What is brainstorming? A complete guide to brainstorming techniques and methods

Brainstorming is one of the most widely used techniques for generating ideas, solving problems, and encouraging collaboration. But bringing people together and asking them to "think creatively" rarely leads to the best results on its own.

Without a clear objective, thoughtful facilitation, and the right structure, brainstorming sessions can stall, become dominated by a few voices, or produce ideas that never move beyond the whiteboard.

Effective brainstorming is different. It creates an environment where everyone can contribute, diverse perspectives are encouraged, and ideas can be evaluated and developed into actionable solutions.

Whether you're planning a product launch, improving a business process, solving a customer problem, or generating your next big innovation, the right brainstorming approach can help your team produce better ideas faster.

What is brainstorming?

Brainstorming is a method for producing ideas and solving problems by tapping into creative thinking. Brainstorming usually takes place in an informal, relaxed environment, where participants are encouraged to share their thoughts freely, build upon the ideas of others, and explore a wide range of possibilities.

Unlike traditional meetings that focus on evaluating ideas immediately, brainstorming encourages participants to generate as many ideas as possible first. Evaluation, prioritization, and decision-making happen afterward.

The goal is to expand thinking before narrowing options.

While brainstorming often happens in groups, it can also be effective as an individual exercise. Many modern brainstorming methods intentionally combine independent thinking with collaborative discussion to encourage more original ideas while reducing common challenges like groupthink.

At its best, brainstorming helps teams:

• Generate creative solutions to complex problems
• Explore multiple perspectives
• Build on one another's ideas
• Encourage participation across different roles and backgrounds
• Create shared ownership of decisions

Modern brainstorming sessions are also increasingly visual. Digital whiteboards, sticky notes, templates, and AI-powered organization tools help teams capture more ideas while making it easier to identify themes and prioritize next steps.

Benefits of brainstorming

Brainstorming offers more than just a list of ideas. When facilitated effectively, it helps teams think differently, collaborate more effectively, and make stronger decisions.

Some of the biggest benefits include:

Generate more ideas

The early stages of brainstorming prioritize quantity over quality. Producing a wide range of possibilities increases the likelihood of discovering innovative solutions that may not emerge through immediate discussion or analysis.

Encourage diverse perspectives

Bringing together people with different experiences often leads to more creative thinking. Structured brainstorming techniques also create opportunities for quieter participants to contribute alongside more outspoken team members.

Improve collaboration

Brainstorming encourages teams to build on each other's ideas instead of working in isolation. This shared creative process often strengthens alignment and creates greater ownership of the final outcome.

Solve complex problems

Many business challenges don't have a single obvious solution. Brainstorming helps teams explore multiple approaches before selecting the one that best fits their goals and constraints.

Increase engagement

When people feel their ideas are genuinely considered, they're more likely to participate, contribute, and stay invested throughout a project.

When should you use brainstorming?

Brainstorming is most valuable when there isn't an obvious answer.

Rather than validating a predetermined solution, brainstorming helps teams explore possibilities before making decisions.

Common situations where brainstorming works well include:

• Developing new products or services
• Solving customer or operational problems
• Planning marketing campaigns
• Improving internal processes
• Generating strategic initiatives
• Identifying business opportunities
• Facilitating design thinking workshops
• Planning projects or team roadmaps

Brainstorming is less effective when the objective is already clearly defined and the remaining work involves execution rather than exploration. In those situations, project planning or decision-making frameworks may be more appropriate.

How to run a successful brainstorming session  

Running a great brainstorming session encourages your team to use techniques that inspire creative thinking. As a manager, you’ll likely be the one to facilitate these sessions and make sure they run smoothly and produce positive results.  

The most productive brainstorming sessions begin well before participants start generating ideas.

Preparation, facilitation, and follow-through all influence the quality of the ideas your team produces.

1. Define the problem clearly

Every brainstorming session should begin with a focused problem statement.

Instead of asking a broad question like "How can we improve our business?", narrow the discussion to a challenge participants can realistically solve.

For example:

• How might we reduce customer onboarding time?
• How can we improve cross-functional communication?
• What would make our product easier for first-time users?

Clearly framing the problem helps participants generate ideas that stay relevant throughout the session.

2. Choose the right participants

The best brainstorming groups combine different perspectives.

Depending on the challenge, invite participants from different teams, disciplines, or levels of experience. Diversity often produces more creative outcomes than gathering only subject matter experts.

For larger groups, consider dividing participants into smaller breakout teams before bringing everyone back together to compare ideas.

3. Select an appropriate brainstorming technique

Different challenges benefit from different brainstorming methods.

For example:

• Mind mapping works well for exploring related ideas.
• Brainwriting encourages independent thinking before discussion.
• Reverse brainstorming helps uncover hidden risks and opportunities.
• Round-robin brainstorming ensures everyone contributes.

