Discussion board | Applied Sciences homework help
- Quantity—not quality—of ideas is the goal. 3. New combinations of ideas are sought.
One expert offers several other tips for healthy brainstorming:
Do not let the boss speak first. Encourage members to speak whenever they have an idea. Do not follow a set speaking order. Include a variety of members in a session, not just experts.46 Brainstorming can be even more effective in virtual groups than in face-to-face meetings.47 More ideas are generated when brainstorming is anonymous than when members know who is contributing suggestions. Encouraging Participation Loosely structured, informal meetings may appear to give everyone an equal chance to speak out, but—because of personality, gender, culture, and style differences—every member may not have the same access.48 Unbalanced participation can cause two sorts of problems. First, it discourages people who do not get a chance to talk. Second, it prevents the group from considering potentially useful ideas. 486 To improve participation at meetings, consider giving each person adequate time to speak to foster collaboration and avoid groupthink. Keith Ferrazzi, founder and CEO of the Los Angeles, California–based research and consulting firm Ferrazzi Greenlight, suggests having attendees write down an idea or question that they have or an issue they have 241 been struggling with in advance of the meeting. During the meeting, time should be allotted to bring these issues to the table, one at a time, with a 5-minute discussion period. The group members should all go around and either ask a question or pass. Then, participants are given an opportunity to offer advice using the phrase “I might suggest” or pass.49 Especially in virtual meetings, it is easy to become fatigued by information overload and one-way communication. Nick Morgan, president of consulting company Public Words Inc., suggests that meeting leaders “take everyone’s temperatures” at regular intervals during the meetings.50 To do so, simply go down the list of participants and ask each person for input. Meetings should also be interactive. No more than three presentation slides or 10 minutes should pass without an interactive activity taking place.51 Web tools, such as interactive polls, can be used to encourage participation among members. Another method for ensuring that every member’s ideas have an equal chance of being considered is the nominal group technique (NGT). Researchers have found that NGT generates a larger number of high- quality suggestions than brainstorming.52 The name of the method suggests that, for much of this process, the participants are a group in name (nominal) only because they are working independently. The NGT method consists of five phases: