Productive Discussions: Brainstorming and Prioritization
Techniques
April 4, 2017
2017 Employee Engagement & Development Department of Human Resources
Productive Discussions:
Brainstorming & Prioritization
Techniques
Agenda
• Welcome & warm-up activity
• Purpose of the discussion
• Facilitator’s role
• Setting the scene/environment
• Examples of techniques for generating
ideas/discussion
• Examples of techniques for prioritization of ideas
• Wrap-up
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Warm-up Activity
Small group discussion
• From your perspective, what are the factors that
lead to having unproductive discussions?
• Identify up to 5 factors. Record on the post-it
notes provided (1 item per post-it note)
Productive Group Discussions – Key
Ingredients for Success
Facilitator Environment Participants
Methods
/ProcessQuestions
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Facilitator’s Role
• The facilitator is responsible for the process of the meeting
(how participants work together)
• The facilitator:
– Sets the tone for the discussion
– Provides structure for group discussions
– Remains neutral on issues
– Keeps the group focused
– Keeps track of time
– Draws out participation & ensures balanced participation
– Helps the group resolve conflict/reach consensus in a productive
way
– Capitalizes on differences
– Records/ensures recording of ideas
Techniques
• Verbal – Encouraging divergent
views
– Shifting perspectives
– Summarizing
– Asking questions
– Probing
– Paraphrasing
– Redirecting
questions/comments
– Referencing back
– Giving positive
reinforcement
• Non-verbal– Active listening
– Voice
– Eye contact
– Facial expressions
– Silence
– Position and movement in
the room
– Enthusiasm
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Establish a Clear Purpose
• Identify the purpose of the discussion
– What are you trying to achieve?
• Based on the purpose determine methodology
• Based on group size and methodology,
determine room set-up, location, required
materials and preparatory reading for
participants (if applicable)
Set the Tone for the Discussion
• Clarify the purpose and expected outcomes
• Provide an overview of the agenda
• Suggest guidelines for the meeting and obtain
agreement
• Introduce the “parking lot” (if applicable)
Examples of Guidelines
• Confidentiality
• Open discussions
• Respect diversity of opinions
• Focus – stay focused on the task at hand
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EXAMPLES OF TECHNIQUES FOR
GENERATING IDEAS/DISCUSSION
Brainstorming
• Tool used in a group setting to generate a large
number of ideas about a specific problem/topic
• Benefits:
– Encourages creative thinking
– Generates enthusiasm
– Encourages participation by all group members
– Creates a sense of ownership in the outcome
– Avoids “paralysis by analysis”
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Brainstorming Guidelines
• Active participation by all members
• No criticism/discussion of ideas as they are
brought forward
• Build on the ideas of others
• Write and display ideas
• Set a time limit
Process for Brainstorming
• Review the guidelines
• Set the time limit
• State the question/topic of the brainstorming
• Explain process
• Give people a few minutes to think quietly and
record their ideas
• Collect ideas
– Freewheeling brainstorming (unstructured)
– Structured brainstorming (large or small group)
• Write down ideas so everyone can see
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After Brainstorming
• Clarify ideas
• Combine ideas that are similar
• Prioritize ideas
Dot Voting
Picture source - http://www.creativehuddle.co.uk/project/dot-voting
Use this
technique to
identify/outline
group
preferences to
assist in further
discussion
Large Group
Activity
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Process
• Give each person a set number of dot stickers to
represent their votes
• Each person sticks their dots next to their
personal choice(s). Each person is allowed to
use their dots as they want to:
– All dots on their favourite choice
– Add1 dot to several of their favourite choices
– Add 2 or more dots for their top choice.
• Tally up the dots to determine areas of priority
Large Group Activity
• Review the factors that were brought forward
during the warm-up activity
• Place a dot next to the reasons that from your
perspective are the most important factors that
lead to unproductive discussions
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Other Examples of Structured
Brainstorming Techniques
• Carrousel Brainstorming/Knowledge Café
• T-chart brainstorming
• Stop, Start, Continue
• Affinity Grouping
Carousel BrainstormingExample: Best practices to
enhance the student experience
What are
examples of best
practices that
support career
exploration and
job search?
What are
examples of best
practices that
support the
mental well-being
of students?
What are
examples of
best practices
that promote
collaborative
learning?
What are examples
of best practices
that support
research skill
development?
