You're listening to Business English Pod, the Business English podcast for professionals on the move.
Hello, and welcome back to Business English Pod.
My name is Edwin and I'll be your host for today's lesson on holding an effective brainstorming session.
The basic idea of brainstorming is quite simple.
You have a problem to solve, and you bring together a group of people to generate ideas.
You don't evaluate those ideas immediately.
You just want to generate as many ideas as possible.
And with the right focus, a good facilitator and respect for the process, brainstorming can bring out some great ideas.
Today, we'll look at some useful language and techniques for group brainstorming sessions.
For facilitators, we'll look at encouraging more ideas and resisting evaluation.
For participants.
We'll cover qualifying your own ideas, introducing an unusual idea and praising other people's suggestions.
In the dialogue we'll rejoin Sally Melissa, Noah and Eric, who work for a coffee shop faced with increasing competition.
The group is trying to come up with ways of attracting more customers to the shop.
Sally is the store manager, and she's facilitating the session.
As you listen to the dialogue, try to answer the following questions.
One.
Melissa introduces an idea that she says might be a small thing.
What is it?
Two, Noah questions Eric's suggestion about being more creative with product names.
How does Sally deal with Noah's reaction?
Three, how does Noah respond to Melissa's idea about a delivery service?
Great idea so far.
Let's see what else we can come up with here.
And, Melissa, you have something?
Yeah.
I've been thinking about the working crowd and I know this might seem like a small thing, but what about more electrical outlets?
A lot of people need to plug in.
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
These older buildings don't have so many.
And I've seen people with a laptop head over to Starbucks if they don't get one of our.
What three tables beside an outlet?
So, more electrical outlets.
And anything else?
Think about every aspect of what we do here.
Everything's fair game.
Okay, well, what if we got more creative with our product names?
That sounds interesting.
Go on, Eric.
So, a lot of successful places have their own sort of language around their products.
You know, like special names for different sizes of drinks, but also unique and catchy names for the items themselves.
Yeah, getting creative with names is great, but is that actually going to get someone new in the door?
Okay, Noah, remember, we're not deciding on what will work here.
We're just getting ideas out.
No right or wrong ideas at this point.
Right.
Apologies.
Just to add another one here, and this might be totally off, but we could consider a delivery service.
People could pre-order online and we could have a cut-off time so we don't get slammed with delivery orders right at lunchtime.
Delivery.
I'll put that up here.
And pre-ordering.
Nice one.
I've seen that done before.
I totally think that would work.
Yes, lots of great ideas.
Some will need a bit more fleshing out, but I think we've got a great list to start with.
And because we're almost out of time, I just want to read out what we've got.
Now let's go through the dialogue again and look at the language and techniques the facilitator and participants used in their brainstorming session.
We are joining the group in the middle of their session, and Sally begins by encouraging more ideas.
Great ideas so far.
Let's see what else we can come up with here.
And Melissa, you have something?
Yeah, I've been thinking about the working crowd and I know this might seem like a small thing, but what about more electrical outlets?
A lot of people need to plug in.
Melissa has an idea she wants to share that relates to the working crowd, which means the office workers in the area of the coffee shop.
More specifically, she wants to suggest more electrical outlets or places to plug in laptops and such.
But Melissa knows that it might sound like a minor issue, and she doesn't want a negative response.
For this reason, she qualifies her idea first by stating, I know this might seem like a small thing.
We often qualify ideas that seem small, irrelevant, or too difficult for some reason.
Let's practice some more ways of qualifying ideas.
And notice that we often use might or maybe to qualify the idea.
Okay, I'm not sure if this would work or not, but how about knocking out the central wall and making one big space?
Maybe this is too expensive, but I thought we might hold the event in the plaza.
Well, I don't know if others would think this is fun, but we could play paintball as a team-building exercise.
This might be out of scope here, but what about partnering with a charity for a fundraiser?
Let's get back to the dialogue as Noah supports Melissa's suggestion and Sally invites more ideas.
Yeah, I know what you're saying.
These older buildings don't have so many.
And I've seen people with a laptop head over to Starbucks if they don't get one of our.
What three tables beside an outlet?
So, more electrical outlets.
And anything else?
Think about every aspect of what we do here.
Everything's fair game.
By qualifying her idea, Melissa may have made the other participants more receptive to it.
Indeed, Noah gives some evidence to support her idea, explaining that people with laptops often head over or go to the Starbucks nearby.
As the facilitator Sally wants to confirm or acknowledge the idea, write it down and then invite more ideas.
First, she says, anything else?
And pauses to give people a chance to respond.
When nobody says anything, her job is to be more encouraging.
She asks people to think about every aspect or part of what happens in the coffee shop.
She also reminds people that everything is fair game or acceptable.
When you're encouraging more ideas, it's a good idea to remind people that all ideas are fair game.
You don't want too much discussion about each idea that's suggested.
Instead, you need to open people up again, as Sally has done.
So what are some other ways we can encourage more ideas?
Let's try a few more.
All right.
What else can everyone think of here?
Let's get some more ideas up here.
Anyone?
Okay, people.
Really try to think outside the box here.
Remember, every idea is acceptable, so just shout out anything that comes to mind.
We haven't heard from Eric so far, but now he comes up with a new idea.
Okay, well, what if we got more creative with our product names?
That sounds interesting.
Go on, Eric.
So, a lot of successful places have their own sort of language around their products.
You know, like special names for different sizes of drinks, but also unique and catchy names for the items themselves.
Unlike Melissa, Eric doesn't really give his idea much of an introduction.
He just suggests it by using what if and it's not perfectly clear what he means by getting more creative with product names.
