At the beginning of every creative process is the idea. But it doesn't always come to you in your sleep!
Improve your team's creativity with these top 3 methods for productive ideation. And use our free brainwriting template download to help you come up with good ideas faster in creative sessions.
Whether it's content creation or campaign development, the bright idea is no accident! There are methods you can use to make your team's creativity sparkle. Because a change of perspective is possible when different strengths from different areas of work come together in one group.
Brainstorming is perfect for generating ideas and fundamentally different approaches to a topic in a team in a short time. The verbal exchange of ideas in the group is fast and spontaneous, without judgement, and takes place in a fixed time frame. Have a facilitator first briefly introduce the topic and encourage the team to think freely and dare to share even crazy ideas, follow the motto: quantity instead of quality. Thoughts are allowed to build on those of others - allow questions and play through various unusual scenarios together to find unprecedented suggestions. This technique works with associations: Combining, expanding and changing are allowed and desired. Collect the ideas and record them for all to see for inspiration.
It's usually easier for us to name things that can go wrong with a project instead of coming up with a brilliant idea in a constructive way. The headstand technique, also known as "reverse brainstorming", takes advantage of this and breaks down thinking blocks by looking for solutions. Generate new ideas with negative questions by reversing your main question. So, for example, "What do we have to do so that the landing page doesn't get any traffic?". Write down all the points you can think of. The reversal method allows you to look at things from a different angle, which brings new useful insights: if you turn the solutions you have worked out upside down, you will get ideas for the actual question.
Up to 108 ideas in a short timeframe - this tool inspires us every time! It is a very effective method that we like to use when starting a project in a team. Instead of a discussion in a noisy group situation, ideas are written down here alone and in peace. This is how brainwriting works: You hand out a piece of paper to each team member, divided into three vertical columns for the ideas and three horizontal rows for the respective rounds or the names of the team members. Then you define the problem together and everyone writes their three ideas in the first row individually. After an agreed time - usually after 5 minutes - it is passed on and used by the next person in round 2 as a basis for new ideas. The principle is based on rotation: in each round, the top ideas are expanded or changed with new elements. The method is also known as the "6-3-5 method" because it has also worked well with 6 participants, each drafting 3 ideas, and 5 rounds of repetition. It is important that we keep the creative writing phase free of criticism and evaluation - there is enough time for this afterwards when the ideas are discussed, selected and refined. What we particularly like about this method:
We have already successfully started many of our projects with our brainwriting template, which is why we can recommend it to you with full conviction. So that your creative sessions become even more productive!
Tap the full creative potential of your team:
You can find our brainwriting template as a PDF to print out here.
Tip: Ideas bubble up better in a team, but if you don't have a team at your disposal, you can also find new ideas with input from artificial intelligence. Tamara Grünzweil, CEO at SPS MARKETING, likes to be inspired this way: "I now count ChatGPT among my closest friends. When preparing interview questions and researching background information, e.g. for our podcasts, the AI is a very effective helper. My handling tip: Start your session with clear, precise questions or topics you want to cover. ChatGPT can not only help you with the wording, but also suggest deeper insights or alternative questions. That way you always have a back-up plan in case the conversation takes a different direction!"
Overall, the choice of the best creativity technique depends on the individual needs of your team and your specific situation. We believe that brainwriting deserves special consideration because it combines spontaneity and a structured approach. In any case, it is worth leaving familiar paths and trying out different techniques to find out which ones suit your project best. Because you also benefit from a sustainable effect: if you collect all approaches in an idea database, you use valuable resources - and can revive them at any time.
