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Brainstorming

Purpose
Brainstorming is a way to generate ideas within a group setting. It is usually used in the beginning stages of a
project, where the possibilities for the project are not clearly understood or defined. It provides a quick means for
tapping the creativity of a limited number of people for a large number of ideas. The brainstorming environment
fosters an uninhibited, non-judgmental explosion of ideas, concepts, policies, decisions, and strategies. In
brainstorming, all contributions are valid, and the key to a successful session is to share as many ideas as
possible without evaluating them.

Brainstorming sessions can be unstructured - that is, there may not be a moderator or facilitator. Most sessions,
however, are facilitated, structured discussions with guidelines to help the process move along smoothly and
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allow a variety of perspectives and ideas to surface.

Goals and Objectives

Upon completion of this tutorial, you will be able to:

Describe the techniques of effective brainstorming

Identify and use common brainstorming techniques and rules
Explain the rules of brainstorming
List and use the factors for effective brainstorming
Evaluate and practice good brainstorming techniques
Utilize a checklist to ensure brainstorming sessions are optimal experiences

Activities
Read the information about brainstorming and complete the activities.

Brainstorming Techniques
Brainstorming Factors
Activity 1: A Role-Playing Scenario
Evaluating a Brainstorming Session
Group Brainstorming Session Checklist
Activity 2: Quiz Yourself about Brainstorming
Activity 3: Comparing Information and Ideas
Activity 4:Reflecting on Pluses and Minuses
Activity 5: Nominal Group Technique for Brainstorming

Note: All external links in this tutorial will open in a new window or tab.

References

Summary

Instructor's Guide

Brainstorming Techniques
Solicit quality ideas.

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 Rule: Encourage the generation of lots of creative ideas.

Encourage everyone to participate.

Rule: Quantity is wanted - every idea is accepted and recorded. The more ideas, the more to
choose from and the more likely ideas will spark new ideas.

Encourage freewheeling and expression of different ideas.

Rule: "Freewheeling" is welcomed. Freewheeling means the wilder the idea, the better. It is always
easier to tame an idea than to make one more exciting.

Do not criticize or evaluate ideas.

Rule: Criticism is ruled out. Suspend judgment. Every idea is welcome without critique or ridicule.

Build upon other group members' ideas.

Rule: Combination and improvement are sought. Ideas spark more ideas. Encourage everyone to
participate and to build upon the ideas of others in the group.

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 Record ideas accurately during the session.

Rule: Record the ideas. It is crucial to record the ideas generated during a brainstorming session.

Brainstorming Factors

Student Dialog - Brainstorming Factors

Brian: Now let's talk about how a brainstorming group can work well.

Heather: I think that there is a need to write down all ideas as they evolve.

Deena: How should it be done? Flip chart?

Brian: That would work. There are a lot of ways, like note cards.

Deena: Isn't the real point that ideas are recorded, not how?

Brian: Yeah. And that they are made available to all group members after they meet. I think the computer is the
best recorder.

Heather: I agree, especially if there is a large number of people in the group. The drawback is that you have to
have a computer.

Brian: Good point, not every group has a computer. I think Heather may have just brought up another issue, the
size of the group. What do you mean by a large number of people, Heather? Got a number in mind?

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Heather: Not really. I don't think there is any exact number that is defined as best for a brainstorming group.
Certainly you would need at least two, or else it wouldn't be a group. I think somewhere between four and six
would be just about right.

Brian: The key is that the group should have the right number of people to function effectively. Not too large or
too small. Groups are different and what they want to accomplish is different also, so the proper size could vary.

Deena: But, you may not always have a choice in the size of your group. Correct?

Brian: Knowing that group size can influence a group's performance may help you and your group to identify
problems and head them off.

Heather: I don't understand what you are getting at. Would you mind explaining what you are trying to say?

Brian: Have you ever been in a group where ideas someone presents are not clear because they are expressed
in terms that are not understood?

Heather, Deena: Yeah!

