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STM Quality Limited

Brainstorming

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Brainstorming

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STM Quality Limited

What is ‘Brainstorming’?

It is a technique which encourages creative thinking and the generation of ideas.It is used to:

Generate a list of problems and opportunities

Generate possible solutionsDevelop Action PlansEnhance other techniques

such as F.M.E.A.s

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What can Brainstorming Do?

Providing that the rules and principles are carefully followed, brainstorming should achieve the following results:

Produce a lot of ideas in a short timeEnable team members to contribute

individually and to benefit from ideas generated by others

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STM Quality Limited

What Else Can Brainstorming Do?

Helps to create an environment which enhances group activity or teamwork

Provides a more positive environment in which to approach problem solving

Encourages deeper thinking about particular problems

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Thinking

Most people have well developed logical thinking skills.

As a result most people use logical thinking when trying to solve a problem which in most cases is appropriate.

Some situations require the generation of new and different ideas.

In these situations, creative or lateral thinking may be required.

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STM Quality Limited

Logical & Lateral Thinking

Both logical & lateral thinking skills are needed in analytical problem solving.

Lateral thinking is used to generate alternatives.

Logical thinking is used to evaluate them.

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STM Quality Limited

Barriers to Lateral Thinking

There are many barriers to lateral thinking which people need to overcome:

Tramline thinking – people limit their thoughts to what has been done before and do not stray outside the boundaries of the situation.

People also assume what is or isn’t possible – ‘we’ve always done it that way’’!

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Barriers to Lateral Thinking

The fear of sounding foolish – this limits the scope of peoples thoughts to what is seen as safe or acceptable. This prevents raising of radical ideas which could be useful.

Ideas can be judged too early without proper consideration. As a result they are discarded for being impractical or impossible.

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STM Quality Limited

Remember…

THERE MAY BE MORE THAN ONE RIGHT

ANSWER TO A SITUATION!

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1. Build a Team

Once a problem has been bought to our attention, a team must be formed to tackle the problem.

Ideally, this will be a team of people with a variety of skills and knowledge relating to the problem.

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2. Introduce the Problem

Explain the purpose of the brainstorming session

There is no rank structure – everyone is equal

Address the objectives by asking questions:

What are the ways of…………?How could we……………?

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3. Make Sure Everyone Understands

Ensure everyone understands the following points:

No criticism of any idea, however radical

Record all ideas – flipcharts are idealAim for a large number of ideasKeep going until all members have

exhausted their ideasBuild on ideas

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4. Start the Thought Process

The reasoning behind brainstorming is for people to generate both logical & lateral ideas. Ways of going about this include:

A free-for-all where people call out ideas;Going round in turn, collecting new ideas;Ideas are written down & passed to a

scribe;Any combination of the above.

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STM Quality Limited

5. Reflect on the Ideas

Take time to reflect on the list of ideasNew ideas may be forthcoming as a

resultMore than one meeting may be

necessary – keep the ideas fresh.

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STM Quality Limited

6. Evaluate the Ideas

Trying to deal with a list of ideas is not easy. Evaluation can be done in a number of ways:

Plus, minus & interesting technique allocates a ‘+’ to the most promising, ‘-’ to the least promising & ‘interesting’ rating to those in-between.

Rank ideas 1 to 10, higher the number, the more promising the idea.

Do not discard any ideas – even at this stage.

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STM Quality Limited

7. Summary

It is important that the brainstorming session is seen in context and that members recognise the importance of their input and involvement.

An explanation of the group’s future role should be given and reinforced by identifying follow-up dates and mapping out future progress.