Facilitating a brainstorming Tutorial

Unlock the secrets to effective brainstorming in our video 'Facilitating a Brainstorming.' Discover how thoughtful preparation fosters creativity and problem-solving, and learn vital techniques, from defining clear questions to selecting the right participants. Dive into methods that enhance idea generation and ensure your sessions yield actionable results. Don't miss this chance to elevate your brainstorming skills!

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Invented by American advertising executive Alex Osborne,

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brainstorming relies on the natural ability of humans to generate creative ideas.

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Stimulated by the group,

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freed from judgment,

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teams show an incredible ability to come up

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with innovative and effective ideas,

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especially in problem solving.

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We will see in this video how to prepare brainstorming,

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how to facilitate the IGA generation process,

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then how to classify and select solutions.

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How to prepare brainstorming.

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Real brainstorming is a rigorous process that requires preparation,

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otherwise you'll be very disappointed with the results.

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Preparing your brainstorming means first of all,

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defining the right demand.

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If you're brainstorming the name of a new product,

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take some time beforehand to define

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what you want to put forward for this product,

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what you want the customer to say,

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think,

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feel,

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retain from this product.

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Soak up some key words before launching the storm of ideas.

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Brain storming is mostly used in problem solving.

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Einstein said.

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If I had an hour to solve a problem,

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I'd spend 55 minutes defining the problem and only 5 minutes finding the solution.

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Before starting the brainstorming,

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write down the right question related to the problem,

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a question on which future participants are will be in agreement.

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Ideally,

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after a good framing,

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the question will start with how,

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but not

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how to make the business profitable.

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The scope of the search for ideas will be much too broad.

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Suggestions will come in all directions,

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and the time allotted will not be sufficient

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to provide clear answers.

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Preparing your brainstorming also means identifying

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the people who will be invited,

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ideally between 5 and 10.

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Choose people who are open to discussion.

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Choose a panel of contrasting viewpoints,

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different professions,

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expertise.

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People close to the field,

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they see things that the hierarchy does not see.

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That's why it's good to involve them more in the construction of the strategy.

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Different hierarchical levels

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make sure,

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however,

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that the presence of hierarchical levels will not

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hinder the free expression of certain shy people.

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And why not customers?

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Brain diversity is a prerequisite for ensuring the richness of ideas.

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Preparing your brainstorming is also about finding the right environment.

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Your location must be friendly and foster exchange.

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If it is an original or at least unusual place,

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it will encourage creativity.

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Have the necessary equipment at your disposal,

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whiteboard,

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flip chart,

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Post-its,

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video projector,

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or the right collaborative tool that can

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provide online brainstorming if you work remotely.

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Preparing your brainstorming is finally having formalized the rules.

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Formalize the rules beforehand

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so that you can present them at the beginning of the meeting.

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A way to remember the five brainstorming rules,

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the acronym DREAM.

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Delirium,

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respect,

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etching down,

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associate maximum.

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D as in recommended wanted delirium.

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Don't put a limit to creativity.

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Don't neglect unusual ideas.

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Let ideas appear without constraints,

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without self censorship.

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Welcome crazy,

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offbeat original ideas.

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R is for respect.

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Respect for others and their ideas

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prohibit criticism and self-criticism whether positive or negative.

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The group dynamic may be slowed down because everyone seeking

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approval will be more careful about what they say.

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There are no bad ideas.

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E as in etching down all ideas,

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whether on a board,

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post-it,

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screen,

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mind map,

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do not eliminate crazy ideas out of hand.

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A is for associating ideas with those of others.

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Be inspired by the previous production.

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Multiply,

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bounce ideas off.

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Build on ideas that have already been put forward,

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which means listening to others.

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M is for maximum,

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not just 30 ideas favor quantity.

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A reminder of the rules of brainstorming,

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dream,

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delirium,

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respect,

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etching,

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associate and maximum.

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How to facilitate the idea production phase,

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the creative phase,

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which is the heart of brainstorming.

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At the beginning of the meeting,

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the facilitator presents the issue and the scope of the question,

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the time allocated to each stage of the brainstorming,

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and the five rules.

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All participants must agree and be clear on the

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issue and have the same level of information.

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When the idea generation phase begins,

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there is no more censorship and no more hierarchical level.

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Spontaneity is the rule.

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Here are 3 ways to animate the production of ideas.

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Option 1,

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animated production.

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In animated production,

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the facilitator writes down all the ideas on a whiteboard,

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flip chart,

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or on the screen.

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Many applications can help you in writing and then grouping ideas.

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All mind mapping software,

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of course,

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but also many video conferencing applications also for

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brainstorming or online collaborative tools such as Claxoon.

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The facilitator is the person responsible for the dream.

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They stimulate production in a relaxed environment.

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They clarify unclear ideas by reformulation.

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They encourage the shyest to express themselves

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and set the limits for the most talkative.

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They can also pass around a talking

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stick to ensure that everyone expresses themselves.

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The facilitator maintains a sustained rhythm of production

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and relaunches to avoid silence.

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They encourage people to bounce off other people's ideas,

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to build on their ideas.

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So we had the idea of an umbrella,

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and if we bounce back on this idea,

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an umbrella that flies and turns into a bird.

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OK,

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I note

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they stop criticism and self-criticism,

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positive or negative.

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Why not by raising a yellow card when there's a slip up?

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They make sure no one starts classifying,

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discussing,

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or comparing ideas.

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Now is not the time.

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They announce the remaining timing to keep the momentum going.

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Until the last minute,

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which is often the most productive.

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Option two of brainstorming individualized production.

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In the case of individualized production,

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you will distribute small papers or Post-it notes to the participants.

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Everyone will write down as many ideas as possible in a limited time.

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One Post-it,

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one idea,

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not 21 post-it,

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one idea,

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concise if possible,

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written with a marker so that it is legible,

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especially if you hang it on the wall.

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This way of working with individual papers allows

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everyone to dare to express themselves in anonymity.

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The Post-it notes are regularly collected by the

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facilitator who puts them together in a hat.

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Note that in the case of individualized production,

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participants cannot bounce off the ideas of others,

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at least at the beginning,

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creativity is therefore limited.

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To make up for this shortfall,

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the facilitator can in a third of the time pause

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and read aloud all the Post-it notes already collected.

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Then the participants generate new ideas by building

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on the stimulating ideas they have just heard.

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Keep in mind

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that in the production phase of brainstorming it is unproductive to

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start discussing the ideas too quickly or to classify them,

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produce,

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just produce.

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Option 3 roll in production.

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In this third brainstorming alternative,

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participants are positioned in a circle.

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Each person writes an idea on a piece of paper and passes the paper to their neighbor.

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The neighbor adds to the original idea until the paper has gone around the circle.

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Then all the compositions are read.

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After the reading,

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if the ideas are difficult to use as they are,

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you can go around again using new blank

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sheets of paper or animate a Post-it sequence.

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So

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you've held a brainstorming session and amassed a multitude of ideas.

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What do you do with all those ideas?

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How do you sort,

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filter,

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and select the best ideas?

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When the initial phase of idea production

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ends and everything has been written down,

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we reach a rationalization phase.

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The objective of this phase is to come up with one or

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more ideas that can be dug up and built upon later.

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Go from 150 ideas to a maximum of 4 or 5.

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There are multiple ways of doing this.

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Some facilitators will stop at the production stage.

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They will bring the list of ideas back to

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their office and choose from the proposed solutions themselves.

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However,

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I recommend that you continue the process as a group.

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Continue to capitalize on the collective intelligence and

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the multiple brains gathered on the subject.

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Start with the classification and filtering of ideas.

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Group together the ideas by theme.

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Gather the Post-it notes in the same corner of the

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board or create a branch to your mind map.

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Stack or remove all the near duplicates.

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Set aside the most outlandish ideas.

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Give a title to each category,

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each theme with a colored Post-it note.

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Sometimes in this phase,

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a few clearer ideas will emerge.

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Add them to your production board.

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That's it.

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The grouping and filtering being done,

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you'll see more clearly.

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Define how many ideas you want to achieve 1234.

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How many can you really implement in the end.

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Define your evaluation criteria to determine which ideas

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are the most interesting to work on.

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Choose by consensus or voting the 35,

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or 10 ideas you want to keep for now.

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Visually set aside the ideas you don't want to keep

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at the moment so they are no longer visible.

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Focus only on the selected ideas.

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Then you can either hold another vote to get the desired number of ideas.

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Before this new vote,

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you can spend 5 minutes per idea to discuss together

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the advantages of this idea,

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the disadvantages of this idea,

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and the suggestions for improvement,

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or you can divide the selected ideas into working

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subgroups for participants to dig deeper and enrich them

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before submitting them later for group approval.

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It is only after the classification,

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filtering,

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and selection of a few ideas that the team will be able to

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reflect calmly on those that provide a real answer to the initial problem.

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Finding answers,

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that was the initial objective.

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Yes,

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it is essential to reach the end of the brainstorming process.

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If a brainstorming process doesn't lead to decisions and above all to action,

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you've been blowing in the wind.

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