove.

Done well, brainstorming is a great team building activity; it builds participation and strengthens buy-in as people who get to participate in the development phase of projects are more willing and more prepared to participate in the implementation phase. Next week I’ll post some cool variations on brainstorming. I’d love to hear your additional tips and ideas.

Photo 2: Courtesy of stepthegeek on Flickr Creative Commons
Photo 3: Courtesy of ThelmageGroup on Flickr Creative Commons

Tags: brainstorming, high-performing teams, leadership, meetings, teambuilding

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