Brian: Groups that have diverse backgrounds sometimes have a difficult time understanding an idea. In a group
that doesn't know each other well, misrepresenting an idea could be an issue.

Factors that should exist before a brainstorming session begins

Brainstorming sessions are most successful when you make sure that certain factors exist before the beginning
of a brainstorming session. These factors include:

1. A well-defined and clearly stated problem that needs to be addressed during the session.
2. A group member assigned to act as recorder and write down all the ideas as they are shared.
3. The right number of people.

Clues for determining the "right" group size

You don't have trouble scheduling the brainstorming session.

You don't have individuals or factions of the group at war with each other.
Work is divided equitably among group members.
You are able to reach consensus.
You are able to generate new and creative ideas to think about.

4. Keep your ideas clear.

Questions to keep in mind in order to make sure ideas are clear

How similar or diverse are the backgrounds of people in the group?

How wide is the range of technical skills and subject knowledge in the group?
Is there background information that needs to be presented to make the idea clear?

5. A group member assigned to enforce the guidelines/rules you have set.

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Activity 1: A Role-Playing Scenario
Now let's practice some brainstorming by doing some role-playing. The following is a brainstorming scenario.
Read the situation, then complete your part of the conversation.

Use at least one of the brainstorming techniques

Describe what you should say and which brainstorming technique(s) you would use

Explain the rules you would follow

The Situation

UHS (University Health Service) staff members have a meeting about increasing the show-rate for medical
appointments.

According to a recent investigation, only 33% of students showed up for their appointments during the last
semester. The staff members brainstorm potential solutions to improve the show-rate. Imagine you are the
director of UHS and are attending the meeting.

Director (You): How can we increase the show-rate for medical appointments?

Staff 1: Make reminder calls before each appointment.

Staff 2: How about giving incentives to students when they attend their appointment on time?

What would you say next in response to the two staff members?

Your response may have looked something like this: Maybe we could use a point system and give priority for
future appointments to the students who regularly keep their appointments.

Techniques and rules used:

Do not criticize or evaluate ideas.

Rule: Quantity is wanted - every idea is accepted and recorded. The more ideas, the more to choose from and
the more likely ideas will spark new ideas.

Build upon the ideas of other group members.

Rule: Combination and improvement are sought. Ideas spark more ideas. Encourage everyone to participate
and to build upon the ideas of others in the group.

Evaluating a Brainstorming Session

Student Dialog - Evaluating a Brainstorming Session

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Deena: How do we know if we maximized our efforts?

Heather: We need to have checkpoints and evaluations.

Deena: That's what I'm getting at. We should have a way to know if things went well. That way we can improve
our technique and be more efficient.

Heather: Do we evaluate during the session or at the end?

Deena: Maybe both.

Heather: If we do it during the session, it could slow things down because we would lose focus, and the
freewheeling aspect that is needed could be disrupted.

Brian: I agree. I think looking at the group performance is appropriate. Looking at the ideas is another issue.

Deena: Maybe having a grasp of the performance points before the session begins will help us review the
session at the end. If the session went well, then the content generated should be good, I would think.

Heather: So what do we want to do? What are some ideas for group's evaluating their performance?

Brian: To avoid evaluating presented ideas, we should make a list of ideal brainstorm session tactics to evaluate
the group's performance in those areas. And add "thinking up ideas" and "broad topics" if that is OK with
everyone.

Deena: Building and expanding on other's ideas.

Heather: Good one, Deena. I'd like to add, "getting everyone to participate" to the list.

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Brian: I'm going to add, "listening to one another."

Heather: Another good thing to remember is the "critiquing of ideas" part. I'm adding that, too.

Brian: Has anyone noticed that Heather has been playing a duel role lately?

Deena: What do you mean, Brian?

Brian: Well, a mediator has to stay focused on the task so the group doesn't stray too far and at the same time
encourage active participation. It just occurred to me that Heather has been doing that.

