Cross fertilization - This happens when two or more people • Only one idea per turn is offered by an individual
have a part of an idea which on its own may seem irrelevant
Q but when all are brought together an useful original idea is
U generated.
A •
L Suspending judgment - This is crucial, the brainstorming
I session is purely for generation of ideas, not evaluation.
T Suspending judgments helps to avoid looking in one
Y particular area of ideas, thus exhausting opportunities to
explore all the possibilities.
T guide members in clarity of expression
O No idea should be considered ridiculous. It is a part of the
O Chairman's role to prevent participants from making
L comments such as “That would never work because'
or 'we have done it before”.
S
Formality of setting - particularly at the early stages,
this helps to remove some of the tension that people may
feel, which makes them hesitant to suggest ideas.
As people become more familiar with the technique and
expressing ideas. The setting often has the influence.
Brainstorming works most effectively when there is a group
of people responding within the following frame work.
It is the role of the chairman to ensure this happens.
• Define the central issue and make sure everyone
understands and agrees upon it.
• Everyone should be allowed and encouraged to
contribute, No one should dominate.
• Don't discuss - just concentrate on writing up ideas as
possible concentrate on writing up ideas as quickly as
possible.
• Never criticize ideas
• Builds on other's suggestions - by using the thoughts
of others to trigger one's own thought process - the
classic lateral thinking approach.
• Make no attempt to evaluate ideas
• Go for Quantity - by trying to write up as many ideas
as possible within a period of time, say five or ten
minutes.
• When the team drives up, try to get more ideas of your
own, urging them on, or by selecting the wildest idea
and building in it.
• The session should run for a set time or until all ideas
have been exhausted, whichever is shorter
Great enjoyment and feeling of contributing can be gained
from brain storming, particularly when an idea is found
that would not have come from an individual member alone.
The underlying goal of brainstorming is the maximum
number of ideas generated not the quality
Guidelines for Brainstorming
• Each member, in rotation, is asked for ideas. This
continues until all ideas are exhausted
144 Employability Skills - (NSQF) Quality Tools : Theory 2.5.64
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• A member, having no idea, simply says Pass
No idea should be treated as stupid. Criticism or
ridicule would inhibit free flow of ideas
• Rigid formality should be avoided. Good-natured humor
enthuses members to open up freely
• The Leader should help in summarizing an idea and
• No evaluation of ideas is done during brainstorming
• A black-board, a large sheet of paper or transparent
sheets for use on an overhead projector could be used
for listing out ideas
• After all the ideas are exhausted and brainstorming is
over, each ideas is taken up for detailed discussion
and a consensus by voting is taken, if necessary, to
select those ideas which are vital, and valid
• The brainstorming technique can be effectively used to
identify problems affecting the work-area, factors which
can prevent potential problems, causes responsible for
problems, solutions to problems, etc.,
• The members might find it useful to ask questions to
themselves based on the five Ws and one H, i.e.,
• What?
• Why?
• When?
• Where?
• Who?
• How?
• If an outsider happens to drop in during a brainstorming
session, he may be asked to join in
• If an agenda is distributed to members prior to the
meeting, it would enable them to think about the topic
scheduled for brainstorming in advance, and thus be
ready with many ideas, when the meeting starts
• It would be useful to keep records of brainstorming for
future reference.
The Technique and the Result
Brainstorming usually involves six to eight persons and
the generation of ideas run from thirty minutes to one hour.
Even 'outsiders' who are not normally connected with the
activity under consideration are included in the sitting with
a belief that a fresh mind may come out with an idea which
does not occur to those who are living with the problem.
An one hour session is likely to produce 50 to 150 ideas.
Most ideas will be impractical, but some will merit serious
consideration.