Ideation: Brainstorming & Developing Your Business Idea

What is ideation? What is brainstorming? How do you develop your business idea?

What is Ideation?

Ideation simply means coming up with ideas. This involves forming, developing, testing, and validating the idea.

When developing your business idea, it is first important to connect with yourself by realizing what you enjoy doing, your passion, and your interest. Then you will have to connect with your community. This means that you need to spot a challenge or challenges in your community and come up with solutions to solve them. This means that you need to embark on the brainstorming process.

Brainstorming

Brainstorming is when an individual or a group transfer ideas from the head onto a paper. It also helps you to develop nice ideas. When you have identified a problem, brainstorming will help you find solutions to the problems.

Brainstorming Techniques

Brainstorming can be done individually or by a team. Before you start brainstorming either as a team or as an individual, set the stage. You can set the stage by looking for a quiet place, and put everything you need in place; tools, resources, refreshment, and so on.

Then, move one to define the problems you want to solve. The aim is to get as many ideas as possible. After that, there is the need to develop each idea by discussing it.

Brainstorming Techniques for Individuals

When you are brainstorming as an individual, you should set enough time and ensure you push yourself to achieve it. Let your thoughts flow by writing anything and everything that drops in your mind. No idea is useless, so do not make the mistake of skipping ideas.

You can also use the random word technique by thinking of random words and writing everything that relates to the words. Proceed to ask possible questions about the challenges you discovered. Finally, think about how you can proffer solutions to those challenges.

Brainstorming Techniques for Team

There are several brainstorming techniques a team can use but only five of them will be discussed.

1. Brain Writing: It involves encouraging team members to write their ideas instead of voicing them. This will enable them to generate and develop ideas. The process involves setting a time and asking everyone to write ideas that come into their minds. Once the time elapses, they pass their paper to the member on their right or left and the next person writes his view on that idea. This will continue till everyone has added something to each idea.
2. Rapid Ideation: This involves setting a time and ask team members to write as many ideas that come to their mind before the time elapses. After the time elapses, the ideas would be subjected to critique and evaluation
3. Round-Robin Brainstorming: Team members sit in a round setting and each team member contributes to a selected topic. The aim is to get as many ideas from each team member. The leader notes ideas which will be evaluated after the round is completed.
4. Figure Storming: Ask questions like; what will this figure do? This involves selecting an ideal figure and ask team members to come up with ideas that they feel that figure will use in approaching a matter. That figure can be from within the organization or an important figure in their industry.
5. Step-Ladder Technique: The team leader shares a topic with the team and then asks everyone to step out leaving two members behind. These two members will share their ideas on that topic, then the leader invites one team member inside; ask him to share his idea before permitting the other two to share and discuss theirs. This process continues till every team member comes in.

Other techniques include starbursting, brain netting, and mind mapping. All these help you in developing your ideas.

Enroll in the Ideation Course on Bizskills Academy to get deep insights.