You can’t just turn on a light switch and expect to have a brilliant idea.
It can be difficult for one person to come up with a solution, and it can be even harder for a group of people to agree on one. Everyone has different ideas and methods, which can make it tough to get everyone on the same page.
Brainstorming techniques are important in order to structure brainstorming sessions, ignite creativity, and ensure that ideas are executed. There are many different, effective brainstorming techniques to choose from.
The following methods should be considered for your next scheduled session, or whenever inspiration strikes. Sometimes, the best ideas come from nowhere.
Brainstorming Basics: How to Brainstorm?
Brainstorming is a problem-solving technique in which you generate ideas for the improvement of a product, organization, or strategy.
No matter your preferred method, most brainstorming techniques involve three steps:
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Capture ideas
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Discuss and critique the ideas
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Choose which ideas to execute
All you need for every brainstorming technique is an individual or group of people, a problem to solve or an opportunity to address, and time.
Brainstorming Challenges
When brainstorming, it’s more important to have a lot of ideas than it is to have good ideas. This is because you’re more likely to have a good idea if you have a lot of ideas to start with. So in group brainstorming sessions, it’s important that everyone agrees to not criticize each other’s ideas, and to remember that the only bad idea is no idea.
Of course, not every brainstorming session will go off without a hitch. Some common brainstorming challenges include:
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Unbalanced conversations, sometimes due to extroverts dominating discussions
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, is well documented. Brainstormers tend to cling to the first few ideas that are shared and don’t explore other options. This is referred to as the anchoring effect.
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to speak, contribute to an unpleasant meeting experience Silences that make people feel uncomfortable often happen when they are not prepared to speak. This makes meetings less enjoyable for everyone.
The following text discusses some of the brainstorming techniques that can be used to come up with new ideas. Some of these techniques are traditional, while others are more unusual.
13 Brainstorming Activities for Your Content Marketing Team
We’ve compiled a list of 13 different group brainstorming activities that will help your content marketing team get their creative juices flowing and come up with their best ideas.
1. SWOT analysis
SWOT analysis is a technique that can be used for brainstorming to help determine if an idea is viable. Discuss the following aspects of your topic to determine whether it’s worth executing:
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weaknesses: What are the idea’s main strengths? How does it stand out from its competitors?
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Is there anything that could prevent the idea from being carried out successfully?
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What other opportunities can you take advantage of based on this idea?
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What are some potential problems that could arise if the idea is launched?
Best for: individual and group brainstorms, vetting ideas thoroughly
2. Change two things
Work with your team to come up with two different versions of a blog post title.
The title of the article could be changed to better reflect the content. For example, “5 Strategies for Improving Employee Engagement” could become “5 Activities for Improving Employee Collaboration.” This would more accurately reflect the focus of the article, which is on improving employee collaboration.
When everyone is ready, have them share their ideas with the person next to them. Then have everyone change two elements again and create a new set of titles. The sheets are then passed on until participants run out of ideas, time, or space on the paper.
This process involves coming up with ideas and then getting inspiration from other people’s ideas in order to foster teamwork and creativity.
3. Run-on story
In this activity, participants take turns writing a story idea, one sentence at a time.
You can make this exercise more personal by talking about a typical day in the life of a prospective customer. What kinds of frustrations do they have? What problems do they run into, and how are they currently solving those problems? How can you create content that solves those problems in new, more effective ways?
If you want to start a brainstorming session with a bang, try the run-on story. It’s a great way to get everyone invested in story development, and it’s also a great exercise in active listening. By building on others’ ideas, you can take a good story and make it great.
Stories that keep going on also get people thinking quickly, since you may have an idea of what your contribution to the story will be, only to have the person before you change the direction entirely.
4. Brain writing
A main issue with the standard brainstorming method is that many individuals are reticent to share their thoughts because they are afraid that others will critique their suggestions as being too radical or improbable.
Brain writing is a way of generating ideas in which everyone has a chance to submit an idea that will be given equal consideration without judgment.
In this exercise, you will take turns passing a piece of paper to the person next to you. On the paper, you will write down an idea. The person who receives the paper will add on to the idea, and then pass the paper to the next person. After a few rounds, all of the papers will be collected, and someone will read the ideas anonymously to the team.
Brain writing can be extended by setting up a whiteboard or large sheet of paper where employees can add ideas over time.
5. Shuffle the deck
First, take a look at your blog analytics to figure out which pieces of content are your top performers. Break the title of each piece down into its main components, and write each one of those down on a separate index card.
The text would be easy to read and thrive on social media This means that your content would be easy to read and would do well on social media platforms.
After you have a stack of index cards, shuffle them and lay them out again. You can create new titles by remixing titles from high-performing articles, which allows you to repurpose content effectively, generate new ideas, and find unexpected topics.
