Good Brainstorming

I worked as a proposal adviser for a major international accountancy and management consultancy firm for over eight years. For a while we were a team of two in the London marketing department specialising in that area. We helped bidding teams in a number of regional offices and those in other European countries. I even went to Sydney, Australia on one memorable occasion.

photo by Lhixon

Among the techniques we developed was a way to organise brainstorming to get the most out of each session in the time available. We would end up with lists of ideas written up on flip charts and blue tacked up all around the room, so we were nicknamed the Flipchart Queens.

Lately I wrote an article with 10 tips about this to sell at Constant Content. It has already sold once but I retain the rights to it. Here is an excerpt - tips six and seven:

“6. Set one important rule: no immediate discussion of the ideas. That will come later. Anything goes at the ideas generation stage. Encourage contributions from everyone. Even the office gopher could come up with something you could make workable. If people find some humour in the exercise, they’ll start to enjoy it. Inhibitions will be lost and you’ll get more out of it.

7. If it’s difficult to get started, try turning your objective on its head and asking for ideas on how to put that potential client off, or whatever the opposite of your question is. Then you might be able to work out the positive sides of those negative ideas.”

Want to read more or buy my piece? Check it out at in my portfolio at Constant Content.