Boost Business Brainstorming
Posted by Goody on 03/10/08 in Business
Business is constantly changing.
As a result, you need to stay on top of change.
Here are 10 ways that you and your employees can generate a mountain of ideas
for your business:
1. Start the brainstorming session off with jokes to get people laughing. Your goal is to get everyone ready to brainstorm. Laughter relaxes people into the mood to generate ideas in abundance.
2. You need a good business brainstorming facilitator. This person may not be the best at brainstorming around, but the person is excellent pulling ideas out of people. This individual should be enthusiastic and excited to conduct the session.
3. The atmosphere has to be right. You’ll need to be in a comfortable setting with no distractions. No fears, or wants. The state of mind that is perfect is a state of relaxed alertness. That is why a meeting like this should be done after breakfast and before lunch. After lunch, many people get sleepy. This of course is not good for serious brainstorming.
4. In the business brainstorm there is no bad ideas, only better ones. If you want to get yourself and others to increase their brainstorming for your business, you have to be very open and accepting to all ideas. Never, ever criticize anyone. Not even as a joke. Criticism chokes off a good brainstorming session every time.
5. Trust your feelings. Everyone in the session should just say what’s on their mind and make sure there is someone writing it all down. It helps to have an artist who can capture concepts and sketch them on a large pad.
6. Open your mind up and think outside the box. Encourage the use of mind game exercises with the idea that everyone is brainstorming on. For example, what is the opposite of the idea that has just been presented or what if the idea was 100 times larger or smaller.
7. If there is a silence in the brainstorming session pull out “idea starters” that you have already made in preparation for silence. These sessions need to be fast, energetic and fun to maximize the output of the brainstorming.
8. After all ideas are written down. Then the judge in us can judge all the brainstormed ideas. But only judge positively. And keep the conversation around what is really strong ideas.
9. Sift through the best ideas and narrow them down. Then take a break and come back to it. See if you still think the same way. Possible new ideas will crop up. Be open to anything. And excepting of everything.
10. Test your best ideas. Test them with your employees, friends, even a chosen outside test group. It’s good to have confirmation that your best ideas to you have merit by others, before you put more dollars behind it.
Now all you have to do is put your greatest ideas into action. And make sure
you always keep business brainstorming in the mix of your business strategy.
James Neill owns Coby Neill Creative Creative Ad Agency
Author of 3 books
“200 DISCOVERIES TO HOME BUSINESS SUCCESS”
“BE THE GREATEST BASEBALL PLAYER OF ALL TIME”
“THE CHAMPION WITHIN”
Tags: abundance, alertness, brainstorm, brainstorming session, chokes, constantly changing, distractions, enthusiastic, facilitator, fears, good business, joke, laughter, lunch, mind game, pad, silence, sketch, starters, think outside the box
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