It is a well-known fact that the results that can be obtained from teamwork will more often than not be better than what can be achieved by a single individual provided that all members of the team participate and make active contributions. And that is the tricky part. A team is not just a group of people working together – for them to be effective they must share the same goals and all be working towards achieving the same objective. In addition, each member must be able to make a useful contribution using his or her own skills.
Brainstorming is a great way of generating ideas and generating ideas as a team is a great way to achieve company objectives since, as they say, ‘Two heads are better than one’. If you do not know the results you want to achieve, you cannot achieve them.
Below are a few tips which, if properly applied, should prove in helping you develop ideas as a team:
Know your objectives.
Before undertaking any activity or embarking on a brainstorming session, you need to know what you wish to achieve by the end of that exercise or session. Human beings usually have higher retention of information that they write down and not just what they think about. Therefore, before undertaking a group idea generation meeting make sure your employees are well equipped with the stationery equipment they will need to carry out a session effectively. You can easily buy stationery online such as charts, note pads and pens to take note of what is discussed throughout the duration of the meeting. The team leader can write the objectives and notes on a chart or blackboard for everyone to see, but every team member also needs to make their own copy on a notepad. If there are multiple objectives that need to be achieved within a limited amount of time, then they can be broken down into smaller portions and each one can be assigned to an individual member of the team. Again, the team members need to note down these new objectives on a notepad so that they do not lose sight of them when they begin.
Once you have all noted down the objectives, the next part is coming up with a plan to achieve them. It is never advisable for the team leader to dictate what each team member should do. This part should be done consultatively and the best approach is for the team leader to give each team member a notebook and a pen and have them jot down their own ideas as well as any questions that may arise out of all the ideas. Once that is done, then the team leader can collect all the notes and members can discuss them as a team with the idea being to identify the best content in order to consolidate them into ideas to be worked on by the whole team.
Engage in team building activities.
Engaging in team building activities is a fundamental part of any group activity. Since people have different personalities, making a team involves getting them to forget about their individual personalities and work in sync with the rest of the team. This uniformity of purpose is important in generating effective ideas, but it does not come easy. You will need to participate in team building activities especially the ones that encourage all members to rely on each other to achieve their common objectives.
