Developing fresh and attention-grabbing ideas isn’t always easy for companies or their employees. However, many companies are required to come up with a constant stream of creative and new ideas, which can often lead to roadblocks as the creativity well runs dry. That’s why brainstorming sessions can be incredibly helpful for companies. Most of the time, sitting around a conference table and asking employees to come up with different ideas doesn’t really work in terms of creativity. However, the most effective and productive brainstorming sessions require specific strategies.

Word Games

One powerful way that companies can help their employees stop thinking traditionally and reproduce overused ideas is through word games. To inspire people to be more creative, adding a few games, more specifically word games to brainstorming sessions can be incredibly effective.

A powerful brainstorming tool that can help employees visualize related ideas and terms is mind mapping. Mind mapping starts by creating a diagram that has a central idea, which is then branched out to other bigger sub-topics that are further analyzed in other branches.

Another great exercise to get creative juices flowing is by creating a word storm. To do that, the company should be writing down a single word, and then have everyone brainstorm any words that will come to their minds that are inspired by that first word.

To do that, employees should try thinking about the aesthetic of the word, the way it’s used, the way it functions, as well as any metaphors it’s associated with. Once the company has a list of words, they should be grouped together according to the way that they relate to one another.

The goal of these types of exercises is to come up with some words that aren’t obvious that the target audience might be associating with whatever the company is currently working on.

Doodling

Although most brainstorming sessions are focused on reading and talking, with the help of doodling, employees can break out of a traditional mindset and figure out different ways to think about things which can lead to unexpected connections. 

Some of the things that employees can doodle include thinking about two unrelated things and then drawing them in their smallest elements, such as a Christmas tree and a chair. The doodle should be aimed at creating a drawing that randomly links elements of those two words together.

For example, with the instance of the Christmas tree and the chair, it can be a humanized version of a Christmas tree sitting on a chair or a chair decorated like a Christmas tree. This strategy is very helpful in helping employees develop unique and fresh angles or ideas, and it’s a common strategy that journalists have used.

The author, Matt Caiola, is Co-CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR agency.