6. Use sticky notes and a timer
As you go through the text, have each person jot down a phrase or sentence on a sticky note whenever they see something that jumping out at them. If your team is having trouble getting started, try asking them to look for things that are confusing, or that make them want to know more The central problem statement is: “How can we better understand our audience?”
Set a timer for two minutes. Have everyone write as many solutions to the problem as possible. It does not matter if the ideas are original, clever, realistic, or even effective.
The goal here is to build off each other’s ideas and create something much bigger than each person could have on their own. After the allotted time has passed, one person will start reading out their ideas, sticking each note on a wall or whiteboard. If anyone else in the group has a similar or same idea, these notes should be grouped together. The aim is to build on other people’s ideas and create something much bigger than any single person could have done on their own.
Look over all the sticky notes after you finished grouping them. See if there are any clusters or standalone sticky notes that stand out and any ideas that someone may get from looking at them.
This rapid ideation technique is a great way to get participants to think more quickly, as some perform better under a time constraint.
7. Content Brainstorming matrix
The HubSpot method for generating content uses a simple spreadsheet to create content for each stage of the funnel.
- Start with a blank spreadsheet. Write the main topic of the brainstorm in Box 1, whether it’s Learning to knit or Understanding SEO.
- In Box 2, write Beginner, Intermediate, or Advanced to indicate how much of an expert your target audience is on the general topic.
- Then, select the type of content you’re looking to produce: list, how-to, Q&A, news, definition, opinion, etc.
- Next, pick your format: blog post, infographic, video, e-book, checklist, podcast, etc.
- Finish by writing as many headlines as you can.
This method of brainstorming is also great for helping remote teams come up with ideas and approaches for different topics.
8. Gap filling, a.k.a. gap analysis
When you’re finding it difficult to carry out an idea, that’s where gap filling comes in – to sort out the problems in your way. Start by outlining where you are now and where you want to be. For example, “Our company makes smart watches; we’d like to include fitness trackers in our range as well.”
Post your goals in a visible spot for all your brainstormers to see. You can use a flowchart or mind map. Then, identify the obstacles preventing you from reaching your goals. Work through solutions for each obstacle. By the end of the brainstorming session, you will have a plan of how to achieve your goals.
9. How Now Wow
The How Now Wow brainstorming technique is all about categorizing ideas based on how unique they are and how easy they are to implement. Once you’ve collected several ideas, either individually or from team members, talk through where they fall in the How Now Wow spectrum:
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Ideas that are original but not executable are considered as ideas.
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Now ideas are unoriginal ideas that are easily executable.
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Ideas that are both new and easy to implement.
You’ll want as many “Wow” ideas as possible, not just because they’re executable, but also because they might set you apart from your competitors or dispel monotony in your company. To help organize your ideas, consider using a matrix of four squares, with difficulty weighted on the Y-axis and innovation on the X-axis.
10. Lightning decision jam
This brainstorming technique is known as LDJ and it will take 40 minutes to one hour to complete. You will have tangible results and buy-in from an entire team of brainstormers by the end.
This brainstorming technique is great for coming to an agreement within a remote team. To start, everyone writes down what they think are the positive aspects of the topic under discussion, as well as what they think is working well. Next, everyone writes down the negatives and identifies what needs to be addressed most urgently. Finally, a few minutes are spent reframing problems as questions and brainstorming solutions for those questions.
A matrix is used to determine which ideas are worth pursuing, taking into account how high impact and high effort the solutions are. AJ&Smart, a design agency, created a video explaining the brainstorming technique in more detail.
11. Collaborative brainwriting
Then, over the course of the week, participants anonymously add to the collective ideas. This brainstorming technique is collaborative because it encourages people to contribute anonymously to a collective document. This is beneficial because it allows for a wider range of ideas to be gathered without people feeling shy about sharing their ideas.
brainstormers can provide feedback on their own time anonymously
12. Reverse thinking
This technique is a combination of the figure storming and six thinking hats brainstorming methods. It encourages people to think about what someone else would do in the same situation, and then to think about why that person’s solution would work or not. It also allows you to compare your current solution to see if it is more effective.
13. Eidetic image method
The eidetic image method is a way to brainstorm by first having everyone close their eyes and set an intention, for example by thinking about what smartwatches currently look like.
The group would discuss new features to add to the device, then close their eyes and imagine them. They would open their eyes and discuss again, adding new possibilities for enhancing the product. This brainstorming technique is good for coming up with new ideas for an existing product or solution.
If you want your brainstorming sessions to be effective, make sure to use a technique that allows for different styles of thinking and expression. This will help turn the brainstorming session into an opportunity for creativity, rather than a tedious task.
Development tools that allow you to see your ideas come to fruition are satisfying, whether you are working alone or on a team. Get the creative ideas flowing, then customize your workflow management tool to turn those ideas into action.
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