Collaborative Idea Generation Sessions

My first hybrid workshop in 2017? Not great. In-person participants? Buzzing, chatting, sketching. Remote participants? Left out, frustrated. I still remember their faces. 🥵 Since I crafted a simple dynamic that changes everything. Imagine: 👥 40 people in a room, seated in discussion circles of 6. 🌐 10-15 participants online. 🎥 A video-conference software with breakouts. 📲 Your preferred digital collaboration tool - (Stormz, maybe?). Let's say they need to come up with solutions to a challenge. Here is how I would do it: > Step 1: Solo Brainstorm Think. Jot down ideas on paper. > Step 2: Share in Trio Breakouts of 3 (remote), two groups per table (room) Discuss. Converge to 3 ideas. > Step 3: Circle Talk (6 people) Breakout of 6 (remote), tables of 6 (room). Discuss. Submit 3-5 original ideas on the digital platform. Bonus! Assign a sneaky spy in each circle. Their mission? Check out others' ideas on the digital board. > Step 4 (Optional): Plenary Pitch Each circle showcases its favourite idea to the others. > Step 5: Individual Voting Browse ideas on phones (room) or laptops (remote), vote and comment. > Step 6: Debrief Session Everyone gathers. Display voting results. Reflect, discuss. > Step 7: Idea Development Mix up participants in new circles/breakouts. Assign one top-voted idea per group. Develop into a concept. Submit on the digital platform. > Step 8: ... So what are the key takeaways? 1/ Collaboration happens in small groups of people with identical setup 2/ Their insights are instantly shared using a digital platform. This creates cross-pollination. 3/ Debrief are facilitated in plenary. Other thoughts: - Facilitators: you'll need support - one remote and one per room. - My go-to design technique: dot (1) / Triangle (3) / Circle (6-9) / Rectangle (everyone). I created it for large groups, and it's perfect for hybrid setups. - Quality tech (mics, cams) are CRITICAL for the plenary steps (4 and 6). Stormz? It's perfect for hybrid events. Whiteboard apps are difficult to manipulate on a phone, Stormz is responsive. Engagement tools like Mentimeter are limited when it comes to collaboration; Stormz has all the features you need for ideation, selection, and concept development. No, I am not biased. 😊 Want to dive deeper? Hector & Fernando's Summer Camp Session on Hybrid is next week! Plus, 'hybrid' is one of the 2023 focuses of my newsletter, "Facilitator Fuel". 

One critical skill of great Product Managers is that they can take an immense amount of information and make sense out of it to find a path forward. Your job isn’t just to get the data, it’s to create action out of that data. But this is where many people get paralyzed. For product managers who struggle with this, I find tools like Affinity mapping extremely helpful to help organize your thoughts. Affinity Mapping is a basic facilitation and collaboration tool, but it’s extremely powerful. Put simply, it’s a practical way to sort through different pieces of data, group them into common themes, and discover valuable insights. Whether you're dealing with complicated user research or trying to get everyone on the same page, this method helps you focus and find your way forward. Here's how to run an Affinity Mapping session that's not just productive, but also a bit of fun: 1️⃣ Gather Your Data: Start with all the raw data you have – post-its from brainstorming, customer feedback, interview notes, you name it. Get it all on the table. Literally. 2️⃣ Invite the Right People: Bring together a diverse group from your team. Yes, diversity! You want different perspectives – designers, developers, marketers, and especially those who are often quiet but have brilliant thoughts simmering under the surface. 🧠 3️⃣ Create a Safe Space: Before diving in, set the stage for open collaboration. Remind everyone that every idea is valuable and we're here to discover, not judge. This is about finding patterns, not picking favorites. 4️⃣ Sort and Cluster: Now, get sticky! Start placing related ideas together. Don't overthink it. Go with your gut. You'll see themes start to emerge as you cluster similar thoughts. It's like a puzzle where the picture becomes clearer with each piece. 🧩 5️⃣ Label the Themes: Once you have your clusters, give each one a name that captures the essence of the ideas within it. These labels will be your guideposts for action later on. 6️⃣ Reflect and Discuss: Take a step back. What do you see? Any surprises? Discuss as a group and make sure everyone's voice is heard. This is where the magic happens – insights start to bubble up to the surface. 7️⃣ Prioritize and Act: Finally, decide what's most important. Which themes align with your goals? Which insights are game-changers? Make a plan to act on these priorities. Affinity mapping is not just about organizing thoughts; it's about unlocking the collective wisdom of your team. It's a powerful way to build consensus and ensure everyone's voice is heard. So, next time you're grappling with data overload, grab some sticky notes and start mapping! What else have you used to help organize your thoughts and data? #ProductManagement #UserResearch #Collaboration #AffinityMapping

