Brainstorming sessions have a love-hate situation. Half the team is excited, the other half dreads it. The truth is, anyone can be creative, but it doesn’t happen by accident – it takes intentionality.
The key is preparation. If people show up cold, they’ll default to routine thinking or recycle old ideas. To break free, our brains need to loosen up first.
After years of leading innovative teams, I’ve learned what works. Here’s a simple game plan to help your team show up ready to think differently and generate fresh ideas together.
Your Job as the Facilitator
Your goal is to make sure the team is ready for what might feel like an unusual process. This isn’t a standard meeting. If your team walks into the same room, sits in the same chairs, sipping the same coffee, they’ll fall into routine and recycle old ideas.
Jumping in cold with, “Now, let’s be creative!” usually leads to either awkward silence or one person dominating the conversation. Neither sparks innovative ideas from the team at large.
Instead, help the team stretch beyond their daily rut. Give them a clear game plan so they arrive ready to think differently and generate ideas that excite everyone.
Week Before: Early Prep
Start the conversation early so people have time to adjust and prepare. Share the problem or opportunity you’ll tackle and why it matters. Encourage participants to jot down initial ideas ahead of time to prime their creative pump and avoid awkward silences for you. If you want, you can ask them to send a few ideas to you ahead of time.
Lay out expectations clearly:
- Send the agenda so everyone knows what to expect.
- Focus on idea generation, not debate. Quantity over quality with an “idea factory.”
- Encourage wild thinking. Suspend reality for a moment, because one impossible idea can spark a feasible one.
- Set aside ownership. Collaboration is key. Great ideas are evolved, changed, merged.
- Share inspiration. Send the team an article, video, or data to start the train of thought.
- Suggest habit shifts. Exercise, meditation, or quiet time can help reset the mind ahead of the session.
Consider a message like:
“Next week we’re going to think differently together. I’m not expecting perfect solutions, but instead want you to arrive with your mind loosened up and ready to play. Here’s how to prepare…”
Day Before: Prime the Mindset
Send a reminder the day before to reinforce excitement and set expectations. If you’ve received early ideas, acknowledge them with enthusiasm and let the team know this is meant to be fun.
Offer quick prep tips:
- Revisit the “why” of this session. Remind them of the importance of participation.
- Ask them to avoid distractions in the morning. No early morning emails!
- Set the tone of the event as judgment-free, experimental, and collaborative. Similar to comedy improv: use “Yes, and…,” “What if…,” or “Could we…?”
- Emphasize the evolution of ideas and how they grow and change. Building together is the goal.
- Note that ideas start out rough, but you can polish them. Even the opposite of a good idea can spark another great idea.
- Suggest breaking their personal routine. Try small disruptions: take a new route to work, wear something unusual, listen to a different music genre. Maybe walk up the stairs backwards.
Consider a message like:
“To prepare your mind for tomorrow, I’m challenging you to break from your norm tonight and tomorrow morning. Try at least two of these suggestions or invent one of your own. Let’s see who finds the weirdest personal disruption!”
Day Of: Set the Stage
First impressions matter. Start the session a little later than usual (we asked them to not hop into work before the session), we want them to arrive fresh. Have the space ready before they walk in.
Make the room feel different:
- Atmosphere: Light background music. A slideshow or posters with creative quotes. Snacks and beverages.
- Seating: Avoid typical conference room setups. Use casual seating or standing tables for comfort and encourage movement throughout the session.
- Tools: Whiteboards, large pads of paper, notebooks, sticky notes, pencils, pens, markers, colored dot stickers for voting, and a screen or projector for references.
The goal here is to signal that this isn’t a typical meeting – it’s a space for creativity.
During the Session
Keep things casual while welcoming everyone as they arrive. Explain why the meeting space looks different and ask if anyone disrupted their morning routine. Be prepared to share your own example if no one chimes in. Keep it light and fun! Aim for laughs, no pressure. Icebreakers work OK, but I prefer a few optical illusions and brain teasers for warming people up.
You should have helpers ready to capture ideas, snap photos of boards, and tally votes. If you use breakout groups, assign a helper to each group.
As facilitator, reiterate the rules:
- Restate the objective for today. Fresh ideas are needed.
- No bad ideas. Reviews and debates come later.
- No competition. Fighting over ownership limits creativity. (Your helpers should keep note of who’s passionate about ideas for follow-up.)
- Wild ideas are welcome! Spin-off ideas are expected.
- Quantity over quality. More ideas provide more chances for breakthroughs.
- Free to move around. Standing, pacing, and changing seats keeps energy up.
Be ready to help if people get stuck:
- Use lateral thinking such as random words, images, or “How would Einstein/Steve Jobs/SpongeBob solve this?”
- Flip the problem by trying the opposite approach or by exaggerating to an illogical extreme.
- Adding constraints can help creativity.
- Use speed rounds. Tight limits often spark creativity. “How many unique ideas can you generate in 5 minutes?”
- You should prepare at least one “crazy idea bomb” to break out of slumps if they happen.
Session End
Wrap up on a positive note. Thank everyone for their time and willingness to break out of their routines. Reference a funny idea or moment from the session, if one stood out, trying to end with laughs.
Invite quick reflections:
- What excited or surprised you most today?
- What helped loosen you up?
- What would you want to do again next time?
End with an outline of next steps so the team knows this isn’t the end of the process. Share how ideas will be reviewed, refined, and moved forward.
After: Keep the Momentum
Send a quick follow-up thanking everyone for their time and creativity. Reinforce that this is just the beginning. More to come!
With help from your volunteers, capture all ideas in a shared document, tally votes, and define next steps:
- Share the summary docs so everyone can reflect.
- Gather feedback and invite additional thoughts.
- Assess impact vs. effort for each idea.
- Engage leadership and sponsors to get buy-in for promising ideas.
- Consider budget and resources early.
- Identify project champions. Not idea owners, but people who can move ideas forward and build teams.
- Create teams around high-potential ideas. Make sure to include those who were passionate about them.
- Plan follow-up sessions for refinement and move toward official project initiatives.
Conclusion
With a little preparation and clear expectations, you can take brainstorming sessions to the next level. You prime the pump for real creativity when your team understands the goal and the process. Pair these concepts with broader initiatives with North Star Goals.
So rally your team, break the routine, and spark some innovation!
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