Group Brainstorming

Through group brainstorming, a team focuses on generating as many ideas as possible to solve a defined problem. This approach is often integrated with step three of the structured problem-solving process described in the structured approach section. Brainstorming is also used when an outside person or organization asks a group for input in solving a problem. For example, a college administrator may attend a student organization meeting to seek ideas for increasing student participation in a semiannual blood drive. Brainstorming can help groups think creatively, or outside the box, when coming up with solutions. First introduced in his book Applied Imagination, advertising executive Alex Osborn (1953) provided four guidelines for effective brainstorming:

  1. Encourage wild ideas. Even far-fetched ideas can spark creative, workable solutions. For example, during a brainstorming session about increasing campus blood-drive participation, one student might suggest a vampire theme, including a live bat exhibit.
  2. Avoid judging ideas. Strive to generate as many ideas as possible without judging them. Premature judging—“That’s crazy; don’t you know bats can carry diseases?”—can discourage group members from offering additional thoughts that could be valuable. In brainstorming, the goal is to keep coming up with suggestions.
  3. Quantity is important. The more ideas a group can generate, the greater raw material it has as the basis for designing a good solution.
  4. Combine and elaborate on ideas. Blend together ideas offered by group members, and build on them to generate new ideas. For instance, another student might build on the vampire theme by recommending that the blood drive be scheduled in late October to include a Halloween theme (minus the live bats!).

Building on Osborn’s original recommendations, recent studies have shown that group members can get better ideas from a brainstorming session if they come up with some ideas before the discussion and visibly post them for teammates. This helps trigger additional thoughts in other members during the group brainstorming (Brown & Paulus, 2002).

Group brainstorming does, however, have some limitations. If team members feel overwhelmed by the volume of ideas being offered, they may stop expressing their own ideas. Or if they’re afraid others will judge them or their ideas, they may avoid making contributions. In some cases, individuals might just be lazy and let others do all the thinking (Sawyer, 2007).

If you’re leading or taking part in a brainstorming group, you can help combat these potential downfalls. How? Share Osborn’s four guidelines with the entire group before starting a brainstorming session. If you see any criticism occurring during a brainstorming session, remind group members that the goal is to generate lots of ideas without judging them. Finally, encourage all members to participate to avoid social loafing during the session.