Breakaway Digital

Brainstorms are key to the creative process. The problem is that they can also put a huge fat creativity block on your process if you aren’t careful. I wanted to share some ideas on having a better brainstorming session.

A brainstorm can be just a one person party, but I’ve found that the best ideas just don’t come out this way. If you are limited on time how about this approach. Find some good music that will get the juices flowing, and sit there for a minute. Start jotting down ideas as quick as you can. Don’t filter them, just let them flow. Once you’ve spent about 20 minutes coming up with them stop.

Now find someone that you can bounce ideas off of. Tell them the background, and verbalize your ideas. As you tell someone the idea you find out whether they actually have some meat to the idea. If it doesn’t cross it off. 

Power in numbers

Now when you really need to get the juices going you need to pull a group together. That group should be chosen carefully. You don’t want to waste time by having a dud of a brainstorm. Here is how you have a better group brainstorm

How many? 

My recommendation is that you have 5-7 people in there. Really no more than this, because then everyone feels like they are in a bigger forum and might be intimidated to throw an idea out there. Keep the group small enough to overcome this. 

Who?

Pick people that you gel with but you know will bring different views and opinions. You want a group that will throw out ideas different than yours. If you are doing this in a creative agency try bringing people from different groups. LIke one from account services, one from creative, one from technology. They will all bring some great perspectives on the strategy. 

Background info

Send information about the problem before the meeting. Make sure that people have read the info before coming to the meeting. You don’t want to spend the first 15 minutes explaining the problem when they could have read it on their own.

Keeping it on track, and productive

There are a couple of other keys to having a  productive brainstorm session such as keeping it positive. Ask questions like how can we improve, how can we create, how can we grow? Then remember as ideas are thrown out there that no idea is a bad idea. Just get them out as quickly as possible. If something is off track stop it quickly before it stops the momentum of the meeting. Also make sure that you set a time limit to the brainstorm. If it’s a one hour meeting stop it at 1 hour. Make sure you give a warning before the 1 hour is up. It will help have a lighting round at the end of the brainstorm. 

Now that the brainstorm is over put all the ideas into notes. Send them out to the group just in case they have more to add to it. Maybe you didn’t get the best ideas. Conduct a second one, with a second group of people. Afterall you can never know what you can get out of a brainstorm. Do what you can to keep them positive, and the ideas flowing quickly.