Your participants decided if your workshop was worth it before you said a word. The session hasn't started yet. But it's already half won or half lost. Most facilitators obsess over what happens in the room. The activities. The timing. The transitions. But your participants made 3 decisions before they sat down: → Is this going to be useful or a waste of my time? → Am I going to sit and listen all day? → Does this person actually understand my world? Those decisions were made before you opened your mouth. Here's where workshops are won or lost: 1. The invite email. Most workshop invites read like this: "You're invited to a team development session on Thursday. Please block 9am-12pm. Agenda attached." That tells participants nothing. So they assume the worst: another generic workshop. Laptop open. Emails on the side. Try this instead: "Thursday we're spending 3 hours solving one thing: the handoff process between sales and delivery. You'll leave with a written process your team built together. No slides. No lectures." Same session. Completely different expectations. Participants arrive curious instead of cynical. 2. The pre-work. Not a 20-page pack nobody reads. One question. Sent 3 days before. Takes 2 minutes. → "What's the one thing about our handoff process that frustrates you most?" It gets participants thinking before they arrive and gives you real data to design around. Someone who's already thought about the problem is 10 minutes ahead of starting cold. 3. The room setup. Tables in rows facing a screen says "you're here to listen." Chairs in a circle says "you're here to talk." Clusters of 4-5 around small tables says "you're here to build." Your layout is a promise. Participants read it the second they walk in. If you want collaboration, the room needs to look like collaboration before anyone sits down. 4. What the sponsor says. "I've asked a facilitator to come in and help us" → fine. "I'll be working alongside you because this matters to me personally" → different. When the most senior person is a participant, not an observer, everyone takes it more seriously. 5. Your reputation from last time. If your last session was forgettable, you're starting in a hole. "Here we go again." If last time was useful and things actually changed, you've earned trust before you speak. The best workshops don't start when you start talking. They start with the invite. The pre-work. The room. The sponsor. The memory of last time Get those right and the room is with you before minute one. ___ Save this for later (three dots, top right). Share with friends → ♻️ Repost. Get consultant-grade workshops every Sat → https://lnkd.in/eSfeUapJ

The death of a great idea often happens within seconds of its birth. Someone shares a creative thought. Then the immediate response:  "We don't have budget for that" or "That would never work because..." I've watched brilliant possibilities disappear this way for years. Then we implemented one rule in our company that changed everything:  No decisions during idea generation. We completely separated ideation from evaluation.  Different meetings. Different mindsets. Different purposes. The results were stunning.  Teams that struggled to find solutions suddenly had too many to choose from. People who rarely spoke up became fountains of creativity when freed from immediate judgment. This isn't just about having more ideas. It's about creating psychological safety where people's weird (their unique genius) can emerge. The best solutions often start as "crazy" thoughts that would never survive immediate scrutiny. Give your team's imagination room to breathe before the practical considerations take center stage. What might emerge if you created a truly judgment-free zone for ideas? #CreativeLeadership #TeamInnovation #NewWorldOfWork #LoveYourWeird

