Thursday, March 21, 2013

How to conduct a Structured Creative Brainstorming Sessions


Preamble:
I find that I needed to improve at conducting meetings and discussions. A common kind of meeting required is a brainstorming session. However, I'm sure many people have experienced brainstorming sessions which seemed to be unfocused and resulted in a lack of actionable items. 

Much thanks to Ronald Wong, for sharing his thoughts.

How to create a Structured Creative Brainstorming Session

Quality of session depends on the 
  Diversity of ideas generated
  Quantity of ideas generated
  Inclusive participation of all the individuals

For facilitator
Before the meeting
  Send the agenda out with discussion items, directly responsible individual and timings, with sufficient buffer time
  Send background material, if necessary

Prepare the meeting overview
  Structure the meeting
  Prepare 3 possible solutions/ ideas
   
During the meeting
  Set the context for all participants: 5W, 1H
  Set the groundrules
    Only constructive comments
    No distractions such as mobile phones
  Be conscious of the discussion progress
  Get everyone's buy-in and conclusion at every stage before moving on
  Close the meeting by summarising all the points
  Seat in a position such that you are able to see all participants and make sure your body posture is "open"
  
Techniques
  To spur discussion - Ask "How" questions
  To be inclusive - Maintain eye contact with everyone and ask everyone around the table to contribute
  To draw participants who are drifting - Ask them for their opinion on a certain point
  Use props such as the whiteboard and monitor screen

After the discussion
  Send the minutes out, with tasklists

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