Usually, in a group discussion, you may hear the following concerns:

• Someone spoke over me
• I didn’t get a chance to speak
• I didn’t know that others had said my point earlier
• Someone criticised my point
• I had so many ideas. Once the brainstorming started, I forgot many of them
• I don’t know whether my opinion was noted or not

To overcome these problems and have an interesting and constructive discussion, you must try and brainstorm.

Brainstorming is a process in which a question or problem is posed, then a group of people give ideas noted by a representative, who writes them down for the group to see.

This process can be used by adults during training sessions but is also used by teachers wanting to gather and share ideas from their class to help them produce a quality piece of writing.

In other words, brainstorming is the process of free-thinking, freedom in sharing and working as a team to generate ideas, exchange knowledge and collect information.

How does brainstorming work?

1. Three to Ten participants come together.
2. The Topic is announced.
3. Participants individually note down their ideas for the first 5 minutes
4. Decide a note taker, who will record all the points & take care of repetition
5. Decide a facilitator, who will decide the sequence of participants
6. Each one shares one idea at a time
7. A person who has no fresh idea can say “Pass.”
8. Once all participants have contributed, the cycle can be repeated multiple times.
9. Stop when the ideas start drying up, or good ideas have been generated.
10. Thank everyone

There are some rules you must follow to brainstorm appropriately. Let’s go over those rules:

• Creative & Wacky ideas Welcome

Since you are exchanging ideas, you must understand that all ears must be open. You must listen and analyse everyone’s opinions without shutting them off.

• There are no Wrong Answers.

Brainstorming is just one idea after the other, and every idea must be welcomed. Everyone gets a chance to express themselves.

• No Evaluation /Filtering

Just listen to all the ideas/thoughts – don’t apply filters. That may defeat the purpose of coming together to share. Let them speak. Give them the chance to explain. Sounds convincing? Great. 

• No Criticism/Judgement

There is no room for judgement. Brainstorming is all about sharing creative, different and out-of-the-box ideas. Encourage free flow of ideas without the fear of being judged!

• No Elaboration – Don’t check for feasibility

First, exchange all ideas. Don’t take forever to explain your point. Say what you have to say quickly. 

• Build on the ideas of others

After people have shared their ideas, take a step ahead and build on points expressed by others. This would help the group to gather facts that are good and relevant to the topic.

Following these rules will help everyone feel heard, and the work gets done more efficiently.  These practices will help you overcome all of the issues you would face in a regular group discussion (as mentioned above).

Why should one brainstorm?

A.Develop/Increase elasticity of Brain

It widens your horizon and opens up your mind to different opinions and ideas.

B.Stretch thinking skills

When you brainstorm ideas and knowledge, you gain a lot of creativity. You develop the right side of the brain, which is your creative side. This helps you think more innovatively. 

C.Share without fear of Criticism.

You start to gain more confidence to discuss and put forth your opinion. You begin to overcome the “fear of being judged.”

D.Learn to interact in/as a team

Brainstorming develops teamwork abilities. Developing this skill at an early age is necessary as you will need this in other areas of your life.

E.Generate new and creative ideas

As mentioned previously, it develops your right hemisphere of the brain, which is responsible for creativity. You tend to get innovative and generate creative ideas.

F.Increase levels of Knowledge/Awareness

Brainstorming helps you become more “up-to-date/broad-minded” knowledgeable and enables you to speak correctly.

G.More possibilities for Better decision making

Brainstorming will help you look at a topic/issue from different angles, and this will help you make a more informed decision which is always better than a quick decision.

In today’s world, knowledge doesn’t get you very far. Everyone wants creativity. In a world of YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, etc., everyone wants a unique selling point. Something different, very unusual. Brainstorming will help you exchange other ideas and get creative.

When should we brainstorm? What are its applications?

Now that we have looked at what brainstorming is and its  rules, let us move on to when and where you can apply “brainstorming” :

1.Find creative solutions to problems.

Brainstorming will help you develop creative and correct solutions to a problem. Since you will be tackling the problem from different angles

2.Collect new ideas from others

Exchanging ideas one after another will help you gain more perspective and also helps you get creative ideas from others

3.Get over fear/hesitation of sharing/speaking.

Brainstorming will help you overcome your fear of being judged and stage fear. It can be overwhelming when everyone looks at you and listens to you, but you can tackle any problem with the practice. Brainstorming does just that. You will be able to start talking more freely without hesitation. You gain a lot of confidence as well.

4.Give all a chance to express their ideas.

Giving everyone a chance to speak makes them feel heard and important. Sometimes someone who is silent and an introvert might have unique can be overwhelming when ideas and a good amount of knowledge on the topic of discussion. 

5.Group projects/Assignments

Brainstorming will help you finish your assignments and projects efficiently. Everyone contributes, so everyone knows what the project is about, and it is a team effort, so it is always better. 

These skills will come in very handy when you start looking for jobs. You are a part of GenZ, the generation of YouTubers, Twitch Streamers, Instagrammers, etc. Almost all jobs nowadays need creativity and innovative ideas. Practice it, master it!

In our holistic education sessions, we work with our students to brainstorm their points of view and ideas with different topics and breakout rooms. You can do the same too. If you want to watch the entire session recording, you can download our app and watch the recording from our holistic education batch. The link to the app is here. 

For iPhone: http://on-app.in/app/home?orgCode=lkckc

For  Android: https://on-app.in/app/br/he2fnh1?oCode=lkckc

You can also get in touch with us if you have any questions at [email protected]

Now that you have read the blog let us know why you think brainstorming is important in the comments below. Let us know if you agree with our points.

SOURCE:

What is brainstorming?|TheSchoolRun

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