Brainstorming

Writer’s block, brain freeze, creative stagnation, all happen to the best of us but there comes a time when we have to rally the troops and participate in a brainstorming session.

Brainstorming was introduced in the 1950’s as a way to break through organizational rigidity and release creativity.  More recently E-Brainstorming surfaced as a concept to address some of the problems faced by traditional brainstorming.  Here are some of the benefits of E-Brainstorming:

• A skilled facilitator is still necessary, but rather than meeting as a group, participants send ideas through the internet allowing for anonymity to all but the facilitator
• Participants have time to come up with ideas without the stress of the group process and time constraints
• Participants have less chance of being swayed by the ideas of others
• It also ensures that you hear from the greatest number of participants.
• Great forum for introverts who tend to do poorly in traditional brainstorming sessions.

Brainstorming is often one of the first things that comes up when we talk about generating new ideas for your business.  A successful session encourages individuals to come together with a facilitator and voice every possible way of approaching an issue, without censure.

Brainstorming can be tricky depending on the mix of people and their personalities and styles. Extroverts tend to excel in these traditional sessions.  In order to benefit from everyone’s wisdom, it’s important to take different styles into account in setting up the session.

The main focus in brainstorming is bringing people together and walking away with ideas that will propel your business. Ideas that are birthed and implemented from brainstorming sessions help to foster a team environment and help employees to feel that they are being heard and that they are valuable to the company.  Open your board rooms, and meeting rooms whether it is anonymously or in person and allow the creative juices to flow today.