17 Feb Anatomy of … a brainstorming meeting: Idea Bounce

Before the meeting

Decide on the right participants.

A diverse set of participants helps ensure you have different perspectives. Select someone who is impartial and organized to facilitate and keep track of time and ideas.

Send out an agenda in advance. If team members see the topic at hand in advance, they can begin formulating their ideas on the topic.

Create a collaborative environment. Whether you use a conference room or take your team on a retreat at a more casual venue, arrange the room’s seating so people can easily talk and see one another. Provide refreshments to keep people energized.

During the meeting

Set ground rules. Make sure everyone knows that all ideas are welcome and that criticism of employee feedback won’t be tolerated. Encourage team members to think outside the box.

Encourage maximum participation. Take steps to get everyone involved by eliciting ideas first from quiet team members, breaking the discussion into small groups, and giving everyone time to speak. Have managers share ideas last to avoid unintentionally influencing the input of others.

Focus on quantity over quality. Your goal during a brainstorming session is to generate as many ideas as possible. You can determine later which will yield the best results.

After the meeting

Allow space for additional ideas. Give participants a way to submit ideas anonymously after the session in case someone has a thought they didn’t feel comfortable sharing.

Be transparent about next steps. Let participants know how ideas will be ranked, grouped, or prioritized. Allow them to have input into how this is done.

Schedule a follow-up meeting. Create time and space for the team to decide which ideas sparked the most excitement and which ones the team will implement.