These days, more and more organizations are incorporating brainstorming and ideation processes into their practices.

Developed in the 1960s by advertising executive Alex Osborn, brainstorming is the most widely used — and overused — organizational tool around. That said, it’s no easy feat to facilitate a brainstorming session and tackle the corresponding cognitive and social challenges. In addition to a flurry of multicoloured sticky notes, a successful brainstorming session requires proper preparation, facilitation and debriefing.

This four half-days course is based on a body of creativity studies in psychology and neuroscience. It aims to offer a fresh perspective on brainstorming and suggest ways to effectively harness its power, whether in person or online. Using practical exercises based on real-life situations, the course will cover various aspects of brainstorming preparation and facilitation.

Presentation

GOALS

Acquire techniques and best practices for generating creative ideas.
Learn about the cognitive and social dimensions of the creative process.
Find out what it’s like to plan and run an ideation workshop.
Put your newfound knowledge to the test with case studies and simulations (examples, guided exercises and group assignments).
Gain the tools to succeed at online brainstorming.

IS THIS FOR YOU?

Managers, executives, leaders and consultants at startups and businesses of all sizes.

SPECIAL FEATURES

Learn about best practices in this field and apply the tools you’ll need to prepare and facilitate brainstorming sessions, whether in person or online, and debrief afterwards.

Program

Understanding the science behind creativity to better prepare for your brainstorming session

Creativity from a scientific perspective
Obstacles to creativity: Fixation and how to overcome it
Creative thinking: How to develop new ideas
How to prepare for a brainstorming session

- Differences between an in-person and online session

Organizing a brainstorming activity: Facilitating and debriefing

Best practices in facilitation
The role of the facilitator and their impact on the session outcome

- Facilitating a virtual brainstorming session
After the brainstorming session

- Recap

- Adjustments (iteration)

TRAINING APPROACH

Role-playing
Group and class discussions

Instructors

Agogué Marine

MSc (Engineering), MSc (Management Sciences), PhD (Management Sciences)

Associate Professor, HEC Montréal

Online

The Art of Brainstorming: Generating Better Ideas