Brainstorming is a creative and collective problem-solving technique that aims to generate, in a limited time, a large number of ideas around a given problem. This article will show you how to use Draft.io as a powerful brainstorming tool.
What is brainstorming?
A brainstorming workshop is generally structured in two distinct phases: a so-called divergence phase and then a convergence phase. These two phases are complementary and interdependent; the quality of the convergence phase depends on the quantity and quality of ideas generated during the divergence phase.
At first, the divergence phase consists of generating many ideas without making any judgment or critical evaluation. The objective of this phase is to stimulate the participants’ creativity and encourage the production of original and unusual ideas. Then, in the second step, the convergence phase consists of evaluating, selecting, and developing the most promising ideas generated during the divergence phase.
Why using a dedicated brainstorming tool can make your workshop more successful?
Using a brainstorming tool offers several advantages. First of all, and in particular, in a remote brainstorming workshop, the tool can collect the participants’ proposals and allow them to represent their ideas with great freedom, for example, in the form of images or sketches.
Then, the tool assists you in facilitating the workshop, whether to sort the ideas, group them by theme, or select them, for example, using a voting system. The brainstorming tool should also allow you to interact with participants and control their interactions.
Finally, using a brainstorming tool will help you to keep track of the reflection that has been carried out and to exploit the fruits of the brainstorming session, for example, to efficiently use the ideas generated in another environment.
How to properly prepare your brainstorming workshop?
We recall here some basic recommendations to prepare your brainstorming workshop properly:
- Gather the right and complementary people. They must have a minimum level of knowledge and experience to reflect on the issue appropriately.
- Limit the number of participants to 5 or 7. Beyond that, it becomes difficult to manage the discussion and ensure the involvement of all participants.
- State explicitly the purpose of the workshop. Do not hesitate to write the objective on a sheet or a sticky and let it be displayed in the center of the discussion.
- Give clear instructions. Whether the time allocated to each phase, the minimum number of ideas to propose per participant, the number of votes to select the best proposals, etc., these constraints are all challenges that will stimulate the participants’ commitment.
What are the valuable features of Draft.io to facilitate a remote brainstorming workshop?
More than a collaborative whiteboard, Draft.io is a complete and powerful brainstorming tool. It will help you to animate your workshops and stimulate the participants’ creativity.
Timer
Draft.io includes a timer to help you better pace your brainstorming workshop. At the end of the timer, a ringtone warns participants that the allotted time has expired.
Polling booth mode
Draft.io allows participants to share their ideas individually without influencing each other. Indeed, when the polling booth mode is activated, you cannot view the content of stickies added by other participants.
Once all participants have shared their ideas, you can reveal the contents of the stickies one at a time or all at once. The following video shows you how to use the polling booth mode.
More about the polling booth mode →
Envelopes
An envelope is a dynamic object whose function is to group together a set of ideas or concepts. Its shape and size adjust themselves to its content.
Once you’ve grouped the ideas by topic into envelopes, you can add a title.
Voting session
Draft.io allows you to organize voting sessions on particular or all objects on a board. You can set the number of votes per person, as well as the number of votes per person and per object. It is possible to vote on stickies, images, and even envelopes.
At the end of the voting session, you can display the results of the ideas or concepts that were voted on directly on the board; it is a convenient feature to continue reflecting on the results.