So Sally encourages him to explain more, which he does by clarifying that he's talking about giving each serving size a catchy or memorable name.
And what kind of response does Eric get for his idea?
Yeah, getting creative with names is great, but is that actually going to get someone new in the door?
Okay, Noah, remember, we're not deciding on what will work here.
We're just getting ideas out.
No right or wrong ideas at this point.
Noah's response to Eric's idea is quite different from his positive response to Melissa's suggestion.
Noah uses a yeah, but structure to cast doubt on Noah's idea.
He wonders if it will actually get any new customers into the shop.
But remember, brainstorming is all about generating ideas.
Brainstorming is not about evaluating those ideas.
And Sally's job as a facilitator is to resist evaluation.
She reminds Noah that they're not deciding on what is possible and that there are no right or wrong ideas.
This will help keep the environment a comfortable place to make suggestions without being criticized.
Let's practice some more ways of resisting evaluation as a facilitator in a brainstorming session.
Let's not decide what will work and what won't at this stage.
We're just brainstorming ideas for now and we'll evaluate them later.
Okay, this isn't about judging ideas at this point.
Any idea is okay at this point.
It doesn't matter if it makes sense or not.
Now, let's get back to the dialogue.
Right.
Apologies.
Just to add another one here, and this might be totally off, but we could consider a delivery service.
People could pre-order online and we could have a cut-off time so we don't get slammed with delivery orders right at lunchtime.
Noah accepts Sally's reminder and says he's sorry with a simple apologies.
And now that they're back on track, Melissa has another idea.
Earlier, she qualified what she thought was a small idea.
And now she has a bit of a strange idea.
And once again, she gives it a special introduction.
First, she says, just to add another one, to indicate she wants to speak.
Then she says her idea might be totally off or strange.
Again, you can sometimes get a better response if you qualify or introduce your idea carefully.
And once again, using modals like might and could, can help other people become open to your suggestion.
Let's run through some more ways of introducing unusual ideas during brainstorming.
I know this might sound kind of crazy, but how about the name Chic Geek?
This might be too out there, but how about a 70s theme for the event?
If this is too weird, I understand.
But could we make the whole office one big open space?
Okay, just getting creative here.
Why don't we use newspaper for the packaging?
So what kind of response does Melissa's strange idea get?
Delivery.
I'll put that up here.
And pre-ordering.
Nice one.
I've seen that done before.
I totally think that would work.
Once again, Sally repeats the basic suggestion as she writes it down.
And this time Noah doesn't criticize.
Instead, he praises the suggestion or says that he likes it.
He even gives a bit of emphasis by saying that he totally thinks it could work.
Praising other people's ideas can help to maintain a positive and constructive mood.
So what are some other ways we can praise an idea emphatically?
Let's try a few more.
That's a fantastic idea, Dave.
I really think you're onto something there.
Yeah, I really like that one.
You know, that just might work.
Now, Sally finishes off with a bit of praise for the whole group.
Yes, lots of great ideas.
Some will need a bit more fleshing out, but I think we've got a great list to start with.
And because we're almost out of time, I just want to read out what we've got.
Sally extends Noah's praise to all the ideas they've come up with.
Although some need fleshing out or more detail, she thinks they've got a great list.
And that's the whole purpose of brainstorming, to generate a big list of ideas.
The group has done a good job of brainstorming and Sally has done a good job of keeping them creative and focused.
Now let's practice some of the language we learned in today's lesson.
Imagine you are in the middle of a brainstorming session that has been called to generate ideas for improving employee benefits.
To start off with.
You'll play the role of the facilitator and then switch to one of the participants.
Then you'll switch back to the facilitator for the last step.
I'll give you a cue telling you what you need to do.
Follow the cue to make an effective statement.
We'll guide you through each step in the practice and provide an example answer for each response.
Ready?
Let's give it a go.
Start off as a facilitator by encouraging more ideas.
Remember, this is the middle of the session.
Answer.
Alright, does anyone have any other ideas here?
Now, as a participant, qualify the idea of having a free cafeteria by saying it might be too expensive.
Answer well, this might be too expensive, but we could have a free cafeteria.
Another colleague has suggested flexible hours.
Praise this idea by saying it would be popular.
Answer Yes, I really think that flexible hours would be a very popular idea.
Next, introduce the idea of free bicycles for employees as a kind of crazy idea.
I know this sounds kind of crazy, but how about free bicycles for employees?
Now, another participant has said that free bicycles is a silly idea.
As a facilitator, remind people that you're not evaluating ideas yet.
Okay.
At this point, we're not evaluating ideas yet.
Now, let's practice some of the vocabulary and collocations we've covered in this lesson.
In a moment, you'll hear a series of sentences where the words replace with a beep.
Repeat each sentence, including the missing word.
For example, if you hear, Our restaurant is popular with the working in the area.
You can say, Our restaurant is popular with the working crowd in the area.
After each response, we'll provide the correct answer.
Let's begin.
After work on Fridays, we usually head to Murphy's for a few drinks.
Answer After work on Fridays, we usually head over to Murphy's for a few drinks.
Our current website is boring, so let's get more with the redesign.
Answer Our current website is boring, so let's get more creative with the redesign.
The morning was really slow, but we really got with customers in the afternoon.
The morning was really slow, but we really got slammed with customers in the afternoon.
The new software isn't available yet, but you can pre-order it on the website.
We've reached the end of this lesson, the second in our series on brainstorming.
We've learned how to qualify your own idea, encourage more ideas, and resist evaluation.
We've also learned how to introduce an unusual idea and praise another person's idea.
Thanks for listening, and see you again soon.
