Brainstorming Techniques

Brainstorming techniques have varying degrees of structure, but they are all used to generate ideas.

Brainstorming techniques include:

• A brainstorming session in which everyone in the room blurts out ideas.
• A brainstorming session that takes a round-robin approach, with each person presenting an idea in turn.
• A brainstorming session in which each person writes out a specified number of ideas.
• A session in which each person brainstorms a specified number of drawings of an idea.
• A brainstorming approach in which ideas are passed around the room with each person building on previous ideas.
• Brainstorming in the context of another tool, such as filling out a cause and effect (Ishikawa) fishbone diagram or an affinity diagram.

Regardless of the selected brainstorming technique, the team will need to sift through the ideas to find a few workable ones to flesh out

Pitfalls to avoid from these brainstorming techniques:

• Don’t let shy people stay quiet during brainstorming.
• Don’t let loud people take over a brainstorming session.
• Make sure brainstorming sessions move past the obvious to get innovative ideas. This means a minimum number per person.
• Don’t judge ideas during brainstorming. There will be time for that later.