- Creativity techniques: Brainstorming
- Reverse Brainstorming
- Combined brainstorming
- Question brainstorming
- Stop-and-go Brainstorming
- Gordon-Little variation
- Rawlinson brainstorming
- Kaleidoscope Brainstorming Technique
- Wildest Idea Technique
- Individual brainstorming
- Brainwriting
- Individual brainwriting
- Group brainwriting technique
- Brainwriting pool (BP)
- 6-3-5 Brainwriting
- The Gallery method
- Brainwriting game
- Constrained brainwriting
- Round-Robin and Roundtable brainstorming
- Group passing technique
- Nominal group technique
- The Buzz session
- Rolestorming technique
- Rotating roles
- Blue slips technique
- The Pin card technique
- The K-J method
- Snowballing technique
- Team Idea mapping
- The classic cluster brainstorming method
- Card story boards
- Trigger method
- Imaginary brainstorming
- Air cliché
- Battelle-Buildmappen-Brainwriting
- Visual brainstorming
- Rightbraining
- Braindrawing
- Electronic or online brainstorming
- Brainstorming Deluxe
- Brainsketching as an idea-generation technique
- The Military brainstorming version
Brainwriting pool technique with constraints
This method is a version of the standard Brainwriting pool technique. Participants constrain ideas around pre-determined focus, rather than ranging freely. The process of idea generation is biased toward using brain-writing sheets prepared in advance.
Procedure Steps
1. Present starter ideas: The leader initiates the process by placing several prepared sheets of paper in the pool in the centre of the table.
2. Private brainwriting: Each group member takes a sheet and silently adds his or her ideas.
3. Change sheet: When a member runs out of ideas or wants to have the stimulation of another’s ideas, s/he puts one list back in the centre of the table and takes one returned by another member. After reviewing this new list she/he has just selected, s/he adds more ideas.
4. Repeat until ideas are exhausted. No discussion at any stage.
Varying the level of constraint
1. Cued brainwriting
For mild constraint, the sheets are simply primed with one or more starting ideas (e.g. SWOT’s, issues) in the required area.
2. Structured brain-writing
For a stronger constraint, the sheets can be formally headed, each sheet relating to a particular issue or theme, with participants being asked to keep the ideas they contribute on each sheet relevant to the issue in the heading on that sheet.