Choosing a structured approach gives participants clear expectations while keeping discussions productive.

4. Establish ground rules

Simple rules create psychological safety and improve participation.

Common brainstorming ground rules include:

• Focus on generating ideas before evaluating them.
• Build on others' contributions.
• Encourage every participant to contribute.
• Avoid interrupting or criticizing ideas prematurely.
• Keep discussions focused on the problem statement.

These expectations help reduce bias while encouraging broader participation.

5. Capture every idea

Document ideas as they're shared.

Whether you're using sticky notes, a digital whiteboard, or another collaborative workspace, capturing every contribution ensures valuable ideas aren't lost and gives participants confidence that their input matters.

Digital collaboration tools also make it easier to organize, cluster, and revisit ideas after the session.

6. Organize and prioritize ideas

Once idea generation is complete, shift from exploration to evaluation.

Group similar ideas together, identify recurring themes, and use prioritization techniques such as dot voting, impact-versus-effort matrices, or affinity mapping to determine which ideas deserve further development.

The goal isn't simply to identify the "best" idea. It's to create shared alignment around which opportunities should move forward.

7. Turn ideas into action

A brainstorming session only creates value if ideas lead to action.

Before ending the session:

• Assign owners for next steps.
• Define success criteria.
• Document decisions.
• Establish timelines.
• Schedule follow-up reviews.

Clear ownership helps ensure promising ideas become measurable outcomes instead of remaining notes on a whiteboard.

Group brainstorming best practices

The most successful brainstorming sessions don't happen by chance. They rely on thoughtful facilitation, clear expectations, and techniques that encourage everyone to contribute. These best practices can help your team generate stronger ideas while avoiding common pitfalls.

Start with a well-framed problem

A brainstorming session is only as productive as the question it's trying to answer.

Before the session begins, define the challenge clearly enough that participants understand the objective without limiting creative thinking. One helpful approach is to frame the discussion as a "How might we...?" question, such as:

• How might we improve the customer onboarding experience?
• How might we reduce the time it takes to launch a new campaign?
• How might we encourage more participation during meetings?

This gives participants a shared focus while leaving room for multiple possible solutions.

Encourage independent thinking first

While brainstorming is often collaborative, giving participants a few minutes to think individually before discussing ideas can improve both the quantity and originality of contributions.

This approach, sometimes called brainwriting or silent brainstorming, reduces the influence of dominant personalities and helps quieter team members develop ideas before group discussion begins.

Create psychological safety

People are more willing to contribute creative ideas when they know they won't be judged or criticized.

As a facilitator, encourage curiosity over evaluation during the ideation phase. Welcome unconventional suggestions, avoid dismissing ideas too quickly, and remind participants that the goal is exploration before selection.

Ask better brainstorming questions

Well-designed prompts help participants move beyond obvious ideas.

For example:

• What assumptions are we making?
• What would our customers suggest?
• What's preventing us from solving this today?
• If resources weren't a constraint, what would we try?
• How could we simplify this experience?

These questions encourage teams to explore different perspectives and uncover opportunities that might otherwise be overlooked.

Balance quantity with quality

One of the core principles of brainstorming is to generate many ideas before evaluating them. Early in the session, encourage participants to focus on volume rather than perfection.

Once ideas have been collected, the team can identify recurring themes, combine similar concepts, and prioritize the most promising opportunities. 

How to avoid groupthink during brainstorming

One of the biggest challenges in group brainstorming is groupthink, where participants begin to favor agreement over critical thinking.

Groupthink often appears when team members hesitate to challenge popular opinions, defer to senior leaders, or avoid introducing different perspectives. While this can make meetings feel productive, it often limits creativity and leads to weaker decisions.

You can reduce the risk of groupthink by:

• Giving participants time to generate ideas independently before discussion.
• Collecting ideas anonymously when appropriate.
• Encouraging people to build on ideas rather than immediately evaluating them.
• Inviting different viewpoints and constructive disagreement.
• Asking follow-up questions before moving toward consensus.

Digital collaboration tools can also help by allowing participants to contribute simultaneously instead of waiting for turns to speak. This often leads to a broader range of ideas while ensuring every voice is represented.

Brainstorming techniques and methods

There are countless brainstorming methods and techniques you and your team can use to uncover creative solutions. Some involve lateral thinking, while others start with a basic brain dump. Regardless of which you choose, it’s a good idea to try out different ones over time and see which produces the best results for your team. In fact, switching up the brainstorming method could add some novelty by reengaging your team to come up with new ideas each time you’re faced with a challenge. 

