Paper Example: Benefits of Brainstorming

Brainstorming is a technique used by groups to find solutions to a specific problem, whereby new ideas are gathered from all the team members in a free-flowing manner (Furnham, 2000). In many cases, brainstorming sessions are made of a facilitator who chairs the meeting of a handful of core embers. During brainstorming sessions, the tone should be informal and relaxed to create a conducive environment for problem-solving (Carpenter et al., 2011). Such sessions help the members to come up with ideas which at first might seem a bit crazy, but which are very creative for problem-solving. Some of the benefits of brainstorming include the following.

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First, brainstorming builds teams. Teams are essential units n any setting. When the teams are stronger, they become more effective as there is collaboration, making it easier for them to achieve their common goals (Keshwani et al., 2017). Brainstorming is a collaborative experience, which means that no one person takes pride or ownership of the discussion results, implying that it is absolute teamwork.

Secondly, brainstorming helps in collecting different viewpoints (Rao and Weintraub, 2013). When the task of generating ideas is given to a single person, then there is a high likeliness that, at some point, such ideas will become repetitive or stale. However, during a brainstorming session, the ideas can be collected from different other people (Rao and Weintraub, 2013). Since it is a random process with a divergent thinking process, the ideas may appear not to be viable or brilliant. Still, they might evolve into something very fresh and effective as the process continues. Since the associates have different interests, backgrounds, and motivations, they generate diverse ideas that could not be generated by any person.

Thirdly, brainstorming encourages critical thinking. Brainstorming has one key benefit: it requires that individuals think critically to be able to come up with innovative ideas and solve a certain problem (Keshwani et al., 2017). An increase in brainstorming makes one think even more critically and get better at encountering a problem. This means that an idea is taken and looked at in a very clear and logical way that is free from personal bias. When thinking critically, one has to break the problem or question into smaller parts (Wang et al., 2010). For example, in a situation where an organization need is considering a campaign method for a new product, various campaign pieces of the campaign might be considered, such as messaging, advertising mediums, and product packaging.

Fourthly, brainstorming is important as it allows teams to reach conclusions by consensus (Zhu et al., 2017). The existence of agreement among the team members leads to a better informed and well-rounded path forward. This is important, especially in ensuring that the group members move together as a team without leaving behind. The solution to the problem gets articulated by including all the opinions and moving with them to ensure that an innovative and most ideal measure it arrived at.

In conclusion, brainstorming is a technique used by groups in finding solutions to a specific problem, whereby new ideas are gathered from all the team members in a free-flowing manner. Through brainstorming, teams get to build and also helps in collecting different viewpoints. Brainstorming also encourages critical thinking and allows teams to reach conclusions by consensus.

List of references

Carpenter, T.D., Reimers, J.L. and Fretwell, P.Z., 2011. Internal auditors' fraud judgments: The benefits of brainstorming in groups. Auditing: A Journal of Practice & Theory, 30(3), pp.211-224. Retrieved from https://meridian.allenpress.com/ajpt/article-abstract/30/3/211/128180 (Accessed 28 June 2020)

Furnham, A., 2000. The brainstorming myth. Business strategy review, 11(4), pp.21-28. Retrieved from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1467-8616.00154 (Accessed 28 June 2020)

Keshwani, S., Lenau, T.A., Ahmed-Kristensen, S. and Chakrabarti, A., 2017. Comparing novelty of designs from biological-inspiration with those from brainstorming. Journal of Engineering Design, 28(10-12), pp.654-680. Retrieved from https://researchonline.rca.ac.uk/3743/1/2016JEDKESHWANIpost_print_version_Comparing_novelty_of_designs_from_biological_inspiration_with_those_from_brainstorming.pdf (Accessed 28 June 2020)

Rao, J. and Weintraub, J.R., 2013. How innovative is your company's culture? (Vol. 54, No. 3). MIT. Retrieved from http://aproaingenieria.com/intranet/uploads/mit_-_how-innovative-is-your-companys-culture_copy.pdf (Accessed 28 June 2020)

Wang, H.C., Cosley, D. and Fussell, S.R., 2010, February. Idea expander: supporting group brainstorming with conversationally triggered visual thinking stimuli. In Proceedings of the 2010 ACM conference on Computer supported cooperative work (pp. 103-106). Retrieved from https://dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/1718918.1718938 (Accessed 28 June 2020)

Zhu, Z., Shen, Y., Zhao, F., Chen, Y., Dong, B., Wei, Z.L. and Wang, H., SAP SE, 2017. Brainstorming in a cloud environment. U.S. Patent 9,652,743. Retrieved from https://patentimages.storage.googleapis.com/3f/ae/af/7ff5be3ef23d82/US9652743.pdf (Accessed 28 June 2020)