5 Brainstorming Methods Every Team Should Try
- Pei Yen Hew
- Sep 10
- 4 min read
Key Takeaways:
Round-Robin Brainstorming & Nominal Group Technique (NGT) help teams work better together
Mind-Mapping & Lotus Blossom Technique is a great way to open up creative thinking
SCAMPER takes inspiration from competitors and sparks fresh ideas for new products
As bloggers, scriptwriters, or content creators, we often encounter creative blocks. While personal techniques may be simple and effective, things get more complex at the company level, where input from multiple departments and team members is needed.
That’s where these 5 structured brainstorming techniques will come in handy:
Mind Mapping
Round-Robin Brainstorming
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
SCAMPER
Lotus Blossom Technique
Mind Mapping
Mind mapping is an effective way to visually organise ideas and concepts to aid memory, thinking, and problem-solving. Just place a clear, concise word or image at the centre that represents the main idea of the mind map!
Case Study: Improving Customer Satisfaction
A retail company wants to improve overall customer satisfaction, so the team writes "Customer Satisfaction" in the centre of a whiteboard and branches out to key areas: Product Quality, Customer Service, Pricing, Delivery, and User Experience.
Under each area, they brainstorm sub-issues and ideas — for example, under Delivery, they note "delays", "packaging", and "tracking system".
As a result, the clear visual of related pain points and improvement ideas helps the team quickly identify areas to prioritise.
Round-Robin Brainstorming
Round-Robin is a structured method where team members take turns sharing ideas one at a time, without discussion or judgment during the process. This ensures everyone contributes equally. It’s an excellent way for a small team to generate a diverse set of unconventional ideas around a specific challenge.
Case Study: New App Feature Development
A tech startup is designing a productivity app, and each team member takes turns suggesting one feature idea — such as "dark mode", "calendar integration", or "voice commands" — without discussion or critique.
The rounds continue until everyone has run out of ideas, ensuring that all voices are heard equally and that dominant voices are not allowed to overpower the session. As a result, dozens of ideas are generated efficiently.
Nominal Group Technique (NGT)
Each participant writes down their ideas silently. Then they go around sharing one idea at a time. Ideas are clarified but not debated. After listing ideas, participants vote for their top 3.
Unlike Round-Robin, NGT starts with silent idea generation and ends with ranking to reach consensus. However, it’s not ideal for messy or complex problems, huge groups, situations that require in-depth analysis, or when time is limited.
Case Study: Reducing Employee Turnover
An HR department wants to identify ways to retain talent, and top-ranked ideas like "flexible working hours", "clear career paths", and "regular feedback sessions" emerge.
After all ideas are listed, participants vote on the top three they believe will have the most impact, so the group feels the outcome is fair and consensus-driven.
SCAMPER Technique
This method transforms existing ideas into fresh concepts by exploring seven perspectives that spark creative solutions to challenging problems. It encourages people to take an old idea and either substitute (S), combine (C), adapt (A), modify (M), put it to another use (P), eliminate (E), or reverse (R).
Case Study 1: iPhone - Revolutionising the Smartphone
Apple didn’t just launch a new phone in 2007 — they reimagined what a phone could be. Using the SCAMPER approach, here’s how they pulled it off:
Combine: Apple merged three devices — an iPod, a phone, and an internet communicator — into one sleek gadget, giving birth to the original iPhone.
Modify: They transformed the traditional phone design by removing physical buttons and introducing a responsive capacitive touchscreen.
Eliminate: Out went the physical keyboard and stylus, staples of smartphones back then, making way for a cleaner, more intuitive interface.
The result? A device that not only changed Apple’s future but also reshaped the entire mobile industry.
Case Study 2: McCafe - Brewing Success Inside the Golden Arches
McDonald’s took a bold step to capture the growing coffee market, blending café culture with their fast-food DNA. Through the SCAMPER lens:
Adapt: They brought the European coffeehouse vibe into their fast-food model, offering customers a more relaxed, premium coffee experience.
Combine: McDonald’s integrated a coffee shop feel with its existing restaurant infrastructure.
Put to Another Use: Underused areas in stores were transformed into dedicated McCafé sections, maximising space and boosting revenue.
This move positioned McCafé as a competitive player in the global coffee market, without losing McDonald’s trademark accessibility.
Lotus Blossom Technique
A visual expansion method where the main idea or problem is placed at the centre, and sub-ideas bloom outward like petals, slightly similar to the Mind Mapping Method. Created by Yasuo Matsumura, this technique helps reveal deeper links and possible solutions by breaking a complex problem into smaller, more manageable pieces.
Case Study: Sustainability-Focused Product Development
A product team wants to innovate on "Sustainability", so they branch into areas like Packaging, Supply Chain, and Materials, each leading to more detailed ideas.
As a result, the team uncovers a range of actionable initiatives that address different aspects of sustainability and gains a clearer roadmap for turning these ideas into real-world impact!
So let your creativity take off! Pick a method and get started.
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