The best way to teach brainstorming? Let students brainstorm your teaching approach. Today, our design thinking class at the University of Kentucky, TEK 300, "Teens and Screens," reached a pivotal moment. With midterms behind us and spring break over, we faced a critical question: How might we structure the remaining weeks to promote deeper understanding rather than just blasting through the steps of our semester-long project? Instead of deciding for our students, we chose to "eat our own dog food"(as they used to say at Apple). (HT Reinhold Steinbeck, charles kerns) We turned our students into users and co-designers through a structured brainwriting session focused on this challenge. The process was beautifully simple: • Students received worksheets with our "How Might We" question and a 3×5 grid • Everyone silently wrote initial ideas (one per box) in the first row • Sheets rotated three times, with each person building on or adding to previous ideas • We ended with a gallery walk and dot-voting to identify the strongest concepts In just 20 minutes, we generated over 50 unique ideas! The winner? Incorporating hands-on, interactive activities in every session that directly connect to that day's learning objectives. The meta-realization? We were already practicing the solution before formally adopting it. The brainwriting exercise itself exemplified exactly what our students told us they wanted more of. My teaching partner Ryan Hargrove immediately began storyboarding how we'll implement this approach, moving us closer to the collaborative learning journey we want to have with our students. We're moving from "Once upon a time..." (not as great as we could be...) to "Students designed..." (active participation), to "Now we really dig learning all this..." Your students already know what they need; your job is to create space for them to tell you. P.S. What teaching approaches have you transformed by inviting your students to become co-designers of their learning experience? #DesignThinking #HigherEducation #TeachingInnovation #BuildingInPublic #StudentCenteredLearning

Are brainstorms DOA? You know the drill: you walk into a brainstorming session armed with big ideas, only to watch them deflate under a chorus of “No,” “But,” and “That’s not how we do it." At this point, even the donuts aren’t enough to make these meetings tolerable. What if we borrowed a trick from improv? Improv thrives on the golden rule: “Yes, and…” Instead of shutting down ideas, you build on them. You take a concept, however wild, and grow it. “Yes, and…” creates momentum. It fuels creativity. It opens doors to fresh perspectives. And let’s face it, we could use fewer slammed doors in workplace brainstorming sessions. So, why not bring that same energy to brainstorming? Could a tool built for comedy spark real workplace innovation? Imagine how many “bad ideas” might become brilliant ones if they were nurtured just a little more. Ideas deserve room to breathe and evolve. “Yes, and…” isn’t just fun—it’s productive. It’s time to swap the “No, but…” for some collaborative creativity Less thought leader, more thought curious - ✨Jackie Domanus✨

 🤔 "𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐖𝐞" (𝐇𝐌𝐖)   𝐓𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 🏆 As a facilitator, one of the most powerful tools in your kit is the "𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐖𝐞" (𝐇𝐌𝐖) framework. HMW questions are like a magic lens that shifts the focus from problems to possibilities, sparking creativity and collaboration.  𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞’𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐌𝐖 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐬:  1️⃣ 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐥𝐞𝐦: For ideation, Instead of focusing on what's wrong, craft an open-ended HMW question to explore opportunities. Problem: "Our team struggles with communication." HMW: "How might we foster better communication to improve collaboration?" 2️⃣ 𝐄𝐧𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐞 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬: HMW questions invite participants to think broadly and share unique ideas.   3️⃣ 𝐊𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐢𝐭 𝐏𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 & 𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧-𝐎𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝: The “might” encourages exploration and the “we” fosters a sense of collective ownership.  4️⃣ 𝐅𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠: Use HMW questions to guide ideation sessions and keep the energy high.  𝐏𝐫𝐨 𝐓𝐢𝐩: When facilitating, write down multiple HMW questions and ask participants to vote on the ones they’re most excited to explore. 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐞 𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐇𝐌𝐖 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬? HMW question is an opportunity to unlock potential and spark innovation. So, next time you’re in a workshop, ask yourself: How might we use HMW questions to drive better outcomes? 

One common source of tension in executive meetings—or any collaborative session with high-performing teams—is when some people are in diverging mode (brainstorming ideas) while others are in converging mode (making decisions). The result? Frustration, confusion, and misalignment. As a leader, it’s your responsibility to set the tone and make it clear which mode you’re in. If you’re diverging, the focus is on exploring possibilities. You lead with curiosity over criticism and all ideas are encouraged and accepted - even (especially) the bold and crazy ones. Later, you transition to converging —introducing real-world constraints such as budgets, technical feasibility, timelines, and user needs. Then you can effectively select a path forward by choosing the best idea or designing a hybrid solution with the best components of multiple ideas. If one person in the room is trying to converge while one is trying to diverge, everybody gets frustrated. Timebox your sessions, explicitly state which mode you’re in, and create space for both phases. Diverge to explore. Converge to decide. Balance curiosity with focus, and you’ll lead your team to progress without spinning in circles.