Creative Brainstorming Template

Related Templates

• Marketing Campaign Planning
• Campaign Kick Off Meeting
• Project Kick Off Meeting Agenda

Creating a Brainstorming Template

Brainstorming is a fluid and creative process. But even creative processes need direction. A brainstorming template can give your brainstorming session enough structure to be truly effective and collaborative. By looking at brainstorming examples and brainstorming techniques, you’ll get a better idea of what you should do to get the best results.

The Structure of a Brainstorming Template

Brainstorming templates can include general brainstorming ideas, group brainstorming activities, and the ultimate goal of the brainstorming session. At the beginning of the brainstorming meeting, the template can be introduced to the meeting participants, who can then use it as a general guideline. In this way, a brainstorming template is like a meeting agenda; it’s a brainstorming agenda that focuses on the entire team.

How to Run a Brainstorming Session Remotely

Remote brainstorming techniques are becoming increasingly important as people start to meet online remotely more frequently. Because brainstorming is a creative process, it can be difficult to make sure that all people are heard. A few tips and techniques include:

• Always have a moderator. The moderator is the person who can make sure that everyone is being heard and that they stay on-topic discussion.
• Have people take turns. Let people talk on their own time, rather than having to talk over each other. This ensures all ideas will be heard.
• Discuss etiquette. Make sure that everyone knows that brainstorming is supposed to be a revolutionary process, and there are no bad ideas.

Building team camaraderie is especially important, particularly in teams that only meet online. Other remote brainstorming techniques will be similar to brainstorming techniques overall.

The Most Frequent Brainstorming Questions

Brainstorming is meant to be impulsive and creative. But because of that, many can feel afraid to weigh in. They may not feel their contributions are valuable enough. And any attempts to keep people on track can also feel dismissive.

• How do you start brainstorming? Many people find it difficult to kickstart the process. Consider some brainstorming activities such as word association.
• How do you organize your ideas? Often, flow charts or thought clouds are used to organize ideas.
• How do you give feedback? During brainstorming, ideas’ merits shouldn’t be explored, but rather whether ideas lead to other ideas.

The answers to these questions can help those who have just started holding brainstorming meetings, but examples of more rigorous brainstorming activities can also help.

Examples of Brainstorming Activities

From group brainstorming techniques to effective brainstorming techniques for individuals, examples of brainstorming activities can help kickstart creativity. Examples of brainstorm activities include: word association, word clouds, creating and shuffling decks, creating a run-on story, and so forth. In that way, brainstorming can be very similar to traditional improvisation tactics.

Ultimately, a brainstorming meeting agenda can really help get the creative juices flowing. Without an agenda, it can be difficult to engage those who are shy, and difficult to rein in those who are more aggressive.

How to Prepare for a Brainstorming Session

If you want to know how to facilitate a brainstorming session, begin with a brainstorming session template in full. Your brainstorming session example could start with a series of activities that narrow down to exploring specific ideas. You can start with a brainstorm template free, downloaded online.

Team members should be loosely aware of what the brainstorming session will cover and the ultimate goals of the brainstorming session. Occasionally, multiple brainstorming sessions might be required to get the organization to where it needs to go.