Brainwriting and the ideas that never made it to the easel

You know the meeting. Someone puts an easel up front, grabs a marker, and asks everybody to start throwing out ideas. I’ve been in those meetings with something to say and left without saying it. When I was the one leading the meeting, I knew I needed to speak up. I also started wondering how many good ideas I was missing from my own team.

When we talk about introverts, we tend to picture someone being asked to speak in front of a hundred people. Two or three people around a table can be plenty. Even in a one-on-one, someone can leave with something they wanted to say still on their mind.

What I tried in healthcare marketing

I came across a technique called brainwriting. The version I used was simple. I gave anyone on the team the option to share ideas in writing outside the meeting. Some of the best ideas I got from my team came back that way.

I offered it to everyone. A teammate who usually jumps into the discussion might still want time to think through a particular question. The more I led meetings, the more I learned to pay attention to what worked for each person.

Give people one more way to contribute

For your next meeting, try asking one question and giving people a way to answer in writing. “What’s one thing we could make easier for our team?” is enough to start. When someone writes back, let them know what you heard and what you’ll do with it.

A meeting can fill an easel with ideas and still miss the one a teammate takes back to their desk. One idea you get to consider that you would have missed is better than zero.

Coming out of my shell, one conversation at a time →

More on the technique in Paul Paulus and Huei-Chuan Yang’s brainwriting study.