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Knowledge Café (World Café)
• Similar to Carousel Brainstorming
• Steps:
– Participants are divided into groups of 4 or 5
– Each table is given a topic/question for discussion
– Each table is asked to select a recorder
– Once the time is up, all members but the recorder
move to another table. The recorder stays behind to
summarize the ideas generated by the group. A new
recorder is selected. New ideas are added.
– Process is followed until everyone has rotated
through the tables. Last recorder summarizes the
work of all participants.
T-chart
• Helps people look at the issue being discussed
from 2 dimensions
• Presents the information in a visually clear way
• Can be used to compare and contrast, discuss
pros and cons of a proposal, etc.
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Small Group Activity
• Select someone in your group to facilitate the small
group discussion and record the brainstorming.
• Fictitious Situation: The University of Windsor is
exploring moving all of the career development sessions
(resume writing, preparing for interview, etc) from face to
face sessions to webinars. Your group has been asked
to identify the pros and cons associated with delivering
these sessions to students only in webinar format.
• Use the T-chart technique to capture the discussion.
Stop, Start, Continue or
Stop, Start, Continue and Change
Good technique for:
• Change implementation
• Evaluation of
programs/projects
• Assessment of a current
situation
• Implementation of
strategic/operational
plans/goals
Picture source: https://myagilequality.wordpress.com/2014/01/31/retrospective-techniques/
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Small Group Activity
T-Chart
Pros Cons
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Example – Program Evaluation
STOP
What do we need to stop doing? What is not
working/effective?
START
What do we need to start doing to enhance the program?
CONTINUE
What are the things that we need to continue doing that are
aligned and consistent with the goals of this initiative?
CHANGE
What is working to some extent and would benefit from
minor changes?
Self-Reflection Activity
Reflect on a program/activity that you are working on or recently
completed. From your perspective….
• STOP - What do you need to stop doing as it is not working or
adding value to the activity? (what it is not working)
• START - What can you start doing to make the program/activity
more successful? (what we could do to enhance it)
• CONTINUE - What actions do you need to continue in the future as
they have contributed to the success of the program/activity? (what
do we need to continue doing)
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Self-Reflection Activity Stop, Start, Continue (SSC)
STOP
START
CONTINUE
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Affinity Diagram/Grouping
Picture source: https://www.spcforexcel.com/knowledge/process-improvement/affinity-diagrams
Affinity Diagram
• Group brainstorming exercise used to organize
ideas into common themes (items that have
affinity – a natural relationship or likeness)
• Helps to synthesize large amounts of data by
finding relationships between ideas in order to
focus on analysis and decision making
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Example of Steps
• Give each person 5 to 10 pieces of paper or post-it notes
• Describe the problem and pose the question/issue to the
group
• Generate ideas by brainstorming - ask each person to
write 1 idea/thought per piece of paper
• Each person shares ideas and they are posted on the
wall
• Group reviews ideas and starts grouping ideas that have
affinity
• Group agrees on headings of groupings (keep number of
headers small) Variation – after ideas are identified, ask the
group for emerging themes/groupings. Group
ideas based on emerging themes.
Examples of Other Techniques for the
Prioritization of Ideas
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Show of hands
• This technique is effective when working with
small groups and with a small list of items to
prioritize
• Process
– Go through each item on the list
– Ask each person by a show of hands to vote on the
items that are important
– Keep track of how many people voted for each item
– Use this to prioritize and/or eliminate ideas
Prioritization Grid
• Can be used to
prioritize ideas based
on feasibility and impact
• You can change the
criteria based on what
you are trying to
achieve
Picture source - https://www.nedcc.org/free-resources/preservation-leaflets/1.-planning-and-prioritizing/1.4-considerations-for-
prioritizing
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Next Steps
Resources Consulted
Books
• Rees, Fran. The Facilitator Excellence Handbook, 2005.
• Schwartz, Roger. The Skilled Facilitator, 2017.
Articles and Guides (retrieved from the internet)
• Balance Scorecard Institute. Basic Tools for Process Improvement
https://www.balancedscorecard.org
• MindTools. Brainstorming Toolkit http://www.integratingengineering.org
• University of Wisconsin-Madison. Facilitator’s Toolkit. http://oqi.wisc.edu
• Office of Quality Management. Facilitator’s Toolkit. https://www.uspto.gov
• Heartland Area Education Agency. Strategies and Tools for Group
Processing. http://learningteams.pbworks.com
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