In order to brainstorm effectively as a team, all participants should understand the roles that they are expected to play. The following are four common roles that can be used in a team brainstorming session:
The idea generator – This person comes up with new ideas and proposes them to the group.
The idea evaluator – This person listens to the ideas proposed by the group and decides which ones are worth exploring further.
The note taker – This person takes notes during the brainstorming session and records the ideas that are proposed.
The task assigner – This person assigns tasks to team members in order to implement the best ideas.
productive group brainstorming can really feel like a win: The team leaves feeling energized, accomplished, and excited for the next steps. Effective brainstorming techniques can help achieve this. On the other hand, when a brainstorm session misses—whether it feels unproductive, repetitive, or negative—the team may collectively feel uninspired.
There are a lot of factors that can derail a brainstorm, but here are some of the common reasons a brainstorming session goes wrong:
Unbalanced conversation – Extroverted personalities and quick thinkers dominate the conversation, leaving no time for other teammates to contribute.
The anchoring effect – Participants converge on the first few ideas that are brought up in a brainstorm, which stifles new ideas and prevents the team from moving on.
Awkward silence – Participants are unprepared, leaving you with an hour full of painful silence or—worse yet—a meeting that is cut short to put everyone out of their misery.
Disconnected teams – Remote working during the pandemic requires brainstorming through videoconferencing. The inherent awkwardness combined with the tendency of people to talk over one another makes it hard to capture the creative energy that comes from having everyone in one room.
Implementing the following group brainstorming techniques can help you avoid these common woes and instead bring your team together to yield the perfect idea.
Idea generator: This team member is responsible for coming up with new ideas.
Brainstorming as a team is an effective way to come up with new ideas. By working together, team members can build on each other’s suggestions, generating more ideas than any one individual could come up with alone.
When brainstorming as a team, it’s important to have a clear understanding of each team member’s role. The roles can vary depending on the project, but some of the most common ones are:
Idea generator: This team member is responsible for coming up with new ideas.
This team member is responsible for coming up with new ideas.
Facilitator: This team member keeps the discussion on track and ensures that everyone has a chance to contribute.
This team member keeps the discussion on track and ensures that everyone has a chance to contribute. Note taker: This team member takes notes on the ideas that are generated, to help keep track of them later.
This team member takes notes on the ideas that are generated, to help keep track of them later. Timekeeper: This team member ensures that the brainstorming session stays on track and doesn’t go on for too long.
Brainstorming as a team can be a great way to come up with new ideas, but it’s important to make sure everyone is on the same page. By understanding each team member’s role, you can make sure the brainstorming session is as productive as possible.
Conclusion
Brainstorming as a team is key to coming up with great ideas that can be put into action. By knowing each other’s strengths and weaknesses, team members can divide up the work accordingly and come up with a plan that is most likely to succeed. Roles in a team project vary, but typically include a leader, a documenter, a researcher, and a note-taker. Every member of the team should feel comfortable taking on any of these roles as needed in order to keep the project moving forward.
Velma Holmes is a certified holistic health coach, public speaker, and writer from Chicago, Illinois. With a passion for creating healthy recipes and spreads of knowledge on health and food, Velma is an advocate of sustainable living and eating. Her blog and coaching services focus on helping others create a healthier lifestyle and accessible nutrition outcomes. Velma loves to travel and explore the food culture around the world. Her goal is to help individuals transform their lives through sustainable health and lifestyles.