What is Brainstorming and how it should be conducted ?

Brainstorming is an excellent technique of developing many creative solutions to a complex problem. It works by focusing on a problem, and then coming up with  many radical solutions to it. Ideas should deliberately be pragmatic or non-pragmatic , and should be developed as fast as possible. Brainstorming is a lateral thinking process - it is designed to help you break out of your thinking patterns into new ways of looking at things.

Call all the participants in a conference room and arrange a “ Brainstorming” session with a clear problem.

It can be defined as “ A brain storming activity that is well executed should result in some very unusual ideas that is the underlying purpose for resolving the given problem.”

Some points must remember during the brainstorming session –

• During brainstorming sessions there should be no criticism of ideas - you are trying to open possibilities and break down wrong assumptions about the limits of the problem. Judgment and analysis at this stage will stunt idea generation.

• Ideas should only be evaluated once the brainstorming session has finished - you can then explore solutions further using conventional approaches.

• Define the problem you want solved clearly, and lay out any criteria to be met.

• Keep the session focused on the problem and try to avoid the biasedness.

• Ensure that no-one criticizes or evaluates ideas during the session. Criticism introduces an element of risk for group members when putting forward an idea. This stifles creativity and cripples the free running nature of a good brainstorming session.

• Encourage an enthusiastic, uncritical attitude among members of the group. Try to get everyone to contribute and develop ideas, including the quietest members of the group and don’t ignore the suggestion of any member whether he is technical or non-technical.

• Let people have fun brainstorming. Encourage them to come up with as many ideas as possible, from solidly practical ones to wildly impractical ones. Welcome creativity.

• Ensure that no train of thought is followed for too long

• Encourage people to develop other people's ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones

• Appoint one person to note down ideas that come out of the session. A good way of doing this is to use a flip chart. This should be studied and evaluated after the session. Brainstorming can give you some radical solution to any complex problem and it is very effective technique , management is using to take the best use of it to extract the best from the possible or available resources.

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