TeamWorking Encouraging Ideas Part Two

You wish to encourage everyone present to be an equal contributor. The danger is that the loud shout their ideas and the quiet don’t even whisper theirs! Of course, you still want both to contribute. One way can be to go round-the-table gaining one answer at a time from each participant. Equally, you might split your people into small groups for a few "thinking" minutes - and then gather their ideas But, you don’t want to be too formal – so, if an idea is suggested and another member of the group has a positive thought or suggestion as to how it can be expanded on or “improved” – then they should feel free to let everyone know. But, remind people, at this stage – positive contributions only! Again, don't comment - simply gather the thoughts. Also, let people know you are not looking for perfection. Random thoughts, even “silly” ideas, are the ones that can be the spark that helps find that final answer Once all the ideas have been gathered, give your group some time to think about how one or more can be combined or expanded-on to provide a more complete suggestion or answer. In this way, you are still taking a positive view of the ideas Don’t try to force more ideas where these don’t exist. There comes a time when you have really gathered as many as people can think of. Once the "ideas generation" period has been completed, you might then want more in-depth thought about the remaining options or suggestions. It might be useful again to split your team up into smaller groups to consider and then report back on some of the options each. Equally, it can be useful to leave the ideas with people – and then to have a follow-up meeting at a later time when each person has had a chance to think the options through Finally, when decisions are made, make sure everybody knows exactly what decision has been reached. And what action they personally need to take to put this into action. Then, always conclude by thanking people for their contributions. The more you encourage, the more you are likely to receive!



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