Brainstorming tools
Silent notes first, clusters second, a short keep list third.
Methods before software
Brainstorming tools, a brainstorming site, and website brainstorming often mean a blank canvas product. The tool that changes the quality of the list is the method. Talk-aloud brainstorming rewards the fastest speaker. Silent brainwriting, then an affinity chart, then a keep list of three, produces notes you can still read the next day.
A mind map is a good place to park the keep list. An icebreaker is a poor substitute for the silent round. People have already spoken. The silent round exists so they can think.
A 20-minute sequence
Minute 0 to 6: each person writes ideas alone, one per note, no sharing. Minute 6 to 14: cluster in silence. Minute 14 to 20: name the clusters and choose three notes the group will pursue this week. Everything else stays on the board and is not a commitment. A brainstorming website can host the notes. Paper works. The sequence is the tool.
Questions
- What are brainstorming tools?
- Methods for producing and then narrowing ideas: silent writing, clustering, and an explicit keep list. Software is a place to put the notes, not the method itself.
- Why write in silence?
- Silence gives every person a first idea before they hear someone else's. It reduces the pull of the first suggestion.
- How many ideas should we keep?
- Three for the current week is enough to assign. A list of twenty keepers is still a brainstorm, not a plan.