10 Elements for Success in Team Brainstorming Sessions

Learning to curate a successful team meeting with a healthy and productive collection of ideas can be difficult, and many designers have learned the hard way about how to best engage in team brainstorming sessions.

I've taken the time to revisit some of my past team projects, particularly in my final semester, and credit the elements I believe lead to a comfortable and engaging environment for the sharing of ideas. This list offers ten considerations for a successful brainstorm after my experience of five years in architecture school.

1. Environment

In an open-studio with eight teams of four, there was hardly ever silence on the third floor of the architecture building. However, this allowed my design team in my final year of school to feel comfortable holding various discussions and meetings at our desks without disturbing others. The proximity of our meeting space to our personal work spaces was also a great benefit. Our desks were on the southern wall of the architectural building at Oklahoma State University, which provided daylight to our space, and tall-ceilings lined with an acoustic membrane allowed the studio to feel comfortably large and open. My team decided to organize our desks into a U-shaped cove, keeping us within ear-shot of each other for spontaneous questions or quick-meetings. We also established one desk at the center of our team's work cove as the "family table" where we could hold our brainstorming sessions throughout the semester.

The environment of a meeting can affect the tone and structure of a meeting, so its important to understand the intended nature of the brainstorming session and prepare with an appropriate setting. Some meetings are most productive when held in quiet, private conference rooms, while others can flourish in public spaces with ambient noise, such as a coffee shop or open-studio.

2. Accessories & Tools

What's a good brainstorming session without a coffee at hand? My group and I were always brewing coffee before meetings, and during our late-night brainstorms, we'd often share a bottle of wine. Snacks were also frequently part of our meetings which helped to hold our attention for longer sessions. Allowing team members to feel comfortable is important, but beware of when snacks and beverages can hinder a meeting. If a brainstorm meeting is under pressure for a deadline, eliminate distractions and encourage attendees to eat beforehand.

Our "family table" was always equipped with a collection of markers, pens, sticky-notes, trace paper, pencils, journals, and scratch paper. The proximity of our meeting space to our personal desks allowed us to utilize the internet or design software for quick references, questions, or updates.

While we refrained from banning cell-phones, we made sure to monitor the presence of outside distractions while working. However, it was occasionally nice to have a phone around for taking pictures of our work or setting timers, reminders, etc.

One of my favorite tools of our work space was the nearby pin-up board which provided visual snapshots of ideas and progress while we worked through brainstorming.

3. Roles

An essential effort for a well-functioning team environment is to establish roles. Before diving into the project, each of my team members and I shared our interests, strengths, and desired roles for our work. Roles helped structure brainstorming sessions and understand how each person could contribute to proposals. For example, members who described themselves as creative designers were often those who pitched ambitious and innovative ideas. Members who felt they were better at structure and detail design often proposed ideas hinged on functional efficiency. We elected a team leader who oversaw the structure of the meeting, provided positive support for each proposed idea, and documented the discussions of the brainstorm.

Determining which team members would be in charge of tasks such as model-making, note-taking, sketching, digital modeling, scheduling, and documenting allowed our meetings to run more smoothly and eliminated arguments on who was responsible for certain tasks during and after the brainstorming session.

4. Preparation

Members of a team should clearly be notified of the time, duration, location, and topic of a brainstorming session before a meeting. Daily, weekly, and monthly schedules can help to organize meetings, determine necessary content, and stay on track for deadlines. Schedules are also a great way to communicate the outside priorities of the team members, including schedule conflicts. Once established, we were able to be more productive, aware, respectful, and prepared.

Before each brainstorming session, we often took time to work independently, investigating design options and potential solutions. In this time, we were each able to better familiarize ourselves with the design problem and prepare some research and precedent investigation that improved the quality of our meetings.

Lastly, as we arrived for meetings, we most often began with some off-topic discussions and laughter to ease stress before pressing into the design problem at hand. Whether we started with a funny video, joke, or story, I found that this laid-back approach to our meetings allowed our team to be more optimistic, relaxed, and excited to work together. Even during stressful days that demanded long hours, I met my work with a smile and always looked forward to working alongside my teammates.

5. Setting Goals

After warming up for a meeting, its important to start with an outlined list of objectives for the brainstorm and a reminder of the goals set in place. My group kept a word-bubble diagram at our family table that provided an at-a-glance reminder of our primary objectives for the project. Disciplining yourself to observe your work with a big-picture perspective can help to keep discussion on track and yield proposals that best represent the ambition of the project without getting lost in the small tasks and problems.

6. Quantity over Quality

While in some situations this expression is a terrible excuse, it's actually a great piece of advice for brainstorming. My perspective on generating ideas has always favored the model of quantity over quality, accepting all ideas regardless of absurdity or familiarity. This technique for brainstorming offers a great view of the landscape of the problem, introducing unique perspectives that can greatly improve design solutions.

7. Variation of Structure

Changing up the methods of tackling a design problem can be crucial to the process. Some meetings may call for the creation of models and hands-on construction, while other meetings may only require written solutions, discussion, or hand-sketching. Some may require several hours of time while other meetings are more efficient with quick, fifteen-minute brainstorms.

