Brainstorming in Project Management

What is brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a process where team members can pool together their ideas to find solutions to business problems. It gives us insights during data gathering as well as planning. Brainstorming in Project Management helps generate multiple ideas. We can reach a consensus on a specific solution from these ideas. There are 3 major types of brainstorming techniques. You can check out our guide to choose the best one.

This technique is widely used during the ‘Project Charter’ phase. Project Charter is a document that lays out the objectives of the project and a plan to achieve that. The Project Manager creates the Project Charter. This document authorizes the PM to formally start the project.

The key to successful brainstorming is a conducive atmosphere. An atmosphere where the team members feel relaxed. They should also feel inspired and empowered. Freedom to express is a critical for the success of this method.

Why is brainstorming in Project Management important?

• It helps in developing a better plan for the project
• Sharing of ideas help visualize potential problems with the project
• It also helps in adding new ideas
• Brainstorming in Project Management(PM) may generate easier and faster solutions to problems that seem difficult for one person.
• It can help in informing a risk mitigation strategy

Nominal group technique vs Brainstorming

Both of these activities are group activities. However, there are some subtle differences. The nominal group technique includes the essential steps of brainstorming. Additionally, it also has a few extra steps

• The participants provide a ranking for each of the ideas
• Subsequently, the participants benchmark the ideas based on ranking.
• Additionally, there are discussions regarding the importance of the ideas.
• It leads to higher quality solutions
• Further, it also leads to higher confidence in the solutions
• Subsequently, the participants have higher motivation in project execution

Problems with brainstorming in project management

Here are three main types of problems:

1. Lukewarm participation
2. Reactive behavior
3. Powerplay
4. Non-confrontational behavior
5. Appeasement behavior

How to deal with these problems?

Problem	Solution
Lukewarm participation	Specify what you want from people. Clearly ask for participation. Specify that each person should give minimum of X number of ideas. Have a rapid fire round. Use props like visual cues of the project requirements.
Reactive behavior	Take control. Ask the reactive or rude people to calm down. Always remind people to welcome ideas during the idea generation phase. Also remind people to assess ideas peacefully.
Powerplay	This one is a difficult nut to crack. However, as a fecilitator, ensure that the junior team members voice their concerns. Some of the best ideas can come from youngest of the minds.
Non-confrontational behavior	Sometimes the team members may not present opposing ideas. This problem is more pronounced when there is a consensus among majority of the participants. You can ask specifically for ‘cons’ or ‘challenges’ for an idea to elicit responses.
Appeasement behavior	Some participants may try to indulge in appeasement. This is opposite of confrontational behavior. Here the participants try to agree to other’s ideas to be in their good books or to enhance social image as polite agreeable person. Again similar treatment like non-controntational behavior can correct this problem to some extent.

How to do brainstorming in project management?

Preparation phase

An ill-prepared brainstorming session may not provide the same result as a well prepared one.

Firstly, the facilitator of the session(generally the Project Manager) must decide on the topic of the session. The facilitator may call for brainstorming to generate solutions for the problems of the client. Alternatively, they may call it to prepare the project charter.

Secondly, the facilitator must also prepare the list of members of the brainstorming panel. Typically the session includes team members, the clients, external consultants, subject matter experts, and other stakeholders.

Thirdly, the facilitator should also decide whether the session would have a more relaxed feel or a focused one. The first method is the free-form brainstorming. The second method is a structured brainstorming.

Brainstorming phase

Idea generation

1. The facilitator welcomes all the participants to the session
2. They debrief the participants about the topic of discussion
3. They reassure the participants to share their ideas openly.
4. Ensure there is no criticism or judgment of ideas during the idea generation.
5. One person records the ideas

Interesting fact: contrary to popular belief experts have a higher tendency to think ‘inside the box.’ Ensure that you have people who are not related to the topic to get some wild but innovative ideas!

Idea analysis

Ideation can continue till there are enough ideas or till there is a saturation of ideas. The fecilitator stops the ideation session.

Subsequently, the facilitator asks the participants to elaborate and analyze the ideas.

Method 1: go from first idea to the last idea.

• One by one. Participants share their views on each one of them.
• The team repeats the process to reduce the number of ideas.
• Then, the team selects the most suitable idea or ideas in the end.

Method 2: Nominal Group Technique

Alternatively, the facilitator may take a step forward. They can use the NGT method. As we have discussed earlier, NGT is better than brainstorming. We can even use NGT across multiple groups.

Post brainstorming

The project manager and other senior executives should get together. The project manager can arrange an internal discussion. They can compare the possible solutions with respect to the evaluation criteria. Also, discuss the pros and cons. This will help them present the findings to other stakeholders. It is better to present multiple ideas to the clients. They get a higher sense of ownership in the project.

FAQs on Brainstorming for Project Management

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