Monday, June 29, 2009

Brainstorming Business Ideas

Brainstorming is about expanding your thinking and generating new ideas. Bringing people together to brainstorm with you around your business and personal life can be very powerful and rewarding. Brainstorming has been proven effective with in businesses, relationships and personal goals. Brainstorming helps people over come the desire that they are alone in solving the challenges of their lives. It also promotes ideas that no one may have thought of without the proccess of the team.

Everyone tosses out ideas on a given subject. Having a scribe to put down all the ideas either on paper or on a white board is helpful so the team can be throwing out ideas and one person takes down all the thoughts. Again not in any particular order. This process may look like a lot of ideas going in all directions. This is normal and later in the process you will prioritize the ideas that you feel you can work with.

An important piece to this process is to speak out all ideas whether you think they will work or not. Whether they fall into your personal or business values or not. You can cross those off the list later. If you stop and evalute during the brainstorming process you will cut off the flow of creativity and the process will be less effective. These are just ideas and later in the process you can eliminate what you are not willing to take on.

Here are some steps to get you brainstorming.

1. Gather the troops - be it friends, mastermind teams, similar business owners or other direct selling team leaders.
2. Establish a topic to work with.
3. Set a time limit.
4. Communicate ground rules on what can be discussed and what is off limits.
5. List all ideas or suggestions that are made and encourage creativity.
6. Do not evaluate ideas. Allow what ever is said to come out and be listed.
7. As a group consolidate all like ideas and/or categories.
8. Prioritize all the ideas based on what you would commit to.
9. Put a plan of action into place to do.
10. Thank your brainstorming team for supporting you and make a plan to do this on a regular basis such as quarterly, semi-annually or annually.

Have fun brainstorming and allow others to support you in your growth as a business person and in personal development.

Visit Be A Legacy http://www.bealegacy.com for more information on coaching and consulting.

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