It’s common for the beginning of a Crainstorm session to feel a bit awkward or unwieldy. Maybe you’re not sure exactly how to best kick things off, or maybe you’re struggling to get the conversation rolling. While you may want to jump right in and get to work, you may find that taking a few minutes to break the ice will actually accelerate the creative process within your session.

At the beginning of a session, contributors are surrounded by new people who are all looking to solve a new problem. The Crainstorm team has hosted a lot of brainstorming sessions, both online and offline and we’ve found that the best way to get down to it is to start with a low-pressure icebreaker. Here are a five sure-fire ways to help kickstart your brainstorm and get the good ideas rolling.

 

1. Upcycle

Choose a random, everyday object. It could be a rubber band, hairbrush, paperweight, record player, cup or anything else that will be familiar to your contributors. Then, give your team 2 minutes to come up with as many alternative uses for the item as possible.

Tips

  • Set a goal to encourage idea generation, but don’t hold people to it. You want to encourage them to get used to free-forming their ideas without limited them or placing unnecessary restrictions on them.
  • Write down all the ideas – even if they seem completely bonkers. It’s fun to take moment at the end of the activity to appreciate your team’s creativity.

 

2. Bad Ideas Brainstorm

Sometimes a bad idea is actually a good idea in disguise. In this icebreaker, we forget searching for the shine of a diamond and instead focus on the rough ideas.

Present a product or service to the group, this could be anything from shampoo or a television show to deli meats or a dentist’s office. Give your team 2 minutes to come up with “bad ideas” for marketing the subject you’ve chosen. Encourage your participants to be weird and unfiltered.

Tips

  • This activity can help your contributors free themselves from the fear of contributing a bad idea.
  • Ideas may begin to build upon each other early, leading to a snowball of awfulness and a spirit of collaboration.
  • Vote on the worst idea at the end of the icebreaker to encourage participants to embrace the weird.

 

3. Draw What?

Ever wonder what you get when you mix Pictionary with Mad Libs?

Share a list of 10-20 different random words. You can use an online word generator in before your session but we find it best to ask for ideas from the group. Once you have the words, place them into random pairs and assign one pair to each contributor. Get each participant to draw the two things as a single one item. For example, if a participant got ski+soap, they would have to draw a “skisoap” or “soapski” no matter what their level of artistic ability. Use the Crainstorm whiteboard to draw the new hybrids.

Tips

  • We recommend getting into the action as a host. When you expose your ability to work with strange ideas and be a little vulnerable with your drawing skills, contributors will feel more comfortable with you.
  • Increased comfort can result in contributors being more candid with their ideas.

 

4. Write a Haiku

Be more creative / Write a beautiful haiku / Let teamwork blossom

As a group, spend a few minutes minutes writing a haiku. The poem can be about anything, but must follow the haiku formula: The first line must be five syllables, the second line seven syllables and the final line five syllables.

Tips

  • Give your contributors a topic, like a current event or famous person to use as a starting point. This will make it easier for them to jump right in.
  • If group members come up with multiple ideas for the same line, write down all the variations.

 

5. Movie Buffs


Here’s a fun creative warmup. Ask each contributor to choose a movie and write out the titles or plot in emoji form, putting them on the whiteboard for people to guess. 🎬 If your group is filled with film experts and things are moving along too quickly, try doing it with song titles, television shows or brand names instead. Need a little more inspiration? Check out this Buzzfeed quiz for examples.

Tips

  • Crainstorm doesn’t have it’s own built in emojis (yet) so provide a link to emojis your contributors can copy.
  • Get people to share their false starts that didn’t make it to the whiteboard for a few added laughs after it’s over.
  • Breaking the ice using puzzles has the added benefit of getting the problem solving ball rolling.

 

Remember: While you’ll use up a bit of your brainstorm time with these silly exercises, it’ll be more than worth your while. Warming up is the best way to ensure you clear the cobwebs or any discomfort in the brainstorm room so you can quickly get the most out of everyone’s output.