The ?luck of the Irish? is a phrase you will hear a lot during the month of March because of St. Patrick?s Day. Luck can play a huge role in the success, or lack thereof, for a business. We have found that those who are considered ?lucky? often position themselves for really good things to happen. During the month of March, all of our blogs, YouTube videos, and Beacons of The Week will focus on how you can position yourself and your business to get ?lucky? and ?find? some marketing success. Join the conversation on our Facebook group.
Two of the most important objectives of any marketing campaign is getting and keeping your target audience?s attention. To do this you must be creative; which can be difficult to do if try to go at it alone. Collaboration is key to developing diverse, creative ideas for your marketing efforts. Facilitating collaboration amongst your team is one (of many) challenges business owners and managers face on a daily basis.
One tool or activity many business owners and managers use is conducting brainstorming sessions with their teams. If you have participated in more than one brainstorming session, then you know how brainstorming in a group can be a double-edged sword. Works well one time, then the next time you (figuratively) slice off your fingers.
FIVE TIPS FOR AN EFFECTIVE BRAINSTORMING SESSION
Fear of an unproductive brainstorming session should not prevent you from conducting them. Brainstorming helps generate new, fresh ideas and allows your team members to feel included; which in turns generates more buy-in. Here are five tips for how you can facilitate fun and productive brainstorming sessions.
- Invite a diverse group of people from different professional and cultural backgrounds and advise them to come with ideas – Avoid groupthink by inviting people with different life experiences. Individuals with different professional and personal backgrounds bring alternative perspectives to the table. These new perspectives can lead to exciting new ideas or find ways to improve on existing processes.
- Set goals and parameters for the brainstorming – It is easy for brainstorming sessions to go astray fairly quickly. Avoid this by clearly state the purpose of what you are trying to accomplish and parameters such as agenda and time limits.
- Move on quickly from unproductive ideas – Another way to keep focus during the session is to move on quickly from ideas which do not fit into what you are attempting to accomplish. Encourage poeple to share but if something is suggested which does not move you closer to your goals for the session quickly explain and move on.
- Allow for anonymous feedback – Do a post-session questionnaire or survey to ask your team how they felt the brainstorming session went. Ask them what they liked, disliked, and how to improve future sessions.
- Thank everyone involved and give an update – Show gratitude by recognizing the work people put into the session and let the participants know what ultimately came of the session.
Brainstorming sessions can be a fun and exciting way to bring your team together to develop creative ways to promote your business. It can build a stronger team and reveal strengths people did not know they had. The above tips will help you run more productive brainstorming sessions so you get the most out of everyone?s time and expertise, which in turn will pit you in a better position to succeed in marketing your business.
