Monirba {Allahabad university} Supported by – Manish kanojia (MBA III sem}

BY- ASHISH KUMAR MISHRA

TECHNIQUES OF CREATIVE THINKING

FOCUS GROUPS

BRAINSTORMING

ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS

SYNECTICS

A focus group is a form of qualitative research in which a group of people are asked about their attitude towards a product, service, concept, advertisement, idea, or packaging. Questions are asked in an interactive group setting where participants are free to talk with other group members

The first focus groups were created at the Bureau of

Applied Social Research by associate director, sociologist Robert K. Merton. The term itself was coined by psychologist and marketing expert Ernest Dichter

FOCUS GROUPS

Two-way focus group - one focus group watches another focus group and discusses the observed interactions and conclusion

Dual moderator focus group - one moderator ensures the session progresses smoothly, while another ensures that all the topics are covered

Dueling moderator focus group - two moderators deliberately take opposite sides on the issue under discussion

Types of focus groups

Respondent moderator focus group - one or more of the respondents are asked to act as the moderator temporarily

Client participant focus groups - one or more client representatives participate in the discussion, either covertly or overtly

Mini focus groups - groups are composed of four or five members rather than 6 to 12

Teleconference focus groups - telephone network is used

Online focus groups - computers connected via the internet are used

Invite around 6 to 8 people to participate for a session to last for about an hour. Then, prepare an agenda including a list of the top-level issues to be tackled (if appropriate).

Prepare an introduction script explaining the purpose of the day and how the day will be run. This can include issues of consent and fire regulations (if relevant). Be sure to always use a quiet room with few distractions and arrange people in a circle (possibly around a table).

How to plan and prepare for focus groups

To facilitate useful, free-flowing discussion during the focus group, follow some of these tips:-

Ask participants to think about an issue for a few minutes and write down their responses

Ask each participant to read, and elaborate on, one of their responses

Note the responses on a flipchart/whiteboardOnce everyone has given a response, participants

will be asked for a second or third response, until all of their answers have been noted

These responses can then be discussed

Useful tips to encourage discussion

Group discussion produces data and insights that would be less accessible without interaction found in a group setting—listening to others’ verbalized experiences stimulates memories, ideas, and experiences in participants.

Group members discover a common language to describe similar experiences. This enables the capture of a form of “native language” or “vernacular speech” to understand the situation

Benefits of focus groups

Focus groups also provide an opportunity for disclosure among similar others in a setting where participants are validated

 The researcher has less control over a group than a one-on-one interview, and thus time can be lost on issues irrelevant to the topic

The number of members of a focus group is not large enough to be a representative sample of a population; thus, the data obtained from the groups is not necessarily representative of the whole population, unlike the data of opinion polls.

Problems related to focus groups

Way of making of a group of people all think about something at same time, often in order to solve a problem or to create a good idea (oxford dictionary)

Brainstorming is a group creativity

technique designed to generate a large number of ideas for the solution of a problem. In 1953 the method was popularized by Alex Faickney Osborn in a book called Applied Imagination.

BRAINSTORMING

Focus on quantity: This rule is a means of enhancing divergent production, aiming to facilitate problem solving through the maxim, quantity breeds quality.

Withhold criticism: In brainstorming, criticism of ideas generated should be put 'on hold'. By suspending judgment, participants will feel free to generate unusual ideas.

Welcome unusual ideas: To get a good and long list of ideas, unusual ideas are welcomed. These new ways of thinking may provide better solutions.

Combine and improve ideas: Good ideas may be combined to form a single better good idea, It is believed to stimulate the building of ideas by a process of  association.

Ground Rules

Set the problemCreate a background memo Select participantsCreate a list of lead questions Session conduct

Method

Nominal group technique Group passing technique Team idea mapping method E- brainstorming Directed brainstorming Individual brainstorming

DIFFERENT TECHNIQUES OF BRAINSTORMING

Attribute analysis is the process of breaking down a problem, idea, or thing into attributes or component parts and then thinking about the attributes rather than the thing itself.

ATTRIBUTE ANALYSIS

Synectics is a problem solving method that stimulates thought processes of which the subject may be unaware. This method was developed by George M. Prince and William J. J. Gordon, originating in the Arthur D. Little Invention Design Unit in the 1950s.

Synectics is based on a simple concept for problem

solving and creative thinking - you need to generate ideas, and you need to evaluate ideas. Whilst this may be stating the obvious the methods used to perform these two tasks are extremely powerful.

SYNECTICS

Creative thinking techniques are very much useful to generating new ideas in every organization . The new way of thinking should always be encouraged and creativity should always be welcomed.

CONCLUSION

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