Top 10 Team Brainstorming Techniques for Maximum Productivity

Thinking leads to Ideas. Ideas lead to creativity and creativity leads to progress. However, how do you find the greatest ideas for success? The answer is to use the best Brainstorming Techniques. That’s what we will discuss in this blog. Welcome to the Top 10 Team Brainstorming Techniques for Maximum Productivity.

The Rule of Thumbs For Holding Quality Brainstorming Sessions

If you are reading this article, then you already know the basics of brainstorming. Rather, we will tell you how to improve the quality of your brainstorming meetings. Let’s begin the method of teaching brainstorming.

• Clarity in instructions
• Set the objectives first
• Initial ideas by each member
• Initial ideas become building blocks
• Vote for the best
• Short and sweet

a. Clarity in Instructions:

Instructions must have 100% clarity. Everyone must understand the objectives before initialization. Then, the focus must be to request everyone to give as many ideas as possible. Don’t worry, you can also refine them later.     

b. Set the Objectives First:

Like we keep saying in our blogs, if you don’t know the destination, you will just keep walking. Keep your sessions structured with clarity in objectives. The sessions are more productive this way.

c. Initial Ideas By Each Member:

Brainstorming meetings give the best output when each member throws their ideas on the table individually. You should give them enough time to pen their ideas, which everyone can later vote on.

d. Initial Ideas Become Building Blocks:

Once you have got the initial ideas down, you can start working on refining them. The idea is to develop the initial ideas and progress further.

• The bottom line here is to shortlist the best ideas. However, remember that not everyone’s ideas are perfect, but individual good ideas can become perfect together.

e. Vote for The Best:

Now that we have got some ideas shortlisted, everyone votes for which idea they think is the best. The idea with the most votes will usually be selected. However, in the rare case, it doesn’t, you can re-vote or pick the second-best idea.   

f. Short and Sweet:

Longer meetings can get your team overwhelmed. Also, the longer time you used could have been used for something with a higher priority, such as a large project. Keeping track of your time is very important.

• You can also use productivity monitoring software such as DeskTrack for the same.

Advantages of Brainstorming For Teams

One of the best team-building techniques is brainstorming. The session lets you build the best team for the job. Plus, you also get to know the analytical thinking and creativity levels of your employees. Furthermore, conducting these sessions regularly has many benefits.

• You get a plethora of ideas
• Boosts creativity and innovation
• Teamwork and collaboration
• Optimizes problem-solving

a. You Get a Plethora of Ideas:

As you already know everyone gives many ideas during a meeting. So you will never run out. Of course, you finalize only 1, but the others are meant to be reserved for later use.

• An idea not fit for the current project has a 100% chance of selection for the next one.

b. Boosts Creativity and Innovation:

During each session, the employees naturally throw out their best ideas, because everyone gets a chance for it. This boosts creativity. Furthermore, the refining part of a meeting skyrockets innovation.

c. Teamwork and Collaboration:

Everyone works together in brainstorming sessions. These meetings are the perfect example of teamwork and collaboration.

d. Optimizes Problem-Solving:

The reason for any brainstorming session is to solve any problem. The ideas get better and better with each step, which ultimately optimizes teamwork and collaboration. 

The Best Team Brainstorming Techniques For 2024

Now that we have gotten the basic brainstorming session rules, standards, and benefits down, let’s finally give you the top brainstorming techniques, that you visited the page for.

1. Mind mapping
2. SWOT
3. Brainwriting
4. Eidetic image
5. Rapid ideation
6. Gap analysis
7. 5 Whys
8. Stepladder
9. Figure storming
10. Online brainstorming aka netting

1. Mind Mapping:

Mind mapping uses the concept that our brain understands better with visuals and colors than plain text. Tools like diagrams are used to create and arrange information, ideas, and concepts.

2. SWOT:

This is the technique, which is rather a strategic planning technique. It expands to

• The Strengths of your idea, which make it stand out from your competitors.
• The Weaknesses, which can put your organization at risk.
• The external Opportunities, that can improve your Coppi (idea, product, project or company).
• The external Threats, which can hinder your Coppi.

Overall, SWOT is a combination of all these four micro brainstorming techniques.

3. Brainwriting:

This is a technique, which removes the idea of the same people talking and others remaining pin-drop silent during the meeting.

• However, there is one change. The ideation is non-verbal.

The idea behind brainwriting is to give everyone a fair chance to present their idea.

4. Eidetic Image:

You will understand this one better with how it works.

• Have every member imagine your company’s product. For example, a monitoring tool like DeskTrack.
• Make everyone visualize improvements to it.
• Guiding them through each improvement is key.
• Have everyone present their ideas.

5. Rapid Ideation:

Rapid ideation in simple words means, many ideas in a short time. This time frame is usually 5 to 10 minutes.

6. Gap Analysis:

This one is similar to a roadmap. The objective is similar to getting from A to B. The requirement is to tell your team the end goal and then take small steps to reach it.

7. Whys:

Let’s understand this one with a simple example of a chat app feature. The characteristic lets the user close a DM.

• Why? So the chat window remains uncluttered.
• Why? It gets hard to find people.
• Why? It takes time away from the users as they have to scroll down to find other users.
• Why? It is time-consuming.
• Why? It frustrates the user.

Now you know why this technique is effective.

8. Stepladder:

This is everyone for themselves but in a team. Everyone contributes their ideas and opinions without the influence of the ideations.

9. Figure Storming:

This one is the most enjoyable technique on our list. The idea is to solve the problem from someone else’s perspective. In simple words, your idea from another’s point of view.

• For example? What would Mukesh Ambani do in this situation?

10. Online Brainstorming Aka Netting:

You use this one to create new ideas. However, you use collaboration tools for the same.

Conclusion

With that, our blog titled, Top 10 Team Brainstorming Techniques for Maximum Productivity comes to a close. To summarize, today, we discovered the rule of thumb and benefits of team brainstorming. The last part was all about the best techniques for quality round table meetings.