7 ideas to have a good brainstorming session

In a digital world as competitive (and changing) have new and common ideas, it is a necessity. But forcing inspiration is not easy, we need time to think and we are constantly solving for the present leaving little to innovate in the future.

Creative ideas rarely occur in rigid and formal settings. You need to create an environment that facilitates the flow of ideas and where the team feels comfortable.

Here are some tips to help you encourage your brainstorming sessions to improve your team contribute ideas are presented.

7 Ideas for a brainstorming session movie

1. Encourages the proposal of bad ideas

The best brainstorming sessions are when the whole team feels comfortable, and unashamed to share their ideas, whether good or bad. Especially for the team members who might feel intimidated to speak in public.

One way to break the ice is to spend the first ten minutes to the proposal of bad ideas. If you think people are not going to encourage start, you can suggest your first and then the others will contribute. This helps ‘informalize’ the session, all relax and lends itself to contribute without being ashamed of what others think. Not only it serves to relax the team, of these supposedly bad ideas, can also arise some ideas that deserve to be considered.

Once you have passed the ten minutes sharing ideas and laughing useless, you can re-focus on ideas they believe they can work.

2. Divide and builds Ideas

One way to make a few ideas in many is dividing them and returning them to build. If you start with a very general topic, try to divide it into parts and analyze whether you can make other ideas from there.

One way to divide or construct ideas can be done by asking each person in the room write two or three ideas on paper (one per person). Then have exchanged roles with others in the team and build the ideas of their peers. You can switch roles several times and start a discussion with new ideas emerging.

3. Play with words

Puns can help you eliminate the traditional mentality that tends to produce generic and unoriginal ideas. If you’re trying to get rid of a bad idea, try adding a couple of games to your meeting to shore extraordinary ideas.

A good exercise is the “rain of words”. To create a rain of words, write one and then allowed to flow a series of words that come to mind from that first word. Try to think of that word function, aesthetics, how it is used, the metaphors that may be associated with it and so on. Let the ideas flow naturally and stop thinking too; You must be a creative exercise.

Once you have written several words, you group them according to how they are interrelated. What is the OBJETIVE? You can think that words or less obvious phrases that your audience can relate to any project you’re working on.

You can annotate rain words on paper, on a blackboard or using  this online tool rain words  to create a visual map that you can save, export and send the team after the meeting. 

Create mind maps is another useful ideas for brainstorming tool because you can visualize these ideas and related terms. Create a diagram starting with a central idea and from there into subtopics and subsubtemas ramifícala. You can create mind maps on paper, on a blackboard or using something like the  application of MindNode .

Finally, another game that could use is to try to create something like  Creative Bloq called  “essential words”: words that capture the spirit, personality and message you’re trying to convey, even if they seem far – fetched. Perhaps you realize that this helps you reignite other ideas in the process.

4. Create mood boards or panels of inspiration.

Combine images, colors and visual arrangements can help to emotions and feelings to surface easily. 

While there are many ways to use visual brainstorming messages, create a mood board or panel of inspiration it is one of the most common, especially when trying to create brand new concepts and design.

A moodboad is a collection of images, words and textures that focus on the concept of theme or idea being presented. As with the mental maps moodboard visual components can be anything that ramifique of the main theme.

Image Credit: Behance

The moodboards can be physical board (for example, a cork board or poster) or virtual (for example, a board options). You can also use a tool like  Moodboard application  to help you collect, organize and share all visual elements you need for your board.

5. Organize games to encourage improvisation

Nothing makes creativity out afloat and with a little improvisation. The more relaxed and happy is the environment, your team will feel more comfortable to think and share ideas.

Corey Blake, Executive Director of RoundTable Companies, told  to  The Huffington Post   as its executive team began a brainstorming session with a series of improvisational games. “That experience relaxed us and opened our minds before beginning the more traditional brainstorming session.”

If your team can relax and laugh together, their creative energy will be much higher.

6. Make scribbles

Did you know that doodling can help you stimulate your creative vision, increase attention span and memory release?

Sunni Brown , author of  The Doodle Revolution,  wrote that, “When the mind begins to interact with the visual language, neurological get access you do not have when you’re in the linguistic mode”.

While many brainstorming sessions are based on conversation and reading, doodling helps people put aside the traditional mindset and think about familiar things from a different point of view, producing unexpected connections.

What should you do squiggles? 

• Takes an object and visually divide it into its smallest parts. So if you start with the word “dog”, you could draw the legs, a tail and a neck. Think of all the elements of the object and the environment in which it is located, will allow you to view an object differently.
• ” It takes two things that are not related; such as elephants and ice cream and draw them into its smallest particles, ”  writes Jennifer Miller for  Fast Company .  “After mixing these drawings creates random pieces. As a fallopian ice that melt or ears. Brown has used this technique to help journalists think about unique angles of a story. “

Image Credit:  FastCompany

7. Change your physical environment.

Change your physical environment is not only a fun change of environment; but it can really affect how your brain works. Neurobiologists believe  that enriched environments can accelerate the pace for the human brain generates new neurons and neural connections. That means the place  where you carry out your brainstorming sessions, could have an effect on the ideas that happen to your computer.

Summarizing:

Try doing brainstorming sessions in places that are not related to regular team meetings. If you can not change the room, try to change something in it  to stimulate the brain; change the order of the chairs or place pictures on the walls. Another idea is that your computer is up and walk while brainstorming to encourage the flow of creativity.

What creative brainstorming techniques have worked for you and your team? Share your experience with us in the comments.