How to use Brainstorming as a Business Tool

What is brainstorming? And what is it not?

Brainstorming is a group of techniques that can be used to help a team come up with new ideas. The subject of a brainstorming session can be almost anything: an idea for a new product, service or business, how to attract more customers or what to do on vacation. Brainstorming is good for 'blue skies' work, generating new thinking on old topics and is often used in futurology. It is not a tool for decision-making nor for selecting from a set of pre-existing options.

Often people say they are going to brainstorm when they mean to hold an unstructured and undisciplined discussion. This is fine if it works for them and delivers the results they need. However, it is not brainstorming as I know it, and their process is unlikely to lead to the insights and new ideas that true brainstorming can give.

I will explain what brainstorming is, when, how and where to use it, who to involve and what sort of results to expect. I will not promote or try to sell any proprietary systems or software.

If you are intrigued by the possibilities of brainstorming, perhaps have problems of the sort brainstorming can solve and are willing to study and master a few simple techniques, then read on.

When should I use brainstorming? (and when not)

Most often found in a business or work context, brainstorming is used to generate divergent ideas and to open-up thinking. There are always people able (and willing) to find what is wrong with new ideas and to criticise. These skills can be valuable during convergent phases of developing new concepts - when you are trying to focus on the most practical or applicable ones - but they must not be used while brainstorming.

Brainstorming can be used in almost any situation where a team of people want to generate creative ideas, but it requires a degree of mutual trust among the participants. For this reason it may be difficult to run a successful brainstorm with a group of total strangers. The next section investigates the subject of who should take part; the 'how to' section suggests some warm-up activities that can help to start a brainstorming session.

As I wrote in the first section, brainstorming is a tool for expanding thinking and opening-up options. The output of a session is not an answer but a range of possibilities to be explored later. The technique should not be used as a decision-making tool.

Who should be involved?

Someone to record ideas as they are generated, to lead the team through the procedures and to (gently) enforce the discipline required, is essential. Generally this person, who is often called the ‘facilitator’, will not take part in the brainstorming, but may put forward a few ideas to start the process if the team gets stuck. Usually one of the team will be the 'problem owner', who gives a simple statement of the problem at the start of the session.

The team doing the brainstorming should consist of at least four, but no more than twelve, people. If necessary, try with fewer or more, but a small team may not spark enough energy from each other to produce many ideas and in a big group a few will dominate and produce most of the ideas. So better to have a group of the size I suggest, where everyone contributes. If you are alone, or perhaps with one other person, there are some techniques, similar in some respects to brainstorming, that can be used. I’ll write about 'solitary techniques' later.

If you can choose the participants, try to involve as wide a variety of people as possible. These should include people who 'own' the problem, but also others with less direct interest. For instance, if the problem is the development of a new product, consider including not just R&D and Marketing, but also Production, Sales, Service and Finance. The purpose of this is not to 'inject realism' or to reign in imaginations, quite the reverse - by having a variety of people participate, a wider spread of ideas should result.

What you need

• A room, large enough to seat everyone, but not much bigger. An important factor for success is the intimacy of the group, enabling people to spark ideas from one another. A private room without telephone, or with it disconnected, is ideal, to minimise interruptions. For the same reason, ask participants to switch off pagers, cell 'phones and other mobile devices during the session.
• Plenty of space to write down ideas so that everyone can see them. You should not erase anything until all the ideas (however strange) have been captured. Flip charts are fine and cannot malfunction. But make sure there is plenty of paper and several working marker pens. Black- or white-boards can work, but make sure there is a lot of space for your ideas and plenty of chalk or the special white-board pens. An electronic white-board is an alternative, but be sure to print out or save all of your outputs. And don't forget the pens!
• Whatever your favoured medium for writing down ideas, it is useful to have a digital camera to record everything and have it quickly available for transcribing or e-mailing - not essential but, if you do not use one, be especially careful to take with you all your notes when you leave the room.
• Participants may feel more comfortable with pens and paper in front of them; but they should be discouraged from writing too much as this will distract them from the group - and ideas they write down for themselves might not be captured.
• Everyone must take their brains and imagination, but leave their critical faculties outside. An essential element of brainstorming is the anonymity and lack of ownership of the ideas generated, so do not be tempted to video or make an audio recording of a session; unless for training purposes.

Coming up ….

The 'how to' bit

Electronic and other variations

Solitary techniques

Troubleshooting