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ENCOURAGING EMPLOYEE CREATIVITY
In addition to brainstorming, there are numerous more recent methods for encouraging employee creativity. The following are just a few examples.
The "Random Word" Method
Here, you pick a word at random and brainstorm its association with a problem or issue you are considering. In fact, a major soup company used this method of brainstorming to come up with a new line of soups. They started with the word handle. What did that have to do with soup? Handle made someone think of utensil. Utensil suggested fork. Fork suggested eat with a fork. Thus "Chunky Soup" was born, the kind you can "eat with a fork."
The Picture Method
Works the same way as the "random word" method, but you start with a picture and see what it suggests.
The "Slip" Method
Here, instead of shouting out an idea, everyone is given slips of paper to write down their ideas. The slips of paper with the ideas are collected and the ideas are posted for discussion. This method is particularly good if the problem is not likely to result in a lot of ideas or if people have been reluctant to express their ideas verbally in previous brainstorming sessions.
Brainwriting
This is similar to the "slip" method, but in this case people write their ideas on full-size sheets of paper and then pass the paper to the next person, who tries to build upon that idea.
Card Posting
Similar to brainwriting, but instead of passing sheets of paper on to the next person, individuals write their ideas in large letters on a 5" x 8" card and post the card on the wall as they finish them.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
Developed by Andre Delbecq and Andrew Van de Ven at the University of Wisconsin in 1968, NGT is a process that not only generates ideas but also leads to consensus on the best of these ideas. First, participants are given a formal problem statement printed at the top of a blank sheet of paper. They are given ten to fifteen minutes to generate their ideas "silently" in response to the problem statement. No talk is allowed. Second, each person in turn is asked to read one of his or her ideas out loud to the group. A recorder writes the idea on a flip chart page. This round-robin phase continues until all ideas have been presented. Then each member of the group is asked to pick what he or she feels are the five best ideas and write these on a 3" x 5" card, one idea to a card. Fourth, each participant is asked to assign a rank from1 to 5 for each of the ideas. Finally, the cards are collected and the rankings are tabulated.
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