How do you lead a productive brainstorming session?

3 Encourage participation and diversity

One of the main challenges of brainstorming is to ensure that everyone has a chance to express their ideas and opinions, without being dominated or discouraged by others. As a leader, you need to create a positive and inclusive atmosphere, where everyone feels comfortable and respected. You can do this by setting some ground rules, such as no criticism, no interruptions, no judgment, and no hierarchy. You can also use icebreakers, warm-ups, or games to break the ice and stimulate creativity. Moreover, you can invite people from different backgrounds, departments, or perspectives to join the session and enrich the discussion.

4 Keep track and prioritize

Another challenge of brainstorming is to manage the flow and quality of ideas. As a leader, you need to keep track of the ideas that are generated, either by writing them down on a flipchart, a whiteboard, or a digital platform, or by assigning someone to take notes. You also need to guide the team to prioritize the most promising or feasible ideas, either by using a voting system, a ranking system, or a matrix. You can also use some criteria, such as originality, relevance, impact, or cost, to evaluate the ideas.

5 Follow up and implement

The last but not least step of brainstorming is to follow up and implement the ideas that are selected. As a leader, you need to thank your team for their participation and feedback, and summarize the main outcomes and action points of the session. You also need to assign roles and responsibilities, set deadlines and milestones, and monitor the progress and results of the implementation. You can also solicit feedback from your team and other stakeholders, and make adjustments or improvements as needed.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?