Additional ideas for a good brainstorming session

Great brainstorming ideas:

• Use a video camera or tape recorder to make sure no ideas are lost. They can be transcribed later.
  
• Lower the lighting in the room to make people more relaxed and less inhibited.
  
• Have some toys and interesting play objects to stimulate and relax people.
  
• Use a room outside your normal office environment for extra effect.
  
• Have a different room with refreshments and encourage people to meet and chat in the break periods.
  
• Remove or turn off the telephones in the room.
  
• Close the curtains or blinds if there are any distractions outside.
  
• Play a mixture of soothing and stimulating music. Play a random selection from two different CDs.
  
• Let everyone have their own computer with brainstorming software on it and use this for a stimulus.
  
• Have lots of old newspaper, stickytape, scissors and string so that people can experiment with making and describing their ideas.
  
• Have lots of coloured pens and pencils around.
  
• Give everyone a yellow piece of card to show if people are starting to become too critical.
  
• Give everyone a green piece of card to show if people are starting to put forward solutions which are too ordinary.
  
• Use blindfolds for hidden suggestions.
  
• Spread out some joke books to encourage laughter.
  
• Get people to stand up instead of sitting down.
  
• Get everyone to face the outside walls in their chairs instead of facing inwards.
  
• Give everyone a personal tape recorder so no ideas are lost because of slowness of writing .

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