Cheryl Rice

Organized Brainstormingfrom Concept to Consensus

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Agenda

1. Introductions

2. Purpose

3. Process:• Generate• Reduce• Agree• Build

4. Meeting Management

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Introductions

• About me

• About you– How do you currently address a problem?

• What works?• What doesn’t work?

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Purpose

• By end of lesson you feel confident that you could lead a group through a decision making process, resulting in agreed consensus on solution(s) to implement

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Approach

• Understand the process

• Appreciation of meeting dynamics

Cheryl Rice

The ProcessStep 1: Generate Ideas

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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HOW: Brainstorming

WHAT

• A process to generate a list of raw ideas in response to a specific question

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming

HOW

• Confirm the question

• Agree on the rules

• Assign a scribe

• Define when to stop– When all ideas are exhausted– At the end of a time limit

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: the rules1. All people and ideas are equal2. Around the table:

• one person at a time• one idea at a time

3. Withhold judgment, comments & questions4. Wild and exaggerated ideas are good5. Build on other’s ideas 6. The more ideas, the better7. Pass when you are out of ideas

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: Clean-up

1. Give time for everyone to review the list

2. NOW they can ask for clarification

3. NOW they can suggest duplicates be removed

4. BUT they still don’t critique the ideas!

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: example

THE QUESTION:

• What topics/problem would you like to use as a working example of this process?

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: Alternative

Popcorn:

• Everyone throws out their ideas as they occur

Use when:

• You have a dynamic team that works well together and will participate equally

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: Alternative

Subgroups:

• Break into small groups of 3-5, set a time limit then return and record ideas

Use when:

• You have a very large group

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Brainstorming: Alternative

Sticky Note:

• Each participant writes down their ideas (legibly!), one per note, and sticks on wall

Use when:

• You expect a ton of ideas that you can classify into themes

Cheryl Rice

Step 2: Reduce the ideas

The Process

Agree BuildGenerate Reduce

HOW: Multi-Voting

WHAT

• A process to reduce a long list of ideas

• This NOT consensus, but it is democratic

• Also known as ‘Dotmocracy’

Agree BuildGenerate Reduce

Multi-Voting

HOW• Count the number of ideas on your list• Divide by 2 and add 1• Each member gets that number of votes• Each member applies their votes (with check

marks or sticky dots)• Repeat this process until you list is down to 10

or less (a minimum of 3) ideas

Agree BuildGenerate Reduce

Multi-Voting: example

• Let’s reduce our brainstorm list

• Do we have a volunteer leader?

Agree BuildGenerate Reduce

Multi-Voting: Alternative

Prioritization Matrix:• Ideas are listed and each member ranks the ideas:

1=best, 2=2nd best, …n=least favorite.• Rankings are collated, added and the top 3-5 LOWEST

totals are used in the next step

Use when:• You have time between generate and agree phases• You have used a computer or smartboard so circulation

of the brainstorm list is fast and easy

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Multi-Voting: AlternativeTeam>>> A B C D E F G H Total Final 

Idea 1 1 3 2 4 1 3 1 4 19 3

Idea 2 2 2 3 2 2 2 3 2 18 2

Idea 3 3 1 1 3 3 1 2 3 17 1

Idea 4 4 7 6 1 4 4 6 1 33 4

Idea 5 5 6 7 5 5 6 7 5 46 5

Idea 6 6 5 5 8 6 5 5 6 46 6

Idea 7 7 9 4 7 7 9 4 7 54 7

Idea 8 8 10 9 10 8 10 9 10 74 10

Idea 9 9 8 10 9 9 8 10 9 72 9

Idea 10 10 4 8 6 10 7 8 8 61 8

Audit> 55 55 55 55 55 55 55 55    

Cheryl Rice

The Process

Agree on the chosen solution

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus

WHAT:

• A group decision that everyone can support

NOTE:

• Support must be unconditional, though not necessarily enthusiastic (I can live with that!)

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

HOW: Consensus Matrix

WHAT:• A process to lead the group to consensus

on a specific solutionWHY:• Effective (members use measures to

reach agreement)• Time sensitive (agreement is quick)• Easy (one form, 4 steps)

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix Form

Team>

• Everyone’s evaluation is valid• Math is used to consolidate• Highest Result = Consensus

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix

HOW (4 steps):1. Each person puts a value from 5(high) to

1(low) on each ideas for their effectiveness and then for feasibility

2. Total values by criteria3. Multiply total effectiveness by total

feasibility4. Highest product is your chosen solution

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Sample

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Consensus Matrix

• Broken down step by step

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Step 1

Each person rates each idea for effectiveness on a scale from 5 to 1.5= Very effective1= Minor effect

Effectiveness: What difference will this idea have on solving the problem?

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Step 2Feasibility: How easy would it be to implement this solution, considering time, cost, management or community support?

Each person rates each idea for feasibility on a scale from 5 to 1.5= Very effective1= Minor effect

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Step 3

Total Effectiveness by idea

Total Feasibilityby idea

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Step 4Multiply Total

Effectiveness by Total Feasibility

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: CompleteThe highest result is your agreed solution!

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: example

• Lets evaluate our solutions

• Do we have a volunteer leader?

BuildGenerate Reduce Agree

Consensus Matrix: Alternative

• Select your own criteria• Examples

– Addresses the Problem– Improves the Situation– Will it work? – Does it fit? – Consequences– Resource Availability

• Consider more than two criteria

Cheryl Rice

The Process

Build an Action Plan

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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Action Planning

WHAT• Identifies next steps• Assigns timelines and ownership• This can be your project plan or,• You plan for project approval

HOW• Ask what do we need to do• Use sample template

2006 Organized Brainstorming Cheryl Rice: cheryl_rice@shaw.ca

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The Process: Review

Build

Reduce

Generate

• What• Why• How

WhatWhyHow

WhatWhyHow

What, Why, How

Agree