The 5 Key Rules for a Successful Brainstorm

You might think setting up a brainstorming session is easy: you gather people, ideas start flowing, and by the end of the meeting you have everything you need to move on to the next step of your project. But to make sure this kind of work session actually succeeds, you need to plan it well and lead it properly. That matters even more since you’re using up several people’s time at once — it needs to be worth it!

So here are my 5 golden rules for an effective brainstorm.

1. Plan, plan, plan!

Before any brainstorming session, ask yourself who you want at the table: who will bring something relevant to the conversation and offer positive, original feedback? Once you know, make sure to share with them all the information that could be useful for the meeting, like a project summary with the expected objectives.

Hooray! Homework before the meeting!

Even better: give each person homework. You could ask something like “How might we…?” That way, everyone arrives at the session having already done a bit of the ideation legwork. Ideally, give your precious guests a week’s notice.

2. A Few Ground Rules

For this kind of session to work, you also need to remind everyone of some basic rules:

• Don’t criticize other people’s ideas (no “yes, but…”);
• Be kind and open-minded;
• Let your imagination run free;
• Cooperate by building on other people’s ideas to improve them;
• Combine ideas.

3. 1, 2, 3, Brainstorm!

After doing our homework, we finally get together to have some fun. Fun has to be at the heart of these meetings. But careful — you still need a plan!

• Turn off ALL phones and prioritize paper or whiteboards. This helps avoid getting distracted by notifications and emails. Nothing is more annoying than the sound of your colleagues’ devices during this kind of session. Some people even take it a step further and put every electronic device in a bowl at the entrance to the meeting room.
• Once you have everyone’s attention, recap the context (the project’s history, the goals to reach, constraints, etc.). Give yourself 10 to 20 minutes to paint a clear picture and let everyone ask their questions.
• Then, define the problem to solve and the ideal solution. Bring up the homework again, and at this stage you can simply go around the table to hear everyone’s prepared ideas or answers.
• Play! Yes, really — there are plenty of fun games for this kind of session. A quick Google search will turn up plenty of options!

4. Time to Tidy Up the Ideas

It’s time to come back down to earth. Take a moment to sort through the ideas with participants:

• Rephrase;
• Group together;
• Remove.

At this stage, you’re allowed to be critical! Evaluate feasibility, development time, cost, effectiveness, risk, innovation, and so on. Keep only the best of what came out of the session!

5. Evaluate Your Performance

Did you plan your session well? Was it effective? You can check with these 4 indicators:

• Novelty: the ideas were unexpected
• Quantity: there were A LOT of ideas
• Variety: the concept was explored from every angle
• Quality: the ideas are actionable

At Sparkling, these are our favorite kind of work sessions. We have a lot of fun, but we also love coming together, joining forces, and letting everyone’s creativity bloom. We’re always better when we unite.

A Few Games to Spice Up Your Brainstorming Sessions

The SCAMMPERR Method

On the ideas you’ve kept, choose one or more questions to ask:

• What can we replace? What element can we put in place of another?
• What can we merge?
• Can we draw inspiration from something comparable?
• Can we change the color, the shape, the movement, the meaning?
• What can we add, exaggerate?
• What are the other uses?
• What isn’t necessary?
• Can we do the opposite, go backward, switch roles?
• What can change places?

Reverse Brainstorming

Ask the question backwards. For example: How could we make the user experience worse?

To Go Further

• Asana is a tool we use a lot at the office! They’ve put together a really interesting piece on brainstorming.
• This article from Revue Gestion.
• These 6 TED Talks on creativity.

We’d also love to have fun with you and plan a fun work session. Contact us!

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