Does brainstorming in your company mean that a manager call his team together in a meeting room, the team finds different ideas together and eventually selects the most promising one? This procedure is typical for small companies and unfortunately does not work because it limits your team's creativity. How, then, to lead brainstorming correctly?
1. Start individually
Ask the members of your team prepare their ideas in advance. It will help you to map to a wider range of ideas.
2. Put the ideas together
Ask each team member individually to submit their ideas. Then unite the ideas into one file and send it via e-mail or share on a common site.
3. Evaluate the ideas individually
Ask your team members to go through each other's proposals and consider the advantages and disadvantages of each solution.
4. Only then will meet in the conference room
Give all participants the opportunity to comment on the ideas they consider the best. As everybody know in advance what was proposed, you'll get a much more productive discussion. The team will also be more likely to support the chosen solution.
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