Are you thinking about holding a brainstorm to generate some new ideas for a project, product, or service at work?

A rapid exchange of creative ideas can be exhilarating in the office.

Unfortunately, brainstorm meetings can quickly get out of hand if you’re not paying attention.

In this post, you’ll find a few tips to help you organize a brainstorm and keep things in order.

Clearly identify the goal of your brainstorm.

It’s important to drill down and be very specific when describing the types of ideas you want to generate from your brainstorm.

You should also consider how these ideas fit into the overall context of your project, product or service.

It can be very hard, if not impossible to generate ideas for which there is no relative framing or context.

What goal do you want to achieve in holding your brainstorm?

Are you looking for new cake and frosting flavor ideas for your bakery that remind people of the springtime?

Are you looking for a short and catchy slogan for a new brand of running sneakers?

The more specific you can be in the descriptions of your goal, the better.

Prepare brainstorm materials In advance.

It’s vitally important to have all of your related materials prepared and ready before your brainstorm.

The last thing you want to do is run around for notebooks, sticky notes, and markers when the brainstorm is at it’s peak.

Stopping to gather office supplies not only slows down the idea collecting process, but is also distracting to meeting participants.

Prepare a list of materials and pack up these items the day before your brainstorm.

This way, you’re ready to hit the ground running in at your meeting.

Identify a method to capture information.

There’s no sense in holding a brainstorm if you’re not going to capture any ideas!

Determine how ideas are going to be captured well before your meeting.

For example, you might assign one person to take notes during the meeting by hand, or on a tablet, or laptop.

Alternatively, or in addition to this, you might consider using one or two digital or video recorders.

Be sure to test out the equipment thoroughly before the meeting starts.

And don’t forget to take time to organize all those great ideas after the brainstorm has concluded.

Learn how to be productive in your business

Productivity levels are a major concern for any business owner. That’s why it’s important for you to learn how to do your work with less stress, time, and energy.

My time management guide can show you how to prioritize tasks, manage assignments, and run meetings.

If you want me to show you how you can get things done in your business with less time and energy, then check out my productivity consulting services. Book a strategy session with me today!

How about you? Which of the above tips will you use at your next brainstorm? Join the conversation and leave a comment below!