As we enter a new year, not only can we expect gyms to be filled with many motivated new members (see you there!) but we can also expect a fresh set of new year resolutions. But what does the new year mean for your business? This time of year is the perfect time to reflect on the past year; the good, the bad, and everything in between. Upon reflecting, it is important to set attainable goals and outline how you will achieve them.

For a lot of our clients, and for us as well, we want exciting, new ideas to implement in the new year. Whether it’s a new product, a new event for your business to host, or even a more efficient way for your team to communicate, we all crave growth for our businesses. Ideally, your ideas will be plentiful. But how do we make these ideas flow, when they just aren’t?

The answer is simple: Nominal Brainstorming. If you follow these steps, you are ensured great new ideas for your business. *Please note you will need plenty of post-its, pens, a room with a whiteboard, and most importantly, an open mind!

This can include managers, employees, colleagues, the list goes on. We say the more, the merrier! Choose your group wisely and keep in mind that the more diverse your group is, the easier it is to come upon an idea that you would have never come up with on your own.

Get as many post-its as you possibly can. Give each member in your nominal brainstorming session a stack and a pen. Say the problem you are trying to solve out loud and set a timer for a reasonable amount of time, say 5 minutes. Begin writing to yourself, each idea is a separate post-it (you may want music playing in the background to get the creative juices flowing). You shouldn’t be writing full sentences, but rather statements or even words that first come to mind. Try not to think too much about it, and just write anything and everything!

When the timer goes off, each member of the group will get up and put their post-its on the whiteboard. Assign one person to be the scribe. This person will write anything on the whiteboard that is important to the discussion. Once all of the post-its are up, the group can start discussing all of the post-its on the wall and start forming groups within them. These groups should pertain to the problem you are trying to solve. For example, if you are looking for new ideas in the new year, your team can start by grouping together similar ideas. At this point, the scribe should be taking notes, making arrows, crossing things off, rating them by feasibility, etc. This step should be an organized mess!  

Once everyone has shared their ideas and discussed how to group the post-its, the group must narrow down feasible options that can actually be implemented. This can vary based on budget, available labor and many other factors.

It is the new year afterall! And your team just came up with some genius ideas that were the result of your group’s nominal brainstorming and teamwork!

This step is important because it’s where you make your ideas come to life! Get started on making 2018 your best year yet with the best ideas so far.

Nominal Brainstorming can be a continuous process that you can implement throughout the year for big and small decisions. Find your team and get started! If you have any questions about the nominal brainstorming process or want to discuss new ideas for your business in the new year, let us know we would love to help!