During a brainstorming session, participants share ideas and thoughts on a particular topic, often in a collaborative and open environment. The goal is to generate a wide range of ideas and solutions to a problem or challenge.

Taking notes during a brainstorming session is important to capture all the ideas that are being shared and to ensure that nothing is forgotten or overlooked. After the session, the notes are typically compiled and organized to create a comprehensive list of ideas that can be further explored and developed.

Good brainstorming session notes should be clear, concise, and organized, capturing all ideas discussed and action items assigned while also including key points and insights shared during the session.

1. Understand the purpose of the brainstorming session and the goals that need to be achieved.

2. Be an active listener and capture key ideas, suggestions, and solutions discussed during the session.

3. Use a structured format to organize your notes, such as creating categories or themes for different ideas.

4. Record any action items or next steps that are identified during the session.

5. Be concise and clear in your note-taking to ensure that the information is easily understandable and can be effectively communicated to others.

Brainstorming session notes: Key items

• Key ideas: The main concepts or solutions that arise during the brainstorming session. It’s important to capture these ideas as they will form the basis of any future plans or actions.

• Action items: Specific tasks or steps that need to be taken in order to implement the ideas generated during the brainstorming session. Documenting these action items ensures accountability and progress.

• Questions: Any questions that arise during the brainstorming session should be noted. These may require further research or discussion to fully understand or address them.

• Challenges: Identify potential obstacles or challenges that may arise when trying to implement the ideas generated. Documenting these challenges helps the team proactively plan how to overcome them.

• Next steps: Outline the next steps needed to move forward with the ideas generated. This may include assigning tasks, setting deadlines, or scheduling follow-up meetings.

• Follow-up actions: Document any follow-up actions that need to be taken after the session, such as sending out meeting notes, scheduling additional meetings, or providing updates to stakeholders.

Common mistakes in taking brainstorming session notes (and how to avoid them)

• Not capturing all ideas: Failing to capture every idea shared during the session can lead to valuable insights being overlooked or forgotten.

• Lack of organization: Unstructured notes make it difficult to review and reference ideas later. A clear structure helps ensure usability.

• Focusing on quantity over quality: Prioritizing the sheer number of ideas over delving deeper into the most promising ones can create a lot of noise with little substance.

• Not attributing ideas: Giving credit to the person