Group Brainstorming: The Ultimate Guide to Brainstorming Meetings

What is group brainstorming?

Group brainstorming is the typical solution creation process. This activity usually involves team members' collaboration in problem-solving and new ideas generation. Typically, teams will brainstorm product developments, marketing ideas, or innovative solutions.

Brainstorming also involves lateral thinking in an informal environment to find solutions to nagging problems. With the right setting, these sessions can result in original, creative solutions while sparking more ideas. Essentially, you can use this approach to get your team out of their usual way of thinking and ensure that you generate fresh ideas.

While a structured, analytical process is essential in solving problems, teams often end up with limited, unimaginative ideas with this approach. Brainstorming, on the other hand, creates a free and open collaborative environment for discussion. Participants can share their quirky ideas and contribute to developing diverse creative ideas.

How to brainstorm as a team

Group brainstorming allows teams to leverage the creativity and experience of their team members. Members can build on each other's ideas and help to develop virgin ideas fully. This fun, problem-solving approach brings everyone on board and eases the implementation of an ideal solution. Here are essential tips that can help you make the most of these sessions.

Prepare your team

Create a comfortable meeting environment before you roll out the brainstorming session. Provide all the necessary resources and information to your team members. You could also include people with different thinking approaches to create a diverse group of problem solvers. Choose a neutral person to record and present your ideas openly. Groups of five to seven people should help you get the most out of your session.

Present the issue at hand

Define your problem clearly, and reveal all possible scenarios. Remind everyone that you are looking for diverse solutions and ideas from the brainstorming session. Let your team members take time assessing the problem and thinking of possible solutions when the session begins.

Guide the engagements

Ask everyone to share their ideas and start a discussion to develop the shared ideas. Encourage your team members to contribute to other's opinions freely. Ensure that people don't dwell on criticizing shared ideas and allow quiet people to share their thoughts.

While it is okay to share your ideas as a facilitator, spend more time supporting other team members. Refocus anyone who deviates from the conversation or discussion at hand. Encourage creativity and ask for multiple ideas from your team. Take some breaks between the talks to guarantee maximum concentration during the session.

Encourage your teams to remain open to possibilities and minimize assumptions during the brainstorming session. Ensure that you avoid criticizing ideas as you may limit creativity and impair idea generation. Once you complete the session, take time to evaluate your ideas and explore conventional approaches to your preferred ideas.

Taking Action

After your brainstorming session, you'll have multiple ideas and need time to choose the best idea. You'll need to analyze your ideas to identify the best next course of action. Find common themes and organize your thoughts appropriately. Look at the views from different perspectives and opt for the most objective solutions.

Conclusion

Brainstorming brings together diverse experiences and increases the ideas explored, resulting in better problem-solving initiatives. Besides generating excellent ideas, brainstorming also provides a wonderful bonding experience for team members. Remember to approach these fruitful sessions with a spirit of non-judgment to get maximum benefits.

A brainstorming session is essential if you want to find new ideas to enhance your business. Remote collaboration software can simplify your remote brainstorming sessions.