Some ideas gestate for years and some just come out of the ether like a whack to the top of the egg.

Do you or your team struggle for Inspiration...the spark you need to be innovative?

It can be difficult to stimulate innovation within an organisation.

The Brainstorm Facilitator will help fire up your inspiration so that creativity becomes second nature to you.

Some of the best ideas are shy or should we say reside within the minds of introverted people. Virtual brainstorming has several attributes which can enable the the shy idea to bloom and grow.

There is some interesting research on individual versus group brainstorming conducted by Prof. Paul B Paulus. He argues solo brainstorming can have some major benefits.

The argument the he makes is that individual brainstorming is actually more effective a way of getting ideas. While we don't agree this is always the case we understand that poorly facilitated group brainstorming can lead to less than impressive results and bad experiences for most of the participants.

Prof. Paulus conducted research on the number and quality of ideas of four people brainstorming together versus four people brainstorming by themselves. Typically, group brainstormers perform at about half the level they would if they brainstormed alone.... [I]f people brainstorm alone after the group brainstorming session, it can [also] be productive, he says, adding, "It's ironic: You tap the benefits of groups alone. Everyone still presumes the best brainstorming is group brainstorming."

David Perkins, a professor at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, warns that sometimes group sessions can result in one person's bad idea tainting and limiting the range of others' ideas. "The best way to get good ideas is to get people to write them down privately and then bring them in," he says.

One method we use is called 'brainwriting' which is conducted in silence and ensures all particiapants can release and document their ideas unencumbered by the other members. Brainwriting also ecourages participants to build on each other's ideas as they brainstorm rather than post session.

We have the technology and tools to enable the capture of ideas and suggestions from any mobile phone or via the Internet.

The Brainstorm Facilitator highly recommends you reach outside of your networks for some of the participants in your ideation session, and can provide a selection of brainstormers to contribute to your session.

Virtual Brainstorm: If you want a small team (8-20 people) from multiple locations to deeply focus on a problem over a relatively short period of time, virtual brainstorming is your best bet. Save time, money and resources by conducting your brainstorm over the Internet and or using mobile devices to capture and organise ideas.

A full virtual brainstorming event takes anywhere from a half day to three days depending on the problem, the people and how far you want to take ideas - do you just want ideas; or do you want to develop the best ideas. During the entire virtual brainstorming event, participants are highly focused on your problem and potential solutions. 

(Idea Jam) Ideas Campaign: If you want to get everyone in your organisation (or even all your customers) involved in generating ideas and you can allow two to six weeks for devising and building ideas, then an ideas campaign is your best bet. An ideas campaign (idea Jam) allows people in your firm to log into the web based campaign at any time, review existing ideas, build on existing ideas and submit their own ideas. 

Examples of Virtual Brainstorming

• New Idea Day
• Idea Jams
• SMS Idea Box
• Collaborative Mind Maps
• Virtual Stickies view example
  
• Outside Ideas - Brains Trust & Youth
• Excursions & Retreats

View our ideation strategy mind map   here. To explore the possibilities for a real innovation experience or for more information on our consulting services and idea management tools contact us for a free consultation.

Brendan O'Keefe, the idea - inception expert and will help you generate a supply of innovative and creative business ideas that will help you grow your business. Download brochure here. (500 KB)