Career Information Basics

Idea relay

The best brainstorms encourage critical thinking and boost confidence. An idea relay does just that, getting everyone involved in collaborative idea-generation. Give each team member a piece of paper. Offer a prompt related to your brainstorm—perhaps to write down a slogan or idea. Each person then passes their paper to the right for the next person to modify, add to or tweak in some way. Continue passing around, allowing each person a chance to contribute. When each paper is back with its original writer, read aloud and discuss.

Storyboard

Laying out a story or process by hand is a time-tested strategy for identifying improvement opportunities. As a group, write each step of the process being explored on a single piece of paper. Pro tip: adhesive notepads work well for this exercise. Arrange notes in order on a wall or table to visual the sequence from start to finish. Additional notes under each step may provide added detail. As a group, discuss strengths and weaknesses of the process and, if necessary, move notes around to improve it.

SWOT analysis

Have a plan or idea in need of refinement? A SWOT analysis can help. SWOT stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. Each provides a lens through which your group can examine the topic. On a whiteboard, draw a large four-quadrant box. Label each with the SWOT categories. Then give your team dry-erase markers to take turns filling in each quadrant. Once the box is full of ideas, team members can assess each category and pitch ways to improve the plan or idea. 

Zero draft

The zero draft technique is essentially a collaborative brain dump. It’s a pre-draft—the draft of a plan, project or strategy that comes before the first draft. It’s a way for team members to freely explore thoughts and ideas with reduced pressure. Provide brainstorm participants with small notebooks and a prompt. An example might be, “How can we improve the customer experience?” or “How can we increase website traffic?” Then provide a block of time to write without filtering. Spelling, grammar and coherency aren’t important. Once finished, team members can share what they’d like, and the full group can identify thoughts or ideas worth further exploration.

Word banking

Word banking puts a collaborative brainstorming spin on word association. It’s a great way to come up with product or brand names, messaging and content development. Choose a problem or topic and ask team members to quickly jot the words that come to mind. Encourage them to consider a variety of nouns, adjectives, verbs and even jargon or slang. Use a large whiteboard or notes to collect and display the ideas, then analyze and discuss the themes that arise. When your next great product name, marketing slogan or campaign emerges, celebrate!