Germany, three points: How to create better brainstorming results

How to create better brainstorming results

Prolog: Help, my brain hurts.

Staring at the three red sticker dots in my hand, I stand in front of the pinboard wall filled with hand-written post-it notes. So which of the brainstormed initiatives should I vote for? I can’t read many notes, and the grouping of those notes into an initiative seems a bit random. I liked the presentation around this initiative, but does this fit our department’s needs? In the end, I put two stickers next to initiatives that have the most stickers in other colors (they must be important if everyone else gave it their votes) and put the third sticker next to the initiative of my favorite colleague. Done! More time for the coffee-break.

Situation: Results of brainstorming workshops can be arbitrary and misleading.

Using brainstorming techniques to get input from different persons is a good idea. But often, the work is crammed into one workshop, which often runs through the entire process of individually creating ideas, presenting them, arranging them into topics and then ranking them by the workshop participants. And ever so often, time runs out during the ranking part which can lead to arbitrary results based on misunderstanding of the idea(s) and/or misleading cumulation of votes due to social desirability. Also, perhaps not all participant’s input may represent their department / country. The workshop outcome can therefore be flawed and could (worst case) lead to wrong next steps.

Option: Use a multi-step, time-bound process for a better outcome.

My experience has been that breaking down the different brainstorming process into different steps over time bring better results. Why not think about following process:

  • The physical workshop should concentrate on creating ideas, challenging and finetuning them. As an outcome, all ideas (e.g. post-it notes) are grouped according to agreed subject.

  • The workshop results are then documented (photographs and transcripts) and amended with explanations from the presenting groups.

  • This document is sent out to the participants for cross-check and further explanation.

  • The participants then discuss the results within their department / function group / country and gather feedback.

  • Using an online tool or email feedback, the participants give their final vote (e.g. top three initiatives).

  • A final document with initiatives ranked by importance is created as final outcome.

This process will take more time than needed for a workshop, but can deliver significantly better results. It is important to undertake all steps within two weeks after the workshop; keeping momentum and building on fresh(er) participant memories.

Global workshops involving participants from different countries may not have the desired outcome. This is because sometimes English native speakers tend to dominate and some cultures tend to be less critical / vocal in their opinions in front of a larger group. If this is common in your organization, my recommendation would be to do place participants of similar cultures in the same groups and then compare results between all groups.

Take-away: Achieve better outcomes from brainstorming workshops using a multi-step process over two weeks for more clarity and buy-in.

© John Guenther Consulting 2019

John Guenther Consulting helps international companies reach their marketing business goals through interim assignments in leadership and project management roles. John is a seasoned marketing executive with 25 years of marketing & sales experience in global roles and diverse industries. His focus is on B2B marketing, transformation of marketing organizations, optimization of marketing & sales cooperation, brand management and agile leadership of complex marketing projects. Learn more at www.john-guenther-consulting.de.

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