As an IT manager, I’m always trying to get the most out of everyone – hopefully not by getting people to work longer hours or at a more furious pace but by pulling as much ability out of their brains as possible. To this end, I’m usually very inclusive when I want to exhaust all possible ideas before making a decision. One of my favorite ways to do this is with brainstorming. Done well, you can give your whole team a chance to contribute and it can be a lot of fun.
I’m not going to over-explain this because it is simple and everyone does it differently and it works any way you use it. I use this format even if I’m working alone or taking notes during a meeting. But brainstorming techniques can be exponentially more effective when used with a team.
If there is a problem to solve or a goal to achieve, I like to write the subject in the middle of the page and just let ideas flow. I can then add notes to the top or the bottom, left, right, anywhere… When a detail comes up ten minutes later, I can write it in wherever it makes sense without being restricted to a linear flow. Everything about this simple method stimulates ideas: every idea can be the beginning of other ideas, the visual connection reinforces the logical connection, the brain map is visually pleasing and it grows organically…
Some ideas will feel like they should be new, primary branches. Some will be secondary and so on. It’s easy. You’ll figure out what’s best. And everything is easily edited.
At the top of this post is a simple example that started in a team meeting with “What needs to be documented?” There is a lot to flesh out there still, but when it’s done, we’ll have caught just about everything.
You don’t need software to do this, but I like to use FreeMind.
You can get it for free here: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/.
And there are plenty of other options out there if you search for them.