Meetings & notes21 categories
Structure a brainstorm that produces something
Before a session where the loudest person would otherwise set the direction.
Design a brainstorming session on the topic below. 1. Write the problem statement the group will work from, as a question narrow enough to answer and open enough to have several answers. 2. Start with silent individual generation before any discussion, and say how long. Explain this to the group in one line so it does not feel odd. 3. Give three prompts that force different angles: the constraint-free version, the version with a tenth of the budget, and the version if a competitor did it first. 4. Describe how ideas get shared so that seniority does not decide which are heard. 5. Define the convergence step: the criteria for selection, and how many ideas survive. 6. State what happens to the ideas that do not survive, so the session does not feel wasted. Topic, group size and time:
Making it yours
- Paste your own material where the prompt asks for it. Everything above that line is instruction, not content.
- Delete any rule that does not apply to you. A shorter prompt that fits beats a thorough one that does not.
- If the answer comes back vague, add a line saying what you do not want. Constraints work better than encouragement.
Before and during. Agendas, pre-reads, prep for a 1:1 or an exec slot, and plans for retros and workshops.
Related prompts
Design an agenda that earns the hourBefore sending a calendar invite that would otherwise just have a title.Write a pre-read people will actually readWhen the meeting only works if everyone arrives with the same context.Prepare for a one-to-oneFifteen minutes before a 1:1 you would otherwise improvise.Plan and facilitate a retrospectiveRunning a retro that should produce change rather than a list of grumbles.Prepare to present to executivesYou have ten minutes with senior people and a deck built for forty.Plan a half-day workshopFacilitating a longer session and needing a minute-by-minute plan.
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