Brainwriting to Kickstart Factory Innovation
When faced with a problem, many people choose to approach it with tact, brainstorming solutions from different angles to determine the best course of action. Brainstorming is a powerful habit, but it’s not the end-all, be-all solution for ideation. Brainwriting takes brainstorming to another level, and it’s a practice manufacturing professionals can benefit from by learning and employing it.
Let’s take a closer look at what brainwriting is and how it fits within manufacturing operations.
What is brainwriting?
While brainstorming has been used for decades, it’s not something at which everyone excels. Many people find themselves running up against a roadblock when the time comes to brainstorm.
Brainwriting is an idea-generation technique that can complement — and even improve upon — brainstorming methods. Like brainstorming, it focuses on rapid idea generation but is much more conducive to a natural progression through thoughts. Brainwriting is a group activity rather than an internal thinking activity, which often makes it easier to stimulate and expound on ideas.
How does brainwriting work?
Brainwriting is collaborative. Each individual in a group writes or draws an idea in response to a prompt, like a direction or problem. When finished, the individuals pass their paper to the next person, who reviews the ideas and offers their own suggestions for improvement. After each paper has made it around the entire group, the team discusses each idea.
The primary difference between brainstorming and brainwriting is there’s no conversation until all ideas have circulated the group and each person has offered their collaborative notes. Group members stay quiet and focused on getting their thoughts down on paper instead of bouncing ideas off each other verbally.
Brainwriting is a faster, more efficient way to generate ideas. With less social anxiety at play, everyone can feel more comfortable sharing ideas and suggestions.
Manufacturing depends on innovation
Brainwriting can help manufacturing leaders bring new innovations to the table. When every team member feels empowered to share their perspective in a collaborative setting, the result can be breakthrough thinking. Solving problems and generating innovations become much easier, rewarding, and even fun.
By embracing brainwriting, manufacturers are implementing a lean principle for mapping and analyzing concepts, opening up new efficiencies to keep today’s organizations competitive. Brainwriting doesn’t just produce a solution; it culminates in the best possible solution by leveraging numerous viewpoints.
How manufacturers can promote brainwriting
Implementing brainwriting in a manufacturing setting is easier than you think. Review your to-do lists, evaluate your processes, and set aside some time in your next group meeting to explore brainwriting with your team. The exercise of simply writing and passing papers — along with a discussion at the end — provides a chance for all voices to be heard.
It’s time to adopt brainwriting and make optimum use of the creativity and expertise of your entire team. Whether you’re addressing a major problem or seeking simple efficiencies, brainwriting can ensure you achieve the optimal result.