Occasionally in design meetings, my group and I would pause to take a brief break in order to investigate an idea independently without branching away from the meeting. Alone time can allow the brain to shift gears and feel charged to return with stronger proposals. Other times, we would end the meeting altogether with plans of revisiting the topic the next morning, allowing for the chance to "sleep on it" and release stress.

Another method is to break the team down into partners for a short portion of the meeting, and rotating these partners to allow for one-on-one brainstorms at the team table.

Variation of meeting structure can help improve efficiency and morale while managing tension and avoiding unproductive meetings. It's important to monitor the structure of a brainstorm and identify the most efficient work style on an individual and team basis in order to attack the problem at hand.

8. Brain Blocks

Brainstorming almost inevitably leads to moments of "brain block" in which the flow of ideas or quality of ideas seems to deteriorate. Several methods can prove effective for combating these blocks, and my group utilized many of them in order to hit the mental "refresh" button.

In afternoon lulls, my group and I would take a walk to the campus coffee shop for a boost of caffeine. This was one of my favorite methods because it not only got our minds off of the design problem, but it provided us with some light exercise, fresh air, and sunshine.

Other methods include stepping away from the meeting for a couple minutes or a couple hours. You can listen to some music, read an article, grab a snack, or go for a jog. I played intramural sports during college, and the couple of hours I spent away from my desk enjoying some competition and exercise allowed me to return feeling much more mentally energized.

When my team needed an escape from the architecture building, we would move our meetings to other spots around town or campus, or hold a non-official meeting over breakfast in which we just casually discussed our project at a cafe without feeling pressured to propose solutions.

If you need to stay put at your meeting table, there are a few methods you can utilize from where you are. Firstly, brainstorming tables can often be huge messes. Take a moment to organize the meeting space and clean up. You can also rotate seats at the table, choosing to sit near a new set of team members. Another idea is to change topics, and maybe depart from architecture completely. Take a break to ask about what your team members have been up to outside of their work, or if they have any interesting plans for their weekend. Lastly, during a "brain block" lull, our team leader would strive to pep us up by reviewing the ideas on the board, highlighting strengths and positive contributions to the meeting thus far, and keeping the energy and attitudes high with positive feedback or comic relief in order to push on.

9. Documentation

Assigning the method of documenting ideas can be crucial to staying organized and recognizing the nature of proposed ideas. Whether one member is elected to document proposals or if the entire team is responsible for writing down their thoughts, its necessary to capture the ideas that are flying through the air. Our team elected our group leader to keep notes, documenting the date, time, topic, and goals of the meeting in a team binder. From there, we would title each idea and compile them into a list which could be reviewed throughout the brainstorm and at the close of the meeting.

If topics or questions of discussion veered off track, our team leader could make note of them and guide us back to the intended topic. These stray ideas, questions, and tasks were documented in an running to-do list which could be referenced at any time.

Ideas can be documented as notes, doodles, models, precedent photos, and more. The primary goal is to represent the idea in a quick-to-understand method flexible for later evaluation and intervention. One of my favorite documentation processes was a method I learned during my study abroad semester at the Loughborough Design School. Across the building, walls were covered in neon sticky note clouds, and as projects developed, different ideas were eliminated or sorted.

In a four-quadrant graph marked in masking tape on a wall of the school, students created an x and y-axis with four competing categories such as "age of interest (young to old)" and "community contribution (public or private)". Sticky notes of ideas for product development were then placed along the axes and grouped into quadrants in order to identify the strengths and weaknesses of each proposed idea. This method manages the "quantity over quality" model, organizing a vast range of ideas in a way that is effective and easy-to-understand.

10. Post-Brainstorm Progress & Products

At the end of each brainstorm session, our team would take time to prepare for the next meeting with time, location, duration, and outlined goals. Although subject to change, they kept us on schedule for both personal deadlines and project deadlines, and prevented us from losing momentum after a brainstorm.

Because of our establishment of roles within the team, it was easy to assign tasks after each meeting for developing models, sketches, and diagrams that would demonstrate the progress of the project. However, many of the tasks were a group-effort, which meant that each team member was required to show up at the following meeting with "deliverables", such as a number of concept sketches, precedents, study models, or a body of research.

An additional note to this point is the nature in which we communicated the product of our brainstorming meetings. Working with mentors and professors, we often presented the progress of our meetings to others with rough studies rather than final-quality proposals, and often physical rather than digital, which helped in preventing us from getting stuck on any single idea and gave us time to produce studies of several strong proposals. Because team members are far less likely to propose new ideas for a design when the work for a final-quality model and rendering has been completed, our team held off developing these high-quality products until the final phases of the project. This decision invited the idea that brainstorming had a place throughout the entire project, as nothing was completely finalized. We weren't afraid to alter and revisit aspects of the design, and were more confident to propose new ideas in each meeting.

Thanks for reading! For more, visit the insightful article by Eli Woolery, "A Designers Guide to Brainstorms That Are Actually Useful", which inspired me to evaluate my own design team meetings and produce this post.

#architecture #design #brainstorm #concept #teamwork