You and your team have taken on a new creative project. You need fresh, innovative ideas, but your mind is as dry as a desert. You sit there waiting for ideas to rain down from the heavens…but nothing.
It’s a terrifying place to be as a project manager. For many of us the exploration stage is the most exciting part of a project – the kick-off, the thrilling beginning, the start of something great! But only if you’ve got ideas…
Conceiving creative ideas are rarely sudden, unexpected flashes of brilliance, but the result of coffee fuelled confabs, riff sessions and pep rallies. It’s hours of conceptualising and hypothesising, idea generation and regeneration. But sometimes, despite our dedication (and desperation), the creative juices run dry.
So, how do you turn a creative drought into a flood of ideas? With brainstorming of course!
Brainstorming
Now I know what you’re thinking. Brainstorms! I haven’t done one of those since I was in high school. That may be the case, but I’m telling you, your 8th grade English teacher was onto something. Brainstorming is an incredibly valuable method for idea generation (no matter how old you are!). They allow teams to think freely, openly collaborate and pump out a whole lot of ideas in no time.
When you think of a brainstorm, you will likely picture a mind map. A bubble or circle in the middle of a page or whiteboard, with a word or phrase in the middle and lots of related ideas and thoughts branching out from the centre. While old school, mind mapping is still a great tool, there are many other brainstorming techniques out there which will help get your team’s creative juices flowing! Here are some of our favourites.
Brain writing
Brain writing is about writing what’s in your brain. Start by briefing your team on the goal or project, and then ask them to write down as many ideas as they can think of themselves, in silence. While it begins as an independent activity, when the allocated time is up you can discuss everyone’s ideas as a group.
If you have any introverts, it’s best if you gather up all the ideas and read them out yourself. You can then isolate, or merge ideas to come up with the best concepts and solutions.
Brain writing benefits
As this begins as a silent brainstorming activity, it’s a great way to ensure introverted or quieter members of the team actively contribute to discussions. There’s no pressure for them to raise their hand or speak in front of others and by saving feedback until the end of the session, no ideas are blocked.
It also avoids groupthink, a skewed decision-making outcome where everyone agrees with the first idea proposed (even if it’s not the best) simply because they don’t want to create tension. With brain writing you can choose the best idea available, rather than everyone agreeing with each other to make life easier, or to escape the meeting room faster!
Collaborative brain writing
Collaborative brain writing is very similar to regular brain writing, with a slight difference. Instead of beginning as an independent process, it’s open to everyone from the get-go and everyone can see the suggested ideas.
Simply stick a piece of paper up in the office, or allocate a whiteboard, and then ask your team members to contribute their ideas throughout the week. At the end of the week, you as the manager can then go through these ideas independently or discuss them with the rest of the team.
Collaborative brain writing benefits
This brainstorming process eliminates the time pressure of coming up with ideas on the spot and instead allows your team to write down ideas as they come to them. It’s a great option for teams who hate meetings! It’s also handy if you have teams that work different shifts or flexible hours, as people can contribute whenever they’re in office.
Brain-netting
This brainstorming methods is essentially the online version of collaborative brain writing. Simply create a document online and give your entire team access. They can then contribute their ideas whenever they like and from wherever they’re working. Google Drive is a great option as it allows your team to collaborate on the same document in real-time.
Brain-netting benefits
With remote working and flexible work models on the rise, brain-netting is brainstorming for the future! Perfect for remote teams or offices with hybrid working models, it allows everyone to contribute regardless of their location.
Star bursting
Star bursting takes the form of a traditional concept map, but instead of focusing on answers, the process is guided by questions. You begin with an idea or concept written in the middle of the page or white board, but then add broad questions to each branch. For example, if you’re trying to find the best way to market a new juice company, you might start with the question, ‘Who are our customers?’ and your team may answer, ‘Juice drinkers’.
This might seem simple, but this question becomes the stem for new, more detailed questions and answers e.g., ‘What type of juice drinkers?’ ‘Organic juice drinkers who care about their environmental impact’. You then layer on more and more question to each original question until you’ve covered every eventuality. Your map will resemble a starburst at the end!
Star bursting benefits
This brainstorming method is a great alternative to a traditional concept map, as it gives team more direction and helps you pin down specifics. Questions make more effective starting points than statements and can really kickstart your creative thinking. After a star bursting session, you may even have the makings of a FAQ page!
Figure storming
Want to put yourself in someone else's shoes? Figure storming is a great way to start thinking like other people (and can be a whole load of fun!). Start by thinking of a figure – a stakeholder, your boss, or better yet your customer, and then start approaching your project as if you were them.
Ask your team a whole bunch of questions while they’ve got that person’s thinking cap on: How would they approach this project? What would be their priorities? How would they solve this problem? What would they do in certain situations?
Figure storming benefits
This brainstorming technique is great way to get out of your own head if you’re feeling stuck for ideas. By adopting the mindset of someone else, you can uncover new approaches that you might not have thought of before. It’s a real innovation booster!
Rapid ideation
Basically, rapid ideation is coming up with as many ideas as you can, as quickly as you can! Start by giving your team an overview of the topic they’re brainstorming about and then set a timer for a length of time that’s appropriate and then you’re off! Keep in mind more complicated projects will require more time.
You should encourage your team to write or type any ideas that come to mind, without any discussion. When the time’s up, you can read through everyone’s ideas and sift out the golden nuggets.
Rapid ideation benefits
This process prioritises quantity over quality! There’s no time for overthinking or filtering. You generate heaps of ideas as they pop up and you’d be surprised how often it can lead to some quality ideas. Free of constraints, it also welcomes the wacky. Sometimes an idea is so crazy it just might work!
Stepladder
Want to include everyone in your team? The stepladder technique is a great way to get everyone actively involved. Begin by giving your team a topic to consider and then send everyone, but one other person, away to think of ideas.
The two people left in the room (you and the other team member) then brainstorm ideas until you’re satisfied. Then, call one other person back into the room. The new person is first invited to share their ideas, and is then briefed on the ideas that you discussed in the room. Repeat the process until everyone has shared their ideas and is back in the room.
Stepladder benefits
Perfect for small or medium sized businesses, this technique gives everyone the chance to give their opinions without any influence from others beforehand. It also provides a platform for improvement, as you can combine, refine, and improve ideas as each person re-enters the room. You’re basically harnessing the power of a hive mind! While you can try this with larger groups, it can get a bit chaotic with too many people.
Round robin
Tired of people talking over each other? The round robin is the great equaliser of brainstorming techniques. Simply invite your team into a meeting room and ask them to sit or stand in a circle. Go around the circle and ask each person to voice an idea.
If a person is stuck or repeats an idea you can skip them and come back to them at the end to give them more thinking time. At the end of the session, you can pick out the standout ideas from those that aren’t the right fit for the project.
Round robin benefits
Like brain writing, this method is fantastic if you have any introverts in your team. It ensures that everyone has a chance to voice their ideas and feel like part of the discussion. It also prevents people talking over each other and adds order to otherwise chaotic discussions.
Team work really does makes the dream work
You may be the project manager, but it’s not up to you alone to come up with all the ideas. In the early stages of a project, you need to look to your team for inspiration and work together to tap into your collective creativity.
Brainstorming is a super productive and fun way to generate new ideas with your team. With the right technique, you can visualise potential problems, find faster solutions and develop a better project plan.