Brainstorming Techniques

When looking to incorporate any types of group brainstorming techniques, try to follow that same process of letting your mind flow as you would your thoughts. This allows for unrestricted and uninhibited thought processes.

When brainstorming by yourself, use similar group brainstorming techniques, similar to free writing. Free writing let's you go with the flow of your natural thought process. Just sit down with a blank piece of paper and start writing every thought that comes into your brain whether it is related to the problem or not. Don't worry about how something sounds or looks, or if it's even spelled correctly. You can set a time limit with this brainstorm technique. When the time is up, get up and take a walk or lie down and relax to clear your head. After a few hours, go read over what you wrote and pick out the ideas. Most often when this technique is used, additional thoughts and ideas continue to flow while you're relaxing. You may even come up with the solution while you are asleep.

When brainstorming with a small group of people, use word association as one of your group brainstorming techniques. This technique uses various words and phrases to describe an item, question or idea. Make a list for each word or phrase given by the group. After you have made a few lists, pick one or two words from each list and use them to form questions or to brainstorm more ideas.

Paradoxical Intention is one of the more unusual group brainstorming techniques. Instead of brainstorming for ideas, the group does the opposite. Instead of brainstorming ideas, the group comes up with ways to make the problem or situation worse. By performing this type of technique, the idea flow turns an idea of how to make a problem worse into the solution to make the problem better or how to resolve it.

Facilitators of a brainstorming session should always have ideas of their own to present at various times throughout the session. When the facilitator sees the group is "running out of steam", that is the time for them to jump in with ideas of their own. This is one of the group brainstorming techniques used in order to motivate people to start the ideas flowing again.

There should always be one person designated in a brainstorming session to take notes of all ideas, thoughts and additional information. These notes should be presented as an overview to each participant.

A facilitator should never let anyone in the session be critical of another participant's idea. Whenever an idea is presented, to hear someone say something critical such as "that will never work" or "we've tried that in the past", is sure to kill the positive flow of the session. Not using "killer phrases" is one of the first rules of group brainstorming techniques.

Most brainstorming sessions get a bit out of control, and that's ok. That just means the creative flow is getting faster. Thoughts are coming faster, producing more and more ideas to solve the problem.