In short

Overcome the problems of classic brainstorms by collaborating on ideas.

Why

Classic brainstorm sessions often end up with the same people providing ideas while others stay silent. Brainwriting 6-3-5 is the solution: it allows all participants to collaborate on the ideas in their own way. As a result, everyone has the same amount of input.

Duration

2 – 3 hours (Ideally played with 3 to 8 persons)

What do you need?

  • Large sheets of paper (A3 or A2)
  • Markers
  • Post-Its (preferably larger than usual)

brain writing.pngHow do you do it?

Go over the brainstorm rules before starting the session. Put them on the wall:

  • Given ideas belong to everyone
  • Ideas are meant to be built on
  • Put aside your critical mindset
  • Ideas have no boundaries
  • Quality is better than quantity
  • Speed creates flow

Now let's start.

  • Give everyone a large sheet of paper to write down three ideas. Give them thirty minutes to do this.
  • When the ideas are written down, every paper gets passed on to another team member. He/She can add suggestions to the initial ideas using Post-Its. This fase takes between ten and fifteen minutes. After those minutes, the sheet gets passed along to another group member who will expand even further on ideas and suggestions. Repeat this until everyone has provided input on all ideas.
  • Share your ideas and talk about what the rest of the team added.

Time for action?

Do you want to make your Brainwriting session more active? Try hanging the sheets on the wall. Instead of passing on the ideas, you can make your team move from sheet to sheet.

Brainwriting 6-3-5 is a divergent play technique