One thing most brainstorming methods have in common is the idea of quantity over quality. At the beginning of any brainstorming session, the number of ideas you produce is often more valuable than the quality or viability of any one of those ideas. You can always keep workshopping the existing ones until you narrow down and refine the optimal ones.

Rapid ideation

Rapid ideation is focused on producing a high quantity of ideas in a small amount of time. There are many brainstorming exercises that incorporate rapid ideation. The key is to be quick and spontaneous so as not to censor or edit any ideas that come to mind.  

Brain-netting

Brain-netting is a term used to describe brainstorming via multiple digital tools and spaces, in other words, online brainstorming. Typically, it’s preceded by online brain dumping, and then connecting related ideas and concepts to narrow down the best ones. 

Reverse brainstorming

Reverse brainstorming is a counterintuitive technique in which you come up with ideas on how to make a problem worse. Then, you “reverse” those ideas by coming up with applicable solutions to those problems. This process helps you discover some possible ideas for your original challenge.  

Round-robin

In round-robins, each participant writes their idea down during a set time limit before the next person gets a turn to contribute. There are a few variations of this: You can compile ideas on sticky notes to return to later, pass them off to the next person to iterate on, or refine the ideas by providing feedback. 

Ready to get started? Try the round-robin template from Mural. 

Mind mapping

Mind mapping is a visual way to brain-dump ideas onto a blank page and use those existing ideas to spark new ones. You start with one concept in the middle of the whiteboard and add related ideas on branches shooting out from the central topic. Then you keep building on it like a map or family tree.  

Get started with the Mind map template. 

Rolestorming

During rolestorming, participants role-play as someone else, such as a famous person or customer persona, to embody different perspectives. Taking on that character during the brainstorm can change the way they think and help them produce creative ideas.  

Brainwriting

Brainwriting takes advantage of solo brainstorming time. Participants develop their ideas individually before sharing them with the rest of the team. There are different variations of this method, including a rapid ideation version in which six participants need to each generate three ideas in five minutes.  

Start generating ideas with the 6-3-5 brainwriting template. 

Starbursting

During a starbursting exercise, group members develop questions that begin with “who, what, when, where, why, and how.” These six questions are based on a specific topic or problem statement. The team uses a star graphic, with each point on the star representing one of the six types of questions you come up with during this exercise.

Step-ladder technique

The step-ladder technique begins by selecting two participants in the group to discuss the problem and come up with an idea. Then, you introduce a third team member to the first two, and they present ideas to each other and discuss. Then you add a fourth person, and so on and so forth. 

How to choose the right brainstorming technique

No single brainstorming method works for every situation.

Consider these guidelines:

• Use rapid ideation to generate many ideas quickly
• Use brainwriting or round-robin to encourage equal participation
• Use mind mapping to explore relationships
• Use reverse brainstorming to solve difficult or persistent problems
• Use rolestorming to challenge assumptions
• Use starbusting to evaluate a new opportunity

Many teams combine multiple techniques within a single workshop. For example, participants might begin with brainwriting, organize ideas using affinity mapping, and finish with dot voting to prioritize next steps.

Brainstorming examples

Different teams use brainstorming in different ways.

A product team might brainstorm feature ideas before planning the next release.

A marketing team could generate campaign concepts before narrowing them into a creative brief.

A customer support team may brainstorm ways to reduce recurring support requests.

A leadership team might use brainstorming to identify strategic priorities for the coming year.

Although the objectives differ, the process remains similar: define the challenge, generate ideas, organize them into themes, prioritize promising solutions, and assign next steps.

Can AI help with brainstorming?

AI is changing how teams brainstorm, not by replacing human creativity but by helping teams explore ideas more efficiently.

AI can help generate starting prompts, suggest alternative perspectives, summarize large collections of ideas, identify recurring themes, and cluster related concepts after a brainstorming session.

For example, after a workshop with hundreds of digital sticky notes, AI can quickly organize similar ideas into themes, making it easier for facilitators to identify patterns and prioritize next steps.

AI works best as a collaborator rather than the source of final ideas. Human participants still provide context, judgment, and creativity, while AI helps reduce the manual effort involved in organizing and synthesizing information.

Brainstorm better with Mural

The best brainstorming sessions don't end when the meeting is over. Teams need a way to capture ideas, organize them, collaborate asynchronously, and turn promising concepts into action.

Mural helps teams facilitate structured brainstorming sessions using visual collaboration, guided templates, timers, voting, and AI-powered features that simplify idea organization.

Whether your team is working in the same room or across multiple time zones, Mural provides a shared workspace where everyone can contribute, build on ideas, and move confidently from ideation to decision-making.

You can get started with ready-to-use templates for mind mapping, round-robin brainstorming, brainwriting, and collaborative workshops, helping your team spend less time setting up sessions and more time solving meaningful problems.

Get started with Mural to start collaborating with your team.

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