(Note: this is a continuation from the blog post “Why Have a Meeting in the First Place?”)
Back in 2011, after seeing me do the presentation Main Street Marketing on a Shoestring Budget at the 2010 Michigan Downtown Conference, I had a corporate sponsor sending me to do the same presentation for several downtowns across the state. It was during one of these presentations where I learned the acronym STP.
Same Ten People.
As the Main Street Program was being developed and launched in several Michigan communities, one element that made it attractive was how it involved several people to make it work. Most communities had the STP’s that did all the work, served on all the committees, and were the most vocal about everything that was happening. The Main Street Program got more people involved which gave more feeling of ownership to the community as a whole.
You can probably name the STP’s in your town.
Your team has STP’s, too. Same Two People (or three if you have a bigger team).
Every time you go looking for feedback in a meeting, these are the people who dominate the conversation. These are the people who either have the ideas or shut the other ideas down. These are the keepers of the flame who love to say, “But that’s not how we did it last time.”
It is because of these STP’s that you roll your eyes at the idea of brainstorming. “It doesn’t work. I’ve tried it. We didn’t get any good ideas. We couldn’t stay on track.”
Brainstorming, however, can work wonders if you do it right.
Plus, it can be a fun activity for the staff because they get to actively contribute and be part of the meeting. They get to share and shine.
Here are three tips for making your brainstorming sessions more effective:
- Post the meeting time and topic at least 24 hours in advance.
- Focus on quantity, not quality.
- Understand that your best idea will come after the brainstorming session, not during it. (But you need that session to get to the best idea.)
POST IT
When you post in advance that you are going to have a brainstorming session about a certain topic, your introverted staff will have some time to think about the topic. Extroverts talk to think, but introverts think to talk. Give them advance notice and they’ll be much more willing to contribute ideas at the appropriate time. Your STP’s are extroverts. This is one of the reasons they dominate. You didn’t give your introverts enough time to prepare.
QUANTITY
When you make quantity your goal, you keep the STP’s from shutting everything down. They are the ones who say, “That will never work.” They shoot down every idea as it comes or at the very least start discussions on each idea which leads to fewer ideas being shared. There is a time and place for discussing the merits of each idea. That time is NOT during the brainstorming session.
Here are some techniques for getting quantity …
- Have individuals write their ideas down. This makes sure everyone gets a chance to share.
- Share ideas in a rapid-fire session. Allow NO discussion of the merits of each idea. Just blurt them out and write them down.
- Share ideas in a round-robin where everyone gets a turn.
- Have smaller groups do their own brainstorming and give them a number of ideas they need to generate. (Make it higher than they have time so that they don’t get bogged down in discussion either.)
The goal is to get as many ideas as you can without filters or discussion. In fact, when you go into a brainstorming session, have one or two really crazy out-of-the-box ideas of your own. You’ll be surprised how having those “seed” ideas can get the juices flowing.
FOLLOW-UP
Once you have a good quantity of ideas, assign different people to take those ideas and before the next meeting answer these questions:
- What would it take to make this happen?
- What would be the expected result?
Not only does that keep the brainstorming session from getting bogged down with too much discussion and filtering, it also keeps the STP’s from dominating the discussion. When you assign the ideas, ask for volunteers. No volunteers? No one thinks the idea has enough merit to waste their time. Move on to the next one.
The true value of the brainstorming session happens in the follow-up. You’ll find your team collaborating with each other on their own to finish their assignments. You’ll find them asking questions, getting more ideas, and looking for ways to improve on the ideas from the brainstorming session. When your team presents their answers at the next meeting you will find that several of the ideas have taken a new shape or form, one that will likely be incredibly beneficial to your business.
Oh, and there is one other secondary effect …
You get more people involved so that the STP’s no longer dominate everything.
To learn more about how to make brainstorming sessions more effective, I recommend you read this article by Brianna Hansen.
-Phil Wrzesinski
www.PhilsForum.com
PS If you have time at the end of your brainstorming session, another quick, democratic way to see what ideas people want to explore is to give everyone six gold star stickers and have them “vote” with their stickers. They can put the stickers all on one idea or spread them out. The ideas with the most votes will be the ones you assign.