Meetings don’t have to be mundane; they don’t have to stifle the synergy or destroy the dynamics! They don’t have to be the place good ideas go to die. Meetings can actually be productive, compelling, interesting, and even…wait for it…creative! Too many meetings don’t get off the ground, but there are some things you can do to elevate the experience.  These are things that can give your brainstorming a boost.
The Hat
The hat goes back generations and was designed to keep the attitude positive. First, put aside the fact that many of us are still meeting via Zoom or Teams. Assuming we’re back to face-to-face gatherings in a conference room, you put a hat, upside down on the table. Everyone can comment about the ideas being floated but you can’t be critical or cruel. You expand on ideas you don’t sink them. You don’t say, “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard,” you say, “I think I know how we can add to that and make it even better!” If someone says something critical, they have to put a dollar in the hat. Too many people hold back decent ideas because they are afraid they’ll be criticized. The hat can help.
Think Small
Really big groups are unwieldy. From a creative standpoint you are probably better off breaking into smaller groups. This will be more interactive and produce a wider variety of ideas. It also encourages more people to participate. Large meetings feel like a classroom setting and tend to end up with one person doing most of the talking.
Consider What Can’t Be Done
It’s an exercise in provocation and sometimes it might stimulate a solution no one has ever thought of. If something would normally take two months, ask how it could be done in two weeks. It may be impossible but challenge the status quo regardless. When JFK said we would go to the moon before the end of the decade he wasn’t certain that was realistic. Neither was NASA. Turned out it was.
Break the Ice
Stay relevant. You might want to start out by asking everyone in the room what their favorite food is, just to get things going. That’s not a bad approach. However, if the focus is about ideas for a new app, you’d be better off breaking the ice by asking each person what their favorite app is. Another technique is for everyone to write down an idea, trade pages, and read them aloud without identifying the person who wrote it. That way no one is reading their own idea, and no one knows whose idea it is. It’s less pressure.
Don’t Ask for Something New
New ideas about anything are few and far between. English journalist Christopher Booker wrote a book in which he posited the notion that there are seven basic plots which are recycled again and again in novels, films and plays. A brand new, never been done before idea — especially one that works — is very rare. So don’t ask for new, ask for better or improved. Coming up with a better idea, or improving on something is still difficult, but it’s psychological. It’s not from scratch.
Meetings shouldn’t be mayhem, but they don’t need to be the cure for insomnia either. Humor can alleviate tension, so have some fun. Give people breathing room and they’ll breathe new life into your meetings.