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Brainstorming as a technique has been used for years by groups to develop as many ideas as possible without evaluating how practical the ideas might be.
There are some very simple that have worked since  Alex Osborn's original four: 1) Don't allow criticism; 2) Encourage wild ideas; 3) Go for quantity; 4) Combine and/or improve on others' ideas. They still work today, in fact if they are not followed the leader will quickly loose credibility.
The worst ""brainstorms"" happen when the term is used loosely, and the rules aren't followed-or known-at all. Perhaps the biggest mistake that leaders make is failing to keep their mouths shut. Too many times the leader opens a meeting agenda item saying, "Let's brainstorm." The leader then follows this pronouncement with 30 minutes of their own rambling thoughts, without a single idea coming from the others in the room. Now that's productivity loss!
The rules vary from place to place. But it is really quite simple. To save groups from dissolving into disorder. follows the basic original rules, add a few new ones by the Team, or don't call it a brainstorming.

The worst ""brainstorms"" happen when the term is used loosely, and the rules aren't followed-or known-at all. Perhaps the biggest mistake that leaders make is failing to keep their mouths shut. I once went to a meeting that started with the boss saying, "Let's brainstorm." He followed this pronouncement with 30 minutes of his own rambling thoughts, without a single idea coming from the others in the room. Now that's productivity loss!
The rules vary from place to place. But Alex Osborn's original four still work: 1) Don't allow criticism; 2) Encourage wild ideas; 3) Go for quantity; 4) Combine and/or improve on others' ideas. To steal from IDEO, I'd add "One conversation at a time" and "Stay focused on the topic," as both help save groups from dissolving into disorder.  
 
Include strong call-to action links to various pages of your website to drive traffic and open up additional possibilities to convert browsers into buyers.

 

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Include articles on topics of interest to your readers, relevant news and events. Inserting a link in your article lets you track which topics attract the most interest.

 

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Include articles on topics of interest to your readers, relevant news and events. Inserting a link in your article lets you track which topics attract the most interest.

 

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A Team with healthy relationships among its members will be more productive and successful than a Team characterized by strife and tension. All Teams experience a certain amount of tension which is healthy and appropriate particularly during problem solving and decision making. Sometimes long standing highly productive Teams seem to unravel. One of the most basic of Teams processes problem solving and decision making seems to be at the root of this unravelling.
 
What Teams and Team members seem to forget, more important than winning any particular decision is the health of the relationships that we carry into the next decision. People must ask themselves: "Is it worth it to jeopardize a long term relationship in order to win a short term decision?" Maybe, but not likely. Most times short term pain pays off in long term gain.

Click Here to learn more about other problem solving and decision making methods, tools and techniques available to productive Teams.