4 Brainstorming Techniques to Get Creative Ideas Flowing

Did you know that even brainstorming sessions need structure? It doesn’t need to be a formal meeting, but sitting people down in a room and asking them point-blank to churn out ideas may not produce the results you’re looking for. Here are four brainstorming methods to help everyone get comfortable and get their creative gears turning:

Word Banking

This is a fancy term for word association. If you’re new to brainstorming sessions, this is a good place to start. Simply jot down the Big Idea on a whiteboard, and have your team start throwing out associated words and phrases. Afterwards you can craft more solidified ideas that cover all of the topics discussed.

Storyboarding

Sometimes you need to visualize a problem or a project before ideating. Using sticky notes is a great way to get everyone’s individual thoughts down. Then you can put them up on the wall to start organizing everyone’s ideas.

Wishing

This method is helpful for letting imaginations run wild. Challenge your team to come up with crazy, impractical, and extreme solutions — after all, the best ideas can stem from the most outlandish ones.

Six Thinking Hats

Assign each person in the room a different aspect of the project to talk about, and rotate “hats” as you go:

• Logic: The facts.

• Optimism: The value and the benefits.

• Devil’s Advocate: The difficulties and the dangers.

• Emotion: Feelings and intuitions.

• Creativity: Possibilities and new ideas.

• Management: Making sure that the rules of the hat are observed.

Next week we’ll continue with tips for running your brainstorming sessions!