BRAINWRITING: ALL IDEAS MATTER

Brainstorming is a common approach to generate ideas. Have you been in a brainstorming session where some brilliant people remain quiet? They may not be comfortable in a 'noisy environment' with dominating characters. I have been in the so-called brainstorming session where a leader dominates the entire discussion with no solution. Few of my German-trained friends with expertise in that subject were 'forced' to remain quiet. Under-used talents and overly used 'noise' resulted in megaproject failures worth billions of ringgit. Is there an alternative to the traditional brainstorming approach?

Are you familiar with the brainwriting technique? 

I first heard about brainwriting about 15 years ago during a focus group discussion. Unlike normal brainstorming where a group expresses their ideas verbally, brainwriting requires members to write their ideas on a piece of paper known as Idea Generation Sheet (IGS). The idea of brainwriting was originally developed in the 1960s by German Professor Bernd Rohrbach as the 6-3-5 method (six people with three ideas each per five-minute round).

How does brainwriting work?

Step 1: The moderator introduces the topic or opportunity for improvement to a group of six people sitting around a table.

Step 2: Each participant has five minutes to write three ideas on an IGS

Step 3: After five minutes, each participant passes their IGS with their written idea to the person on their right.

Step 4: Each participant has five more minutes to write down three new ideas under the previous three. These ideas can build from previous ideas or start fresh.

Step 5: Continue this cycle until each IGS is completed and returned to its original owner. Within 30 minutes, each paper should have 18 ideas for a total of 108 ideas from a group of six members.

Step 6: Similar ideas a combined and moderator helps the group select the key theme to focus on.

When was the last time you had a brainstorming session that produced 100+ ideas in about half an hour? Besides the number of ideas, what are other benefits of brainwriting?

• Every member (including introverts) could contribute their idea in a socially safe environment.
• Quiet time to think (I normally have soft background music)
• Every member works simultaneously, whereas brainstorming is limited to who is speaking.
• All ideas are recorded in the respective IGS.

Is brainwriting possible in the Virtual Classroom ?

I was pleasantly surprised when Khairol @ Coach Big Daddy shared the idea of a virtual brainwriting technique with MIRO, an online collaborative whiteboard. I joined Khairol's Creating A Virtual Participant Centered Workshop last week. Khairol's amazing facilitation techniques provided ample opportunity to practice and learn from mistakes. Our virtual classroom was very, very conducive, and safe socially. I look forward to adopting brainwriting during my next Virtual Leadership Development Program for an MNC next week. 

Thanks a lot, Khairol. I hope more virtual facilitators will benefit from your amazing workshop.