A PERFECT (BRAIN)STORM

On paper the concept of ‘brainstorming’ sounds profoundly sexy – reminiscent of over-running the Winter Palace of your consciousness and firing off on all synapses like a crack rifle squad.

The reality? All too often, it comes down to a put-upon Account person attempting to decipher a couple of pages worth of tatty flipchart paper filled with inane ramblings.

So in an attempt to avoid the latter depressing scenario, here are my top 10 tips for better brainstorms.

1) CALL IT AT THE RIGHT POINT. Better to wait ‘til you have an inkling of which direction you want to go rather than have an open-ended free-for-all based around a vague understanding of a client’s business.

2) INVITE A SELECT BUNCH OF PEOPLE. This will serve to make everyone present feel they have a responsibility to contribute to the session. It will also make those who weren’t invited more curious about what went on and more eager to participate in the next brainstorm.

3) STATE A TIME FOR THE SESSION. Make this no longer than 20-25 minutes.

4) SET AN ALARM CLOCK IN THE SESSION. If people know a bell is going to go off when the time’s up they can relax knowing that the meeting won’t drag on and suck their time into a black hole. (N.B. make sure you end the session when the clock goes off.)

5) SET OUT THE BRIEF IN NO MORE THAN 2 MINUTES. You don’t want them to know every nook and cranny of the business problem, just enough to get them started. I’ve been in brainstorms where the briefing took so long I’ve forgotten what I was there for by the end of it.

6) MAKE YOUR CREATIVE OPENER CREATIVE. If you want to get the creative juices flowing, start with a genuine brain-teaser like “how would you feel about shopping if brands didn’t exist?” rather than some bland stunner like “how do you feel about shopping in general?”

7) HAVE A LONG LIST OF QUESTIONS. You need a constant source of stimulus to keep the ideas flowing and new thoughts to lob in when the energy gets low. Think of it as having to keep people’s brains spritzed throughout.

8) ENGAGE THE WHOLE GROUP. If anyone isn’t contributing, draw them in - they might have something amazing to say that they are a bit shy about sharing.

9) DON’T JUDGE. Don’t say “any idea is a good idea” and then start editing the thoughts in the session.

10) SHARE THE NOTES. Make sure the brainstorm notes are distributed to all the invitees, highlighting any particularly interesting ideas or thoughts that have the potential to go further. This will make people feel as though they haven’t wasted their time.

So, there it is. Now, here’s to future of brainstorms. Here’s to buzzy, engaged sessions not looming, time-eating events on the computer calendar.