Every time we face a problem do not we all just sit back and think of the best possible way to overcome it? Of course we do! Knowingly or unknowingly we all have done brainstorming at least once in our lives.

Especially, Brainstorming is an effective and widely used tool for generating ideas for tech innovations. This article will tell you how to do brainstorming in a more systematic way to make it more effective, remarkably supporting the idea generation process for technopreneurs.

What is Brainstorming?

If you came across our previous article you may already know the answer to this question.  In simple terms, brainstorming is one of the most productive methods out there for idea generation which lets your mind freely float along a topic. It widens your spectrum of thinking by letting you consider about anything related with a topic and build upon ideas of others in a team.

Individual Vs. Group Brainstorming

Are you willing to stand alone or unite your flock? Either way you can do brainstorming. The advantage of group brainstorming is, it will bring the diverse experience and viewpoints of group members into one place which will ultimately result in synergy where the output from the collective effort of team members will be greater than the individual effort.

How to Brainstorm?

Ready to tap your brain for a revolutionary idea?
Here we go!

• Form your team – If you are aiming to do a group brainstorming session, first step is to unite your flock. Gather people from diverse backgrounds so you will have a team well-balanced with a diverse range of creativity, experience and knowledge. Appoint one person to record the ideas.
• Agree upon the objective/ topic – Once your team is ready sit down for a few minutes and discuss on your objective or topic that you are going to bring out ideas. Every team member should understand and agree on the objective.
• Let the participants speak up – It is time to do the real brainstorming. Let the team members speak whatever comes to their mind on the topic. No one should argue, criticize or evaluate any idea while the brainstorming goes on, instead should encourage people to come up with more and more ideas irrespective of how logical or illogical they are.
• Record the ideas – You may use a whiteboard or a flipchart to record the ideas of the team. Make sure you place it on an appropriate location making it visible to the whole team.
• Categorize, link and refine ideas – Once everybody has presented their ideas, use different colored pens to categorize, group and link the ad-hoc ideas. You may find connections among the large pool of ideas and may find some items excludable.
• Assess,prioritize and agree on the final idea – Analyze, assess and sort through ideas to prioritize the high value additions to create one final augmented idea.
• Decide the action plan – Now you know where to sail your ship and what you need to do is to arrange things to start the journey. Agree what the next actions should be, develop a time frame and divide tasks among your team members.

Commit to these simple steps and watch your ideas bloom!