Braindumping

Similar to brainstorming but with some specialities is this quick and easy method popular to gather ideas individually in a group.
Number of ParticipantsFacilitatorsCategoryDurationLevel of Difficulty
All Group MembersNoneIdeation Phase20-25minSimple

Description

Braindumping basically is an individual brainstorming technique in which one writes down all the ideas he/she can think of individually upon a particular topic. Ideas are literally dumped onto a piece of paper, computer, or smart device that can be referenced later and acted upon. It is an ideation method. The conditions to proceed Braindumping are pretty simple: a private and quiet space; an adequate time; and something to take note of (e.g. sticky note, sheet of papers, tablet, etc. . . ).


Why using Braindumping?
Intuitive reason: Our brain is more about processing the information than storing it. Through Braindumping, all ideas can be dumped onto a permanent device (paper, tablet) so that they won’t be lost or forgotten. Compensate for the disadvantages of Brainstorming in which some members in the group might be more dominating or enforcing over others. This will lead to mental blockages and prevents freethinking of others. With Braindumping, shy / introverted persons can freely write down their ideas and get a voice.


Should Your Team Brainstorm as a Group or as Individuals?
According to Alex Osborn – father of brainstorming technique, \Creativity comes from a blend of individual and collective ideation”. In Brainstorming, if group-brainstorming conditions are not properly met, they can fail more easily. Even when it is done right, people could some- times still produce ideas faster when they work alone. However, in case of Braindumping, one might generate faster ideas, but it’s lack of the benefit of group synergy, which means the ideas can be single-minded, unthoughtful, uncompleted and diversfied. Therefore, it would be a big mistake to overestimate one over the other in order to facilitate creativity in ideation. It is often a good idea to do individual ideation sessions like braindumping, before and after brainstorming group sessions.

Materials

  • Paper Sheet
  • Sticky Notes
  • Cardboard
  • Tablet or electronic devide + App for Notes
  • Marker, Pencil
  • Qiet Environment

Preparation

No preparation needed.

Step-by-Step Instructions

  1. Briefly inform participants about the problem or statement, goals and key insights or topics to be talked about.
  2. Ask them to write down their ideas as they come. Make sure each participant does this individually – and silently. The reason for this is to prevent the participants from being influenced by each other’s ideas at that moment.
  3. Provide participants with sheets of paper, idea cards, or traditional Post-it notes. Sticky notes are great because they allow people to write their ideas down individually { one idea per note. If the event is held online, you can provide an online platform where participants can write their opinions online.
  4. Give participants between 3 and 10 minutes to get the ideas.
  5. After reaching the time limit, each participant will say a few words about their ideas and/or stick them on a board or wall, or gather the ideas on an online platform.
  6. Avoid initial discussions about notes when team members are presenting them. Ideas that come out of early braindump sessions should be shared verbally with the entire team in order to spark new streams of thinking or combinations of ideas.
  7. When all team members have presented their ideas, you can select the best ideas, which you can continue to build and elaborate on in other ideation sessions.

Remarks, Tips, Limitations

  • Write down all thoughts that you have directly because your ideas away.
  • As everybody works alone first, nobody will dominate the opinion of shy members.
  • The exchange of ideas can be confusing because everybody in the group has many different ideas, it means the activity will consume more time.
  • When the number of participants is high, the time given for each person to express his or her opinion should be reduced.

Remarks about Workshop
We chose the following question as the theme: How to do group work effectively in the restriction of Social Distance?
We informed the participants about the statement. This was a simple statement and simple question. And we thought this has been relevant and affecting all of us. This is why we have chosen this topic.
The plan was to hold this event in a physical classroom, but due to the current situation, that was not possible, so we held this workshop online.
Participants were given 10 minutes, it was fairly enough to dump their ideas on a paper or on the platform the participants used. We explained and instructed participants in detail step by step how they can use Braindumping technique for the topic question.
After 10 minutes, we asked participants to share the ideas they have generated. At the beginning, the participants were shy, but as others expressed their opinions, shy people slowly began to express their opinions. Also, we tried to avoid discussions and everyone submitted their ideas without disruption.
First, we asked participants this question: “Can we effectively perform our group assignments or group work during the Corona times which has brought a term called social distancing?” This was really hard to talk and submit the ideas about. Especially in Germany at that moment, it was not allowed to be more than two people.

After we asked questions, we gave 10 minutes to participants. Here are the ideas:

  • Meeting in micro groups
  • Thinking about group members’ well being, stress management in the group and being in touch with the members
  • Using platforms that we can get in contact with the group members about the tasks and information etc.
  • Spending time with group members online, not only talking about the tasks or business, but being able to talk with them about non-business issues.
  • Due to the social distancing, all the work, transactions and meetings, information exchange etc. mostly started to be online. However, this situation led to the emergence of many applications. There are too many applications (eg. WhatsApp, Telegram, Moodle, Slack, etc.) and these applications confuse people.
  • Data security is also an potential issue to consider
  • Colleagues or group members may need support because of their changing mood. That’s why we need to talk to our colleagues not only about work, but also about different things.
  • VR technologies.

At the end of the stated ideas, we reached the following common conclusion:
Due to social distancing, people cannot socialize and spend much time face to face. That’s why our activities, work and education started to take place on online platforms. The fact that what we currently do is online, we are constantly in the same place, or we cannot spend time with our friends and loved ones due to social distance, and the changes in the world due to Covid-19 have negatively affected our psychology and mood. For this reason, keeping in touch with our loved ones and talking to them regularly on the online platform reduces our stress and improves our mood. Colleagues should talk and support each other not only on business but also on non-business matters. Employers should take into account the stress and anxiety of their employees, and plan accordingly and provide therapy sessions for their employees. There are also many concerns about online applications. Online applications (such as zoom, slack etc.) are becoming more common. As the use of these platforms is becoming widespread, people have concerns about these applications, such as the use of personal information, privacy and data management. These must be taken seriously. At the same time, our meetings, work etc. We use different apps for things like and these apps confuse us. Having a single application may make things easier.

References

Dam, R., & Siang, T. (2020). Learn How to Use the Best Ideation Methods: Brainstorming, Braindumping, Brainwriting, and Brainwalking. Retrieved June 17, 2020, from https://www.interaction-design.org/literature/article/learn-how-to-use-the-best-ideation-methods-brainstorming-braindumping-brainwriting-and-brainwalking
Donald W. Taylor, Paul C. Berry and Clifford H. Block, Does Group Participation When Using Brainstorming Facilitate or Inhibit Creative Thinking? In Administrative Science Quarterly Vol. 3, No. 1, Page 23-47, 1958, DOI: 10.2307/2390603
Osborn, Alex F. (1942), How To Think Up. McGraw-Hill book company Inc. Po Bronson and Ashley Merryman. Forget Brainstorming, 7/12/2010: http://www.newsweek.com/forget-brainstorming-74223

Contributed by Engin Teymur & Alexander Eickelmann.