Brainstorming is a method of searching for new ideas and solutions. The essence is that the participants sound as many variants as possible, especially the most innovative ones. They picked everyone’s best ideas or solutions that everyone can put into practice. In this article, a free essay writer will tell you how to successfully run a brainstorming session.
History of the method
It is believed that the American advertising writer Alex Osborne invented the brainstorming technique, and his military experience helped him in this. During World War II, Osborne served as a van captain. He once received a radiogram about a potential danger: an approaching German submarine. Thinking about how to fix it, Osborne came up with a technique used by medieval brothers: in the event of a problem, the entire crew would meet on deck to come up with their version of the problem line by line.
Osborne did the same: he assembled the crew and asked everyone to suggest their tactics in the event of an attack. However, none of the ideas was used – the German submarine was not interested in the American ship. But Osborne began to develop the theory of brainstorming, which he described in a report in his book “Applied Ouija,” published in 1953.
The main rules for successful brainstorming
To have a practical brainstorming session, there’s no need to retrace Alex Osborne’s steps and put them in the correct order when the underwater squadron of competitors is already closing in on you. It is best to follow the following rules.
1. Preparation in advance.
There is no need to surprise the team and announce the brainstorming topic when everyone is already together. Give participants less than a few days to prepare: let them have time to brainstorm ideas in advance.
2. Productive environment.
Suppose the room is very cold or hot. In that case, there are not enough comfortable chairs for everyone. There is no paper or pen for each participant and no flipchart for the leader. Everything that the participants want for the idea creators, so that these meetings end as soon as possible. People must have pleasant working conditions.
3. More people = more ideas
The goal of brainstorming is to generate as many ideas as possible, from which everyone can choose the best ones. It is important to gather more participants: for example, not a department of 3 people, but a team of 10. But not only because of the number of clicks in the brainstorming from those people who do not want to participate.
4. Detailed description of the problem.
Agree on the topic of the brainstorming in advance, and before the session starts, you should explain the purpose of the meeting and the problem you have to solve. Make sure that all participants understand the task correctly and know what they want.
5. There is no limit to ideas.
An important rule of thumb for a successful brainstorming session is that there are no rules during the brainstorming session. Don’t say, “Only come up with ideas that we can implement with our budget in mind,” and so on. Allow participants to say anything that comes to mind, including cooperation with aliens. Participants cannot criticize other people’s ideas, but can complement them, so there is no need to reinvent the wheel and come up with what has not yet been heard in any form.
6. Record keeping.
Remember everything: exercises, methods and instructions to improve memory.
During brainstorming, it’s crucial to not only express your ideas, but also write them down. Everything, no matter how absolutely fantastic and slang worded. And it is better to have not only a returning leader, but also all the participants, and no one will forget a single idea.
7. The possibility of adding an idea after the Brainstorming.
The brainstorming could be over, everyone settled into their rooms, sat on the couch with a mug of beer, and lo and behold it happens! Allow participants to share their thoughts later. But do not drag out the idea generation process, but clearly establish a period of one day to a week.
Zayn Tindall
Zayn currently works as an English teacher at one of the reputed universities in New York. He even worked as a career counselor for the last 5 years. Zayn likes to spend his spare time reading educational books, novels, and writing educational blogs and articles. Professionalism
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Categories: How to
Source: HIS Education