Resist the urge to invite everyone (including their moms)! Governments at all levels like to pitch the big tent—that is, they like to encourage as many people as possible to participate. Of course, broad participation leads to more buy-in and support, and ultimately better results. But a brainstorming session isn’t necessarily the time or place to get buy-in.
We can’t tell you how many brainstorming
Sessions we’ve been in with interagency groups across the federal government that had more than 50 people in attendance. Size matters. If the group is too large, people will be reluctant to share ideas. Set the Scene For successful idea generation, you have to get people out of their everyday thinking. You want to signal early on that this meeting will be different. One way to do this is to choose an off-site location—a coffee shop down the street, the rooftop of a building, or the park across the street. For example, some of our team’s best brainstorming and problem-solving has happened when we’ve been walking outside.
Getting people out of the office not
Only makes the meeting more relaxed and fun, but it also helps inspire more outside-the-box thinking. Timing matters, too. While it’s important to leave enough time so participants don’t feel rushed, maintaining a good pace will gcash phone number prevent people from leaving. Here are some lessons on what not to do. My co-founder recently sat in on a “brainstorming session” with a dozen government officials and staff (obviously not hosted by us!) that lasted more than two hours and was conducted on a conference call.
It was brutal Warning Beware of boring
It can be a tough session for brainstorming in government, as many governments lack flexibility in choosing where to meet. But nothing kills creativity integrating buyer personas with customer journey mapping more than sitting in the same dark conference room where you hold all of your routine meetings. If you don’t have any other options, don’t worry! Small workarounds—like bringing snacks or office toys—can help change the way people think and boost creativity.
Tune in next week for part two in this series
How to Run a Brainstorming Session in rich data Government.” Elle Hempen is part of the GovLoop Featured Blogger program, where we feature blog posts from government voices across the country (and around the world!). To see more Featured Blogger posts, click here. Save We know that all levels of government have terabytes of data, some of which is based on self-reported information from businesses and/or business owners.