Have you ever been in a meeting where the moderator suddenly announced that everyone in attendance would be brainstorming? Of course, you have! It’s a common occurrence in the workplace. Some people think that brainstorming is a waste of time, while others believe their ideas have no merit, so they contribute little. Yet, others sit back and watch rather than participate. However, when brainstorming is used properly, it can break the cycle of doing the same things, having the same ideas, and yet expecting different results.
If there’s nothing new, creative, or innovative that’s added to a topic, problem, or even the organization, the whole culture can become stagnant. Dull, boring, or stifling environments are what hinder growth and, worse yet, can lead to lower employee engagement, productivity, and effectiveness.
Therefore, brainstorming meetings can be a powerful addition to your organization. These sessions facilitate collaboration and creativity between team members. The purpose is to generate innovative ideas, solve or anticipate problems, and create goals that can be implemented. However, if brainstorming meetings are not well-planned or disorganized, they can have a negative impact. An unorganized session can leave a team feeling uninspired, unmotivated, and undervalued. On the other hand, an organized meeting can increase productivity, foster team cohesiveness, and maximize an organization’s creativity and innovation.
Getting Started With Brainstorming
Brainstorming is a creative process that efficiently generates new ideas and solutions around a stated problem, specific topic, or common objective. The moderator needs preparation to ensure that a brainstorming meeting is effective. In advance of the meeting, participants will need to be identified and given time to consider the topic, issue, problem, or idea. Additionally, moderators should articulate the desired outcome, result, or solution.
A brainstorming meeting brings people together and gives them a break from their typical job responsibilities.
Inviting others into the conversation can help create a team atmosphere and trigger innovative ideas. Asking others for new ways of doing things or fresh perspectives encourages sharing and caring.
When successful, a brainstorming meeting won’t just deliver a specific result, it will also reveal blind spots or identify needed improvements that have not yet been implemented. This is good news for organizations that continually seek to enhance experiences for all stakeholders.
Types of Brainstorming
- Brain Writing – A topic is presented, and individuals (or a team) are presented with it. Then, they individually brainstorm ideas away from distractions and input from others. After a set period, the ideas are all handed to the moderator and reviewed for their uniqueness and excitement.
- Brain-netting (also known as Online Brainstorming) – This is ideal for teams across different geographic locations. Remote whiteboarding or online collaboration tools can help make brainstorming easier and visually pleasing! All team members contribute ideas to a cloud-based, central location that might answer a specific question, generate ideas around a topic, or offer solutions to a complex problem.
- Rapid Ideation – If teams struggle with time limits and staying on task, or if moderators find that brainstorming meetings often aren’t effective, this method may be more successful. The goal is to provide a topic in advance of the meeting to allow attendees to consider it. Then set a time limit during the meeting where everyone is given 30-45 minutes to brainstorm as a group. PRO TIP: When using rapid ideation, cast all objections to the wind. No idea is too silly, obscure, or outrageous. A study found that allowing free thinking during brainstorming uncovered 26% more ideas. (1)
- Round Robin – Whether a circle is created giving each person a chance to offer an idea, or an email, or another document is passed on until everyone has had an opportunity to share, everyone should have an equal turn. Everyone must contribute, and no one is allowed to use an excuse such as “so and so already used my idea.” Instead, a new idea (or a spin-off of an existing one) must be shared.
- Reverse Brainstorming – The problem is turned around or viewed from a unique perspective to gather fresh ideas and diverse solutions. Some examples include:
- (Brainstorming about competitor strategies) – What does our competitor do really, poorly?
- (Brainstorming about solutions) – How can we make this problem worse?
- (Brainstorming about ways to improve) – What can we do to make this slower, more expensive, or require more talent?
- (Brainstorming about risks) – What are things we can do to ensure that this will fail?
- (Brainstorming about innovation) – What are the top three things our customers hate about our company, products, services, etc.?
- (Brainstorming about customer needs) – What are ways we can treat customers so that they won’t buy from us ever again?
