Brainstorm With a Group of People

These instructions provide information on how to brainstorm with a group of people so the brainstorming session can be conducted effectively.

Steps

Go to a place where there will be no distractions and where everyone can concentrate.
Set up the area so that everyone can see each other, and so everyone can see what is being recorded (for example, marker board, overhead projector, etc.)
Assign one person as the recorder. His/her task is to write down all the ideas during the brainstorming.
Set up rules, such as: letting one person speak at a time, allowing all participants to contribute, recording all responses, ensuring no answers are wrong, enforcing that no one should insult or criticize another participant for their responses.
Define the issue that is to be brainstormed - this is often presented as a question.
Determine a goal that everyone would like to have accomplished by the end of the session such as, a minimum number of ideas, everyone have at least two suggestions, etc.
Begin the brainstorming.
As people are sharing their ideas, have the recorder put the ideas in categories or sub-categories so the information is somewhat organized. (Every response should be recorded.)
Once the brainstorming is over, analyze the list and evaluate each idea.
When examining the responses, combine repeated or similar ideas and eliminate answers that do not fit.
Discuss the remaining responses.
Collaborate with each other to create an effective solution.

The more ideas that are produced, the better chance there is for producing an effective solution.
There are many ways of organizing your brainstorming ideas (list, outlines, webs, etc.)
Brainstorming is a continual process; you can always come back to it and re-evaluate it.
Free brainstorming session each week at the Denver IDEA Cafe http://ideacafe.meetup.com/1

During the actual brainstorming, never ever criticize an idea. This triggers three immediate and noticeable effects: 1) The criticized person tends to not produce any more ideas fearing ridicule; 2) Inevitably the criticized person tries to come up with counter-arguments and therefore wastes his time & energy on something that is not the goal at the moment; 3) Any future ideas that might be similar or down the same path are effectively discouraged, even though they might end up being good.