Welcome to January, the month of fresh starts and new beginnings. It’s the perfect time to gather your team for a brainstorming session to generate ideas for the year ahead.
But here’s the catch: If you bring the same people to the same whiteboard, you’ll likely end up with the same ideas. This year, try something different. Shake things up with new activities and invite others with fresh perspectives to the table.
Step 1: Set a clear objective. Every successful brainstorming session starts with a clear focus. Before the brainstorm, complete this sentence: We are generating ideas to [fill in the blank with an objective]. Then, test out your answer — does it make sense? Can you realistically generate ideas based on that objective? A clear objective will keep the session focused and productive.
Step 2: Add engaging activities. Ditch the traditional sticky note shuffle for interactive exercises that inspire fresh thinking. Here are three creative activities to try.
Chat with ChatGPT. Kick off the session by asking ChatGPT to generate 10 ideas related to your objective. Share these with the group to spark discussion. Then, divide participants into pairs. Each pair chooses an idea and asks ChatGPT follow-up questions, such as, What’s the first step to execute this idea? How would this idea work with a budget of $X? What could cause this idea to fail? After 10 minutes, each participant writes down an idea based on the information gathered. For virtual sessions, tackle one idea at a time as a group.
Inspire with pictures and words. Divide participants into small teams. Ask each person to select one of the last 10 photos on their phone. Share each photo with the group, and as a team, list as many words as possible that the image inspires. Repeat with all the pictures, capturing the words inspired by all the photos on one page. These words become your sparks for ideation — literally any word on that page could inspire a potential new idea. Each person then writes down a new idea based on the objective. In virtual settings, participants can share images one at a time with the entire group.
Draw it/Sell it. Hand each participant a sheet of paper and ask them to sketch a solution to the brainstorming challenge in just three minutes. No artistry is required — it’s about ideas, not aesthetics. Then, each person has one minute to “sell” their concept to the group. Using what they’ve heard, everyone then writes out their own individual idea. This works the same way virtually.
Step 3: Document all ideas. One key element to brainstorming is that at the end of each activity, each participant writes out their own idea. These sheets are then collected so you end up with a pile of ideas. Many of the ideas will be similar, but each one may have a unique twist or insight worth exploring.
By incorporating these techniques, you can breathe new life into your brainstorming sessions. Start the year with fresh ideas and a renewed sense of purpose — it’s time to think outside the box.
Sue Stabe is Co-founder of Long & Short of It
