# Practical tips

There are various pitfalls to look out for when brainstorming. Here are our top 5 tips!

1. Groupthink - The urge to conform to the group can hamper creativity and prevent participants from sharing their ideas. This can be prevented by also including some activities that are done individually or even anonymously (such as individual idea generation, nominal group technique, anonymous voting).

2. Going off topic - Make sure the team has a concrete challenge or question to work on (see Preparation), otherwise precious creativity is going to get wasted on unrelated ideas.

3. Losing good ideas - Make sure ideas can be captured. Provide everybody with plenty of post-its, markers, and time to write.

4. Lack of decision-making - Generating ideas is fun, but at some point, decisions have to be made. Add a convergence phase to your brainstorm (grouping, voting) and end with an action plan.

5. Slipping into decision-making mode - We’re more conditioned to make choices than to come up with new ideas. It’s easy for a brainstorm to slip into decision-making mode before the best ideas have a chance to come out. A warming up activity helps to start off right. The person facilitating the brainstorm reminds people to stay open.