Did you know good time management can help your creative think tank or idea generation sessions to be energised, dynamic, and productive?
As a manager, team leader or session facilitator, it’s your responsibility to manage the session and ensure the team is productive. Effective time management will help you to kteep the team’s focus on finding creative solutions to the problem.
Here are some of my favourite time management and group energiser tips for planning creative think tank sessions.
Tip 1 – Choose the best day
Every workplace has a cyclic schedule that can change from day to day, or even at certain times of the month. Some areas, such as finance may be busy at the end of the month, while people from other areas may find that the work cycle is weekly, with Mondays being particularly busy, and Wednesdays being a calmer day.
Check with your team members which day of the week is easiest for them to participate in an idea generating session. If possible, select a day that suits everyone. If participants arrive stressed and continue to worry about meeting important deadlines throughout the session, you will not find the session productive.
Make sure that you schedule the meeting well in advance to allow people to manage their own time effectively in the days prior to the meeting, so that the participants are free to focus on coming up with creative solutions.
Tip 2 – Choose the best time
The day is not the only factor in planning a creative think tank session. Think carefully about the time of day you plan your meeting. You want the participants to feel fresh and energised to really think clearly and creatively.
A late afternoon or evening meeting, when participants are both tired and wanting to go home, will likely be less productive than a mid-morning or an early afternoon meeting.
Two to three hours is realistically about the most time anyone can concentrate. If you want to plan a session that is longer, make sure you include plenty of rest breaks to re-energise the group throughout the day.
Tip 3 – Start with a warm-up energiser activity
Starting a creative think tank or an idea generation session with a fun, easy warm up or energising activity will help people to relax, a state of mind that is conducive to creative thinking. When you are planning your session, allow about 15 minutes for the energiser activity.
For some ideas my article on 3 simple and fun team creativity exercises will give you a kick-start.
Tip 4 – Avoid distractions and disputes
As the facilitator, it is your job to keep the participants on track and focused on solving the problem during the idea generation session.
Sometimes idea generation sessions can end up in very unproductive arguments or participants can become distracted.
If the discussion appears to be going off track, you need to call the group to order, re-energise and re-focus the group on the issue at hand.
Tip 5 – Set the rules for the session
Setting some rules for the session helps the team to keep focused and to avoid the distractions of unnecessary arguments.
Rules can also help add to a positive feeling within the team which helps to energise the group adding to creative thinking.
Rules, such as one person speaking at a time, and not judging other people’s ideas in the generation stage, can really make a difference in the positive energy levels in the session.
Tip 6 – Plan the timing of the session to close
Plan a way of closing the session that ends on a positive note. Don’t allow the idea generation section of the meeting to run over time and end up with no time for a final discussion and analysis.
You generally need at least 15 minutes to summarise the best ideas and get the team’s agreement on which ideas to put forward to the evaluation stage.
I often start finishing the idea generation session about 30 minutes before the end of the meeting, which gives plenty of time for the final discussion. If you finish a few minutes early, you can congratulate the team on a super-productive idea generation session.
End on a positive note, so that the team leaves the room feeling energised and happy about what the group has achieved. If you need another session, it will be more productive if the participants remember a positive energy from the first meeting.
Good time management can certainly add to the positive energy and productiveness of any creative thinking session with your team. Plan the best day and time to hold the meeting, and plan the timing and structure of the think tank session to get the best results.
What tips do you have to manage your creative thinking time?
Do you think time management is important to creative thinking?
What do you do to keep everyone focused on generating ideas and not judging them at the same time?
