Guide for in office or remote work sessions

While creativity is often seen as a messy process with little to no structure, where innovative ideas just appear like a miracle (and disappear like smoke if you try to force them!) that is far from the truth.

When you let chaos take over, it becomes complicated to capture all the ideas generated during the brainstorming session or workshop. This is especially true when ideating in groups, as it’s easy to get lost in the high energy of the collective thinking process. Add the element of working remotely and it is easy to see how quickly things can get out of hand!

Methods and tips to organise and remember all ideas when brainstorming in teams

When holding a brainstorming session it is very tempting to jump straight into the ideation process. Without following idea managing methods and structures it is very likely you will run into these typical problems: 

• Wasting time by having to keep every concept you produced in memory

• Forgetting about ideas that might have been great for the final selection

• Ending with a list of ideas that come exclusively from the loudest voices in the team

• Feeling like the final selection of ideas aren’t as strong as they felt during the session 

• Finding issues collecting the ideas on a digital platform

Doesn’t it sound familiar? Well, we have some tips you should be using during the collaboration process to make sure no idea gets lost. These pointers will help you adapt to the future of work and foster an innovative culture. The following are the must-follow guidelines we share with all teams when they use our Ideation Cards, to make sure they capture their ideas properly and unleash their creativity. 

1. Set someone in charge of writing all ideas down.
   Having someone with the task of capturing the ideas is an excellent way of making sure no information gets lost. This doesn’t mean that person will only note things down; they should also be able to participate. You can rotate this role from meeting to meeting. Set this person at the start of the meeting. Decide on a digital platform to use to gather the information.

2. Set the rule of individually writing all ideas down
   Instead of having someone responsible for capturing all ideas, you can delegate that responsibility to each individual. Clarify that no one can share any idea before it’s written down to be displayed. If needed, utilize different online platforms as remote work tools that allow you to work on a shared canvas and follow the same principle.

3. Use keywords or sketches to categorise them and make it easy to remember.
   Sometimes writing ideas down isn’t enough; you need some reminders to make sure you get the point of what the idea is about. We advise you not only to write a name or reference for the idea, but some keywords that could help you get a better sense of what it is about. In a remote setting you can add links to articles, webpages and even insert images to help you all remember! 

4. Make clear notes, so the idea is understandable.
   Don’t try to be too simplistic when you build ideas. If you write “social media campaign” as an idea, you won’t have any clue of what that concept is about. Be descriptive; don’t trust your memory.

5. Use an idea template.
   Make sure to create some templates that can be used to produce effective brainstorming. There are plenty of tools (digital or physical) that can be used and transformed to your needs. Use these to summarise the power of the idea and create a place where your team can work. For example, you can have some bullet points like name, short description, place, time and benefit. Make sure your template is simple and easy to use. It will save a lot of time!

Using any of these tips will help you and your team create a more exact outcome from your ideation sessions. It will let you see all ideas produced and will generate a sense of accomplishment that will keep everyone motivated. And most importantly, it will increase your productivity and make it easier to filter all ideas down.

Happy ideation time!