Brainstorming

Tool/Technique	Brainstorming
Purpose (goal):	Generating new, useful ideas in decision-making and enhancing creative thinking. It can be used to define the task being worked on; identifying specific problems; finding solutions and examining how reliable they are.
Description / instruction:	Responding to a single, specific problem or question, participants in a Brainstorming session express their suggestions or ideas quickly and spontaneously, without much processed thought or reflection. Free association and building on the ideas of others are encouraged; criticism and censorship are forbidden. The focus is on quantity rather than quality, the goal being to generate as many ideas as possible in a short time. The assumption is that the greater the number of ideas generated, the greater the chance of producing a novel and effective solution.
Examples:	Nominal group technique Participants are asked to write their ideas anonymously. Then the facilitator collects the ideas and the group votes on each idea. The vote can be as simple as a show of hands in favor of a given idea. This process is called distillation. After distillation, the top-ranked ideas may be sent back to the group or to subgroups for further brainstorming. For example, one group may work on the color required in a product. Another group may work on the size, and so forth. Each group will come back to the whole group for ranking the listed ideas. Sometimes ideas that were previously dropped may be brought forward again once the group has re-evaluated the ideas. It is important that the facilitator is trained in this process before attempting to facilitate this technique. The group should be primed and encouraged to embrace the process. Like all team efforts, it may take a few practice sessions to train the team in the method before tackling the important ideas. Group passing technique Each person in a circular group writes down one idea, and then passes the piece of paper to the next person, who adds some thoughts. This continues until everybody gets his or her original piece of paper back. By this time, it is likely that the group will have extensively elaborated on each idea. The group may also create an “idea book” and post a distribution list or routing slip to the front of the book. On the first page is a description of the problem. The first person to receive the book lists his or her ideas and then routes the book to the next person on the distribution list. The second person can log new ideas or add to the ideas of the previous person. This continues until the distribution list is exhausted. A follow-up “read out” meeting is then held to discuss the ideas logged in the book. This technique takes longer, but it allows individuals time to think deeply about the problem.
Pros:	– Activates creative exchange of ideas and knowledge; – Many and varied ideas are generated. – Discussions on the problem raised for discussion are conducted without prior preparation of the participants
Cons:	It’s not always effective – if one or more of the brainstorming participants have poor communication skills, they’ll find it hard to express their ideas or listen to what other people have to say. It’s not always the right choice for everybody – Some people panic at the thought of speaking in front of a group, but they can come up with excellent ideas when in one-on-one meetings.
Tips:	– Non-standard ideas are welcome; – A certain time is required (usually a few minutes); – Participants’ ideas should not be criticized, only written down; – All ideas are recorded regardless of how they sound; – It is important to encourage the upgrading of ideas, the creation of more; – Initially, there may be a need for a facilitator in each team to monitor compliance.
Sources / resources	https://www.unicef.org/knowledge-exchange/files/Brainstorming_production.pdf https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brainstorming https://www.business2community.com/strategy/brainstorming-brainstorming-best-practices-01475660