Do your brainstorming sessions seem to lack inspiration?

Successfully brainstorming for disruptive and creative ideas requires experience and special skills. Most human beings tend to stick with established patterns of thinking, so thinking out-of-the-box is much easier said than done. But it does not take visionaries to conjure buzz-generating, eye-popping or mind-blowing marketing campaigns that rake in new customers….

A lot of times, it hinges on having a great moderator, one who is ‘switched-on’ and plans the entire session thoroughly:

1. First, always define the objectives of your brainstorming session - with a desired result that is quantifiable.
2. Engage the right mix of people. Always include people who are passionate about your product/service category - as well as people who have no interest in it but who are passionate about marketing and/or related product/service categories. (If you carefully select the right mix of people, you should not have to spend time coaxing people to contribute and develop ideas. You’ll be too busy recording all the ideas!)
3. Ensure all your participants are thoroughly briefed beforehand, and ask them to absorb ideas from their environments or interests for the task at hand, before the session.
4. Select an appropriate venue for the brainstorm. Be creative. A fresh and stimulating environment can make all the difference. Try a beachfront restaurant or even a private golf course!
5. Alternatively, bring lots of stimulating materials. Magazines and creative books help. What about Lego pieces or tennis balls?
6. During the session, break the brainstorm into sub-sections and brainstorm on parts of the issues or different ways to approach the issue. Set time limits for each.
7. Don’t allow anyone to criticise or obstruct ideas and suggestions.  Keep the atmosphere positive and the energy levels high - encourage people to move around!
8. Only after you have finished the session and all the ideas are listed, do you then ask “how can we make this idea work?”. Encourage people to develop other people’s ideas, or to use other ideas to create new ones.
9. Evaluate your ideas according to the desired (quantified) result.
10. Encourage people to come back with ideas and suggestions, even after the session has ended.

Good moderators are able to:

• give simple and clear instructions
• model good behavior themselves
• make the session fun
• be in charge and yet get participants to feel a sense of ownership
• manage energy levels well
• discern body language or ‘unspoken’ cues
• police the quality of content
• be flexible and go with the flow when discussions take a different and possibly rewarding route from the intended plan

If you would like Manifesto to help moderate your inhouse brainstorming sessions, please contact us.