When to use brainstorming

A brainstorming session is ideal when employees need to generate ideas. This technique can also lead to engaging, actionable team meetings.

Confronting a challenge

When your company faces industry changes, develops a new product or service or streamlines workflows, brainstorming for ideas can be an effective way to develop practical solutions.

Needing fresh ideas

If your company is starting a new project, brainstorming can empower your team to explore diverse approaches and perspectives and foster creative thinking.

Encouraging team engagement

Brainstorming sessions can be useful if an employee has an idea that could be developed with colleagues’ input. If you want the entire team involved in the solution, this exercise can use your team’s collective creativity and expertise, potentially leading to better outcomes.

The benefits of brainstormed ideas

The success of brainstorming can depend on who’s involved and the goals of a session, but its general benefits may include:

• Different viewpoints: When multiple people are involved, you may hear different viewpoints.
• Inspiration: Sharing in a group typically allows employees to build upon each other’s ideas.
• Teamwork: Brainstorming encourages collaboration. This can transfer to other activities and projects.
• Change in routines: Breaking out of normal work activities can help the creative thought process.
• Fast idea generation: Brainstorming may make it easier to develop ideas quickly.
• Sense of involvement: Inviting employees to participate in brainstorming can help them feel like valuable team members and encourage them to accept the idea when it’s implemented.

11 effective brainstorming ideas

Consider new techniques and ideas to help motivate your team. The following brainstorming strategies and tips can help you build a collaborative team.

1. Focus on questions instead of answers

A brainstorming session often focuses on answers or solutions for a single question. Consider using a brainstorming session to develop questions about a specific situation.

For example, instead of asking, “How do we increase sales?” ask, “What are the biggest challenges our customers face?”

Review the questions after the session to find common threads. Look for queries that stand out. Once you’ve identified the key questions to focus on, you can develop an action plan to follow up.

2. Try a new location

Moving to a new location for your session can inspire creativity. If you brainstorm for ideas in the conference room or the same environment you’re used to having team meetings, your team may repeat their usual thought patterns.

Look for a new location for brainstorming sessions. You might move outside or choose an off-site location, such as a coffee shop with a reserved room. If the conference room is the only option, try rearranging the seats or standing instead of sitting.

3. Brainwriting

You might have employees write as many ideas as possible in a set amount of time. Give them another minute or two to evaluate their ideas and choose the best ones.

Each person shares those top ideas to add to the group whiteboard. You might also collect the original papers in case an employee had a helpful solution they didn’t share.

4. Shared writing

You could also ask employees to write whatever comes to mind for a few minutes. When the timer rings, each person passes their paper to a different participant. Everyone reads the previous person’s thoughts and adds their own, building off what is already written.

Continue passing the papers and adding to them until everyone adds to each piece of paper. Then, share the ideas that come from them. You can use the same concept with drawings instead of written text if visual brainstorming is a better fit.

5. Think from a new perspective

If you’re looking for innovative ideas, encourage employees to think from an industry professional’s perspective. You could also choose a fictional character to inspire creativity. This exercise can shift the focus to an external viewpoint and create a more comfortable environment.

6. Consider potential issues

Instead of coming up with solutions for your end goal, consider roadblocks to the company’s success. This can help the team adjust and clarify what’s needed to achieve the goal.

For example, imagine that the new product launch has failed. What went wrong?

7. Five whys

This popular brainstorming technique helps you gain insight into a challenge. You start with a problem or issue and ask why it’s a problem. When you come up with an answer, ask why again. Continue asking why five times to determine what’s holding you back.

For example, if your company has experienced a decline in sales, ask, “Why? “Our marketing isn’t reaching the right people.” Why? “Our target audience has changed.” And so on.

8. Road map

Draw a road map visual with the starting point as your current state or the problem you’re addressing. The end destination is your goal. Think about the steps it takes to get to that goal. It’s sometimes easier to start at the goal and work back from there.

Consider identifying the final step before achieving the goal. Then, contemplate what comes right before that. Continue this process until you’ve addressed every step to your beginning destination.

9. What if

If you want your team to think creatively about the situation, try a “what if” brainstorming session. You start with your actual situation or problem but add different “what if” modifiers that change the situation. The “what ifs” may be practical or creative.

Here are some examples:

• What if kids were solving this problem?
• What if we could only use social media for marketing?
• What if we had to double our prices?
• What if we couldn’t use any digital tools for this situation?
• What if this problem happened 50 years ago?
• What if we had $10 million to put toward this problem?

By exploring these “what if” scenarios, you can help your team develop innovative solutions that overcome real or perceived constraints.

10. Round robin session

Arrange the participants in a circle and have one employee share a single idea. Move around the circle, allowing each team member to share one idea to ensure everyone has a chance to speak.

11. Stepladder session

With the stepladder approach, you explain the situation to the entire group. Then, everyone leaves the room except two people. They brainstorm on the situation for a set amount of time. One more employee enters the room and shares their thoughts. This continues with one person joining at a time until the entire team convenes.

Brainstorming sessions can offer opportunities for creative problem-solving, quick ideation and team building. By using diverse perspectives and an open environment that encourages free thinking, these sessions can unlock forward-thinking solutions.

FAQs about brainstorming sessions

How do you start a brainstorming session?

Have a clear meeting agenda for the brainstorming session. Let the participants know the plan before they arrive so they’re in the right mindset.

Once you set the expectations, present the problem. If you’re using a specific brainstorming strategy, explain how it works, set a time limit and start brainstorming.

How do you evaluate brainstorming ideas?

Brainstorming sessions aim to generate as many ideas as possible. At the end of the session, create a shortlist of the solutions with the most potential. Consider factors such as feasibility, cost, time to complete and chances of success.

How do you run a brainstorming session remotely?

You might use a videoconferencing platform and assign key roles, including facilitator, timekeeper and recorder. Using online whiteboards and other collaboration tools can help you visually share and organize ideas. Digital brainstorming tools, such as online mind-mapping sites, are also available.