Brainstorming Strategies That Will Help You Innovate

Thu, Dec 16, 2021 4:39 PM

How do you foster innovation? How do you brainstorm with your team? Here are several ways for generating ideas for adopting a more innovation-centered strategy in business, ranging from using online whiteboards to undertaking the 100-year exercise.

Open Ideation Should Be Encouraged.

When brainstorming, we encourage constructive criticism. No notion is unquestionably valid or unchallengeable. No idea is too ridiculous to be dismissed without first debating it. We find answers that are superior to anything we could have come up with without any debate by bouncing ideas and criticisms off each other.

Arrange a Work Retreat

We like to get away every three months or so for a work retreat in a new place, even though we're a small and hybrid organization. When we have a lot of fun, we also have some of our best brainstorming sessions while we're there.

We believe that bringing everyone together in such a unique setting allows us to develop new ideas. This knowledge will enable us to decide which direction to pursue as a firm and our year's goals.

Participate in a Virtual Brainstorming Session

Virtual brainstorming is valuable for encouraging workplace innovation, especially in remote work environments. Teams not in the same office, state, or even nation benefit from this method.

Remote teams can offer ideas in real-time using productivity tools like Google Docs, Quip, or Zoho Docs. Participants can continue to submit ideas and debate them separately, even if they are on different brainstorming schedules.

Carry out the 100-Year Test

Consider what your company will look like in 100 years as an existential exercise for business success. It forces everyone to consider how the business affects them rather than how the business, its customers, and the world will be changed once we're gone.

It puts you in an entirely different mindset than a usual brainstorming session, and it steers the company in a long-term direction that everyone can work toward together.

New Employees Should be Brought in to Provide New Ideas.

Because brainstorming generally focuses on the process rather than the individuals involved, bringing in new people with fresh perspectives is one of the most effective ways to inspire new ideas. Participating in these meetings with new hires is a beautiful method to break the deadlock, as veteran employees' ideas are sometimes stifled by the structure they've grown accustomed to.

New employees may also have unique experiences that they can apply to improve certain aspects of your company. You can broaden your choices by considering fresh hires as a good source of ideas for brainstorming sessions.

Organize an Annual Hackathon

We've had an annual hackathon for the previous two years, during which we spend a major portion of our time concentrating on company projects rather than our day-to-day work. We improve and establish new processes during this period to help day-to-day work go more smoothly.

We can focus on innovation since we don't have to worry about our typical workload building up because we have dedicated time for these brainstorming meetings.

Make Use of the Mastermind's Power

A few years ago, it seemed like every podcaster and author I followed promoted the advantages of a traditional, peer-oriented mastermind group. I didn't know how effective the conversation format can be for creating relationships and tackling shared difficulties until I established one myself (for HR professionals).

To prevent the dangers of uniformity, it is critical to have diverse experiences and perspectives. Mastermind groups, whether long-term or ad hoc in style, can foster idea development and long-term innovation that positively impacts businesses at all levels!

Related Topic: Ways to Maintain and Grow Your Business During a Pandemic

Begin With a Quick-fire Exercise That is Timed.

In my company, relying on quick-fire Ideation as a brainstorming approach has aided in developing an innovative culture. Each participant is given 8 minutes to scribble down as many ideas as possible during the brainstorming session.

When the timer goes off, the meeting leader takes each participant's notes and pins them on the pinboard. Each concept is debated for 5-7 minutes before moving on to the next step for further evaluation if the entire team thinks it is viable. The suggestions are debated until everyone on the team agrees on the best one.

Make use of Online Whiteboards.

For cooperation, we are big supporters of online whiteboards. I get my team together once a quarter to brainstorm on one of these whiteboards. We brainstormed suggestions for new innovative benefits and perks at our recent meeting, which we can consider for 2022.

You can add text, photographs, videos, draw free-hand, and more on virtual whiteboards, which is why we appreciate them so much. The platform is fantastic for collaborating!

To Encourage Idea Sharing, Share Your Objectives.

When brainstorming, it doesn't matter what job you play at our organization. Your views and insights, regardless of your position, are welcomed. With everyone working toward the same goal, we hold frequent meetings with our employees where anyone, no matter how wacky, can offer their ideas. We're always attempting to improve our goods, and ideally, those shared ideas will inspire us to do even more.

Make a Mind Map of Your Ideas.

By using mind maps, Leonardo da Vinci translated complicated concepts into simple representations. Mind mapping is an excellent approach to bringing order to a brainstorm's chaos. Using mind mapping to generate new ideas gives you a lot of flexibility, which is especially useful when many people are still working and meeting remotely.

Clients and team members will enjoy seeing their ideas come to life as strategies emerge with visual clarity thanks to screen share and sharing options in many mind mapping software. You may also refine your mind map as your thoughts change.

Experiment with the L10 Meeting Format.

The team meets once a week for L10 (Level 10) meetings, where we discuss weekly data, to-dos, concerns, company wins, and other topics. Each week, the framework remains the same, and we assess the meeting on a scale of one to ten for how well it went.

This is a fantastic agile method since it empowers team members to raise issues that can then be moved to to-do lists. It also prioritizes each team member's tasks before our next L10 meeting. These gatherings are a fantastic method to ignite creativity and shake up your internal strategy framework!

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