Brainstorming Tools: The Ultimate Guide to Brainstorming Tools
Every business needs new ideas to help grow to the next level and beat the competition. But generating new ideas isn't exactly the easiest of tasks, especially if you have no idea how to go about it. This is where brainstorming tools come into the picture. But before you can consider brainstorming tools, you need to have a clear understanding of what brainstorming entails.
What is brainstorming?
Brainstorming is the process of collecting basic ideas that can be fleshed out to become full-fledged plans of action to produce favorable outcomes. It revolves around the minds behind the concepts of ideation and design, which provides a gateway to the generation of new ideas to solve current problems.
This implies that brainstorming happens when a particular challenge or problem needs a solution. For instance, if your sales suddenly drop and the downward trend continues, you will have to find ways of plugging the problem. In such a case, you will have to brainstorm for answers because no one has any definite answer at hand.
Since brainstorming requires a collective effort, it's important to prepare your teams for the brainstorming session. One way to get ready for the session is by gathering the essential brainstorming tools. The tools help gather as many ideas as possible because brainstorming focuses on quantity, rather than quality.
Different tools for brainstorming
You need the right brainstorming tools to make the brainstorming session a success. Here are some brainstorming tools to get you started:
1. Brainstorming software
You will find lots of software out there to enable virtual brainstorming sessions. You may not know which software will be the best for your specific needs, but some considerations can help you out:
- Cost: Find software you can afford, and that gives value for your money
- Ease of use: You need something that all members of your team will have an easy time using.
- Features: Some have more features than others, but you will need to find out if you really need those extra features.
If you are looking for the best brainstorming software, you may consider MindManager which has all the important features and gives great value for your money.
2. Mind mapping
Brainstorming session requires a way to classify and organize information visually. Visually classifying and organizing information helps team members to process and analyze the information faster, so solutions can be formed to counter an emergent problem.
In mind mapping brainstorming, the main idea forming the core solution to the problem is placed in the middle, and associated idea arranged around it. You select those associated ideas that support the main idea, adding value and improving the status of the process of decision making.
3. Brainstorming board
A fruitful brainstorming session is likely to generate many ideas, and sifting through them can be quite a challenge. A brainstorming board can help you overcome such a challenge because it categorizes every idea raised as positive, neutral or negative. You can use a large widescreen display panel for this purpose, so you can capture everyone's input.
You can also include this board on the list of virtual brainstorming tools, especially if the session takes place in remote locations. One advantage of electronic brainstorming boards is that you can customize the colors and shapes for a better visual representation.
Conclusion
Brainstorming is a great way to generate new ideas that can be used to develop plans of action to solve emergent problems or issues. With the right brainstorming tools and software, you should be able to hold successful brainstorming sessions that yield great results.