Guidelines for Brainstorming

Idea generation phase:

• Limited time session
• No idea is silly
• One person’s crazy idea leads to another’s inspiration
• Listen actively
• Keep an open mind
• Don’t judge
• Build upon other people’s ideas
• Think about what was just said…look for slightly different positions
• Think about what was just said…look for opposite positions
• Use genuine inquiry for clarification…no false inquiry

Idea selection phase:

• As a group, identify the top group, 3-5 of ideas
• First discuss possibilities, then select individually
• This may be by distributing votes by using markers or Post-its to each selection
• Often people can be given 5 – 10 votes each to distribute between their favourites – they can give all 5 to one idea or spread it between several. 
• Look at the team rankings
• List the top items and then discuss them as a team

Action planning phase:

• Decide upon the priority items, and put together an action plan which prioritises actions over time
• Decide who is responsible for each action
• Action phase

Review phase:

• Set up a review meeting