Deena: Good point! I think we should add, "how well the mediator functioned," which could also help evaluate if
one was even in the group.

Brian: Without a doubt, there has to be a place for the group recorder and how well he or she did.

Heather: OK. I'll put that down. Next time, you be the recorder. I think that should be rotated also.

Brian: Could I suggest that since this is kind of like a self-survey, that we put each item in the form of a
question? That way it works like a checklist. I think all I need to do is add the phrase, "How well did the group
members..."

Deena: Works for me.

Heather: Me too.

Group Brainstorming Session Checklist

How well did group members avoid evaluating the ideas presented?

How well did group members think up different topics or broad ideas?

How well did group members build, expand, or combine others ideas?

How well did group members actively participate?

How well did group members listen to one another?

How well did group members solicit ideas from other group members?

How well did group members avoid critiquing others ideas?

Did the group have a mediator? How did the group mediator function?

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 Did the group have a recorder to write down the ideas the members generated? How well did the group
keep a record of its ideas?

Activity 2: Quiz Yourself about Brainstorming

Check your memory. Quiz yourself by completing the quiz below.

Activity 3: Comparing Information and Ideas

Select a topic, either in class or with a few friends. It can be a problem, a topic you are all interested in learning
more about, or a plan for a project you have to do. Have everyone in the group take four or five minutes to write
down everything you know about this topic.

While you are doing this, let your brain and imagination run loose. Write down everything. Don't worry about the
order, categories, or even spelling. Relax, but write as fast as you can and don't stop.

When you are finished, compare the different lists and ideas. Are you surprised by the differences? Are there
more similarities than differences? Did you discover you know more about the topic, problem, or project than you
thought you did?

This is a good exercise to do on your own if you are, for example, having trouble deciding on a research paper
topic or experiencing the common problem of not being able to get started writing a paper. Once you have
generated your list, you can figure out what you know and what you don't know. You can make different
categories and sub-categories. Then, you can decide how to go about finding out more.

Activity 4: Reflecting on Pluses and Minuses

Every method or technique you try as a group has its positive and not-so-positive components. Once you have at
least one, and hopefully more than one, brainstorming experience, take a minute to think about how you felt as a
participant, and record those thoughts.

Did you feel as though you were an active participant, or did you feel like a non-participant?
Did one or more of the participants take over?
Were your ideas taken seriously?

Do you have ideas about how to make these experiences better? Do you have ideas about when you would or
would not use brainstorming as a group process?

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Activity 5: Nominal Group Technique for Brainstorming
Andrew Delbecq and Andrew Van de Ven developed the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) because groups
encounter many problems when trying to generate ideas, encourage high member involvement, and maintain
agendas and time schedules. This activity will demonstrate another way to approach brainstorming, by using the
NGT.

With a small group of friends or classmates, choose a topic for this activity. Then work through the following
process:

1. Silent Generation of Ideas in Writing

2. Recorded Round-Robin Listing of Ideas on Chart
3. Discussion and Clarification of Each Idea on Chart
4. Preliminary Vote on Priorities
5. Discussion of Preliminary Vote
6. Final Vote on Priorities

1. Silent Generation of Ideas in Writing

Present the question or problem in written and verbal form. Give team members five to ten minutes to generate
ideas in writing.

2. Recorded Round-Robin Listing of Ideas on Chart

Ask each member to read one of his/her ideas. Record this idea on a flip chart, whiteboard, blackboard, etc.

3. Discussion and Clarification of Each Idea on Chart

With each item, ask the team members if they have any questions, statements of clarification, or statements of
agreement or disagreement they would like to share.

4. Preliminary Vote on Priorities

Ask each team member to silently pick five to seven of the "best" ideas, and rank them in order of importance.
Members can use paper or index cards to do so. Then visually show these rankings on the flip chart, whiteboard,
blackboard, etc.

5. Discussion of Preliminary Vote

Invite open discussion to examine inconsistent voting patterns and to provide an opportunity to readdress items
which seemed to receive too many or too few votes.