- Mind mapping (also known as starbursting) – This brainstorming method encourages everyone to become detectives rather than answer a question or address a topic. One way to approach this is to start by formulating questions that include the who, what, where, when, why, and how. This method can be highly effective when starting a new project that has never been done, when developing a new user guide or support knowledge base, or when considering what materials might be needed for a product launch campaign, among other applications.
- Someone-Else ‘s-Shoes Brainstorming (also known as Figuring Storming) – This method is to ponder a situation, problem, issue, or problem from someone else’s perspective. For example, you want to build a new type of airplane. How would Leonardo da Vinci design it? Is there anything aviation accident journalist Peter Garrison might wish to contribute to safety education or aerodynamic modeling? What would the Wright Brothers do to build it? How might Charles Lindbergh fly it? What lessons could Howard Hughes teach you regarding aerodynamics, business, working with major airlines, etc.?
- Stepladder Technique – This is a more complex brainstorming method developed in 1992. It begins with a topic shared by the moderator with the entire group, and then the moderator and two members remain in the room while others leave. The three discuss their ideas. One more team member is added, and they can discuss their views before the other three can share what they have been discussing. Then all four of them discuss all the ideas together. A fifth member of the team is added, and the process is repeated until all group members have shared their ideas. It is not advised that this technique be used for groups larger than 10-15 people.
Tips to Make Brainstorming Meetings More Productive
Tip #1: Before the meeting, allow participants to ponder the topic, issue, problem, or idea. What is the desired outcome, result, or solution you seek?
Tip #2: Be clear about the timeline and the process used for brainstorming. Some participants may have concerns about time, while others may have social anxiety, yet others may fear being dismissed by peers. These are valid concerns, so the sooner you can address them, the less likely they will linger as the brainstorming meeting begins.
Tip #3: Utilize a “no silly, crazy idea” policy when brainstorming. Feedback can be reserved for later in the process, but more ideas are far better for brainstorming.
Tip #4: Ensure that all team members participate in the brainstorming process and are given equal opportunity to express themselves as well as their ideas. No excuses or exceptions. It may be necessary to encourage those who haven’t shared to do so, or to limit time to over-sharers.
Tip #5: Instead of utilizing only one brainstorming technique, consider using a hybrid approach. This might involve encouraging participants to think about the problem from a different perspective, using mind mapping, and utilizing a collaboration board.
PRO TIP: If you’re using a cloud-based collaboration solution, consider adding some social features such as commenting on specific items, thumbs up/liking, voting, polling, etc. Social features such as thumbs up/liking, voting, and polling should be added during the meeting itself rather than during the collaboration stage.
Tip #6: Attend brainstorming meetings only when the moderator and participants are prepared to discuss the topic, issue, problem, and idea, and with a specific objective or result in mind. Specify how the brainstorming meeting will be conducted, even if brainstorming has occurred before the meeting.
Tip #7: Recognize the importance of contributions and the value of all participants and their time, even if ideas aren’t used. Participants need to know that brainstorming is part of their job, it matters, and it does make a difference.
Tip #8: Don’t discard brainstorming concepts that have “teeth.” Brainstorming meetings have a specific objective and are designed for that result. However, there may be additional value to be found in other aspects of brainstorming. Put concepts that have merit aside for future exploration. Often, these can lead to ways the organization can improve, define better strategies, and understand customer needs, among other benefits.
Tip #9: Circle back with all participants to provide a status update about the brainstorming meeting. What actions have been taken? What have been the outcomes? Acknowledge what effect their participation has had on the bigger picture and show them your appreciation.
Brainstorming meetings are an excellent way to bring together key players in your organization to solve a specific problem through the strength of different perspectives and knowledge, thereby generating inspired ideas and solutions. With proper preparation, clear goals, fostered inclusivity, intentional scheduling, and a well-constructed plan for the next steps, brainstorming meetings can deliver value to your workflow by propelling your organization into the future.
Looking for a polished meeting planner to set up your corporate meeting or event? Contact Gavel International for more information.
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SOURCE:
- https://hbr.org/2017/10/research-for-better-brainstorming-tell-an-embarrassing-story
This article was last updated on June 4, 2025
