Facilitate Proceedings » Brainstorming techniques http://facilitate.com/blog Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:56:16 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.5 Brainstorming or brainsteering? Or a happy middle ground? http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/brainstorming-or-brainsteering-or-ia-happy-middle/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/brainstorming-or-brainsteering-or-ia-happy-middle/#comments Mon, 18 Apr 2011 19:49:26 +0000 Danuta McCall http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=1778 7 Steps to Better Brainstorming, the authors propose a modified brainstorming technique they call “brainsteering”. But does it lead creative thinkers down too narrow a path?]]> You’re asked to participate in a chaotic exercise billed as a brainstorming session. The moderator instructs you to “think outside the box”, tells you that the activity is penalty free (“no idea is a bad idea”) and then waits expectantly. But without design or instruction, some participants sit there apathetically, others contribute sporadically, and a few loudly dominate the session with their pet ideas.

In 7 Steps to Better Brainstorming, the authors propose a modified brainstorming technique they call “brainsteering”. But does it lead creative thinkers down too narrow a path?

]]> http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2011/04/brainstorming-or-brainsteering-or-ia-happy-middle/feed/ 0 July Webinars – How to keep participants fully engaged http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/july-freewebinars-how-to-keep-participants-fully-engaged/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/july-freewebinars-how-to-keep-participants-fully-engaged/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 04:50:17 +0000 Julia Young http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=1504 With our Interactive Webinars series, we’ve been exploring the concept of building highly interactive elements into virtual meetings and webinars. We invite anyone who is interested in exploring these ideas with us to engage in an interactive experience of creative thinking about ways to design collaborative activities in what is too often a one on many, presentation heavy format. Our series continues this month with more opportunities to collaborate on ideas about designing interactive webinars and virtual meetings. We’ve got two great webinars planned for July.

]]> http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/06/july-freewebinars-how-to-keep-participants-fully-engaged/feed/ 0 7 Ways To Coax People Out of the Box in a Virtual World http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/7-ways-to-coax-people-out-of-the-box-in-a-virtual-world/ http://facilitate.com/blog/index.php/2010/02/7-ways-to-coax-people-out-of-the-box-in-a-virtual-world/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:25:08 +0000 Nancy Settle-Murphy http://facilitate.com/blog/?p=1348 How can we translate this type of high-energy, face-to-face brainstorming experience into a virtual session where we wring innovative ideas out of each person, using a phone and a computer? ]]> Before the latest economic downturn, many of my clients would bring together people from all over the world, put them into a conference room with pots of coffee and carbo-loaded snacks, and kept them there until they emerged with a raft of creative new ideas. Now, with organizations imposing travel bans for most internal meetings, the question becomes: How can we translate this type of high-energy, face-to-face brainstorming experience into a virtual session where we wring innovative ideas out of each person, using a phone and a computer?

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