6. Final Vote on Priorities

Repeat Step 4 to ensure the most important items are chosen and ranked appropriately. Display the results on
the flip chart, whiteboard, blackboard, etc.

References

Content

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 Buisman, J. (1990). Boundary breakers: A communication process that works. The Gifted Child Today, 13
(6), 48-50.

Cave, C. (1996). Techniques for Creative Thinking: Brainstorming, Creativity Web: Resources for
Creativity and Innovation. Retrieved 1998, from http://www.ozemail.com.au/~caveman/Creative/. *

Five Brainstorming Techniques, About Brainstorming (1998). Retrieved 1998, from

http://www.kanten.com/vedemo/Brainstorming.html. *

Gorman, R. H. (1978). Brainstorming your way to problem-solving ideas. Personnel Journal, 57(8), 438-
440, 454, 456.

Indiana, D. o. N. R. (1996) Residential, Agricultural, and Commercial Development: Meeting Process,

Northwest Indiana Public Work Group Reports: Issues and Resolutions for the Indiana Shoreline of Lake
Michigan. Retrieved March 1, 2004, from http://www.ai.org/dnr/lakemich/issues/. *

INNOMAT production team. (2000). Brainstorming. Retrieved March 1, 2004, from

http://iris.fst.zcu.cz/innomat/inncdr/bs.htm.*

Kay, G. (1995). Effective Meetings through Electronic Brainstorming. Journal of Management

Development, 14(6), 4-25.

Nominal Group Technique (NGT), (n.d.). Retrieved March 1, 2004, from Virginia Institute of Government,
Comprehensive Services Act Information Website:
http://www.institute.virginia.edu/services/csa/nominal.htm. *

Proctor, T. (1995). The essence of management creativity. London: New York: Prentice Hall.

Rawlinson, J. G. (1981). Creative thinking and brainstorming. New York: Wiley.

Siegel, G. B., & Clayton, R. (1996). Mass interviewing and the marshalling of ideas to improve
performance: The crawford slip method. Lanham, MD: University Press of America.

* Indicates that the original Website is no longer available.

Image Credits

Flowchart of Activity Conducting

Source: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/

File: Activity_conducting.svg

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.

Cloud with a Pencil

Source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dearmiami/5453192331/sizes/m/in/photostream/

This file is licensed under the Attribution-NonCommercial 2.0 Generic (CC BY-NC 2.0).

Summary

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Brainstorming Techniques and Rules
Solicit quality ideas.

Rule: Encourage the generation of lots of creative ideas.

Encourage everyone to participate.

Rule: Quantity is wanted - every idea is accepted and recorded. The more ideas, the more to
choose from and the more likely ideas will spark new ideas.

Encourage freewheeling and expression of different ideas.

Rule: "Freewheeling" is welcomed. Freewheeling means the wilder the idea, the better. It is always
easier to tame an idea than to make one more exciting.

Do not criticize or evaluate ideas.

Rule: Criticism is ruled out. Suspend judgment. Every idea is welcome without critique or ridicule.

Build upon other group members' ideas.

Rule: Combination and improvement are sought. Ideas spark more ideas. Encourage everyone to
participate and to build upon the ideas of others in the group.

Record ideas accurately during the session.

Rule: Record the ideas. It is crucial to record the ideas generated during a brainstorming session.

Factors for Effective Brainstorming

Brainstorming sessions are most successful when you make sure that certain factors exist before the beginning
of a brainstorming session. These factors include:

1. A well-defined and clearly stated problem that needs to be addressed during the session.

2. A group member assigned to act as recorder and write down all the ideas as they are shared.

3. The right number of people.

Clues for determining the "right" group size

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 You don't have trouble scheduling the brainstorming session.
You don't have individuals or factions of the group at war with each other.
Work is divided equitably among group members.
You are able to reach consensus.
You are able to generate new and creative ideas to think about.

4. Keep your ideas clear.

Questions to keep in mind in order to make sure ideas are clear

How similar or diverse are the backgrounds of people in the group?

How wide is the range of technical skills and subject knowledge in the group?
Is there background information that needs to be presented to make the idea clear?

5. A group member assigned to enforce the guidelines/rules you have set.

Brainstorming Evaluation Checklist

There are several questions that you should keep in mind during the evaluation of a brainstorming session.

How well did group members avoid evaluating the ideas presented?
How well did group members think up different topics or broad ideas?
How well did group members build, expand, or combine others ideas?
How well did group members actively participate?
How well did group members listen to one another?
How well did group members solicit ideas from other group members?
How well did group members avoid critiquing others ideas?
Did the group have a mediator? How did the group mediator function?
Did the group have a recorder to write down the ideas the members generated? How well did the group
keep a record of its ideas?

Instructor's Guide

Quizzes, Reflective Questions, and Activities

Following are the assignments embedded in the Brainstorming tutorial:

Activity 1: Reflective question in teh form of role-play

Activity 2: Quiz
Activity 3: Brainstorming assignment to practice comparing ideas
Activity 4: Reflective questions about experiences with brainstorming
Activity 5: Brainstorming assignment to practice Nominal Group Technique

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Relationship to Other iStudy Tutorials
This tutorial is related to other tutorials on personal effectiveness, including note-taking, active listening, active
reading, time management, project management, academic research interviewing skills, stress management,
conflict management, and peer tutoring.

Optional In-class Activity on Nominal Group Technique

Andrew Delbecq and Andrew Van de Ven developed the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) because groups
encounter many problems when trying to generate ideas, encourage high member involvement, and maintain
agendas and time schedules. This activity will demonstrate another way to approach brainstorming, by using
NGT.

The instructor may want to choose (or let the students choose) a topic for this activity. The instructor should then
guide the students through the following process:

1. Silent Generation of Ideas in Writing

2. Recorded Round-Robin Listing of Ideas on Chart
3. Discussion and Clarification of Each Idea on Chart
4. Preliminary Vote on Priorities
5. Discussion of Preliminary Vote
6. Final Vote on Priorities

1. Silent Generation of Ideas in Writing

Present the question or problem in written and verbal form. Give team members five to ten minutes to generate
ideas in writing.

2. Recorded Round-Robin Listing of Ideas on Chart

Ask each member to read one of his/her ideas. Record this idea on a flip chart, whiteboard, blackboard, etc.

3. Discussion and Clarification of Each Idea on Chart

With each item, ask the team members if they have any questions, statements of clarification, or statements of
agreement or disagreement they would like to share.

4. Preliminary Vote on Priorities

Ask each team member to silently pick five to seven of the "best" ideas, and rank them in order of importance.
Members can use paper or index cards to do so. Then visually show these rankings on the flip chart, whiteboard,
blackboard, etc.

5. Discussion of Preliminary Vote

Invite open discussion to examine inconsistent voting patterns and to provide an opportunity to readdress items
which seemed to receive too many or too few votes.

6. Final Vote on Priorities

Repeat Step 4 to ensure the most important items are chosen and ranked appropriately. Display the results on
the flip chart, whiteboard, blackboard, etc.
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Note: This is an excellent opportunity to utilize and reinforce the cooperative learning techniques found in the
Cooperative Learning tutorial. Instructors may want to construct small groups for this activity.

[top of page]

Key Points
These points are covered in the tutorial, but should be emphasized in any discussion.

Brainstorming techniques and rules

Factors for effective brainstorming
Brainstorming checklist

Assessment Criteria
Through observing both the group's and the individuals' activities, the instructor may assess student
performance. Assessment criteria are as follows (instructors supply the percentage weights):

Assessment Criteria
Where Domain Activities %

iStudy Knowledge The student can identify common brainstorming techniques and rules and
Tutorial factors for successful brainstorming.

iStudy Application The student can apply brainstorming techniques and rules to new problem
Tutorial context during in-class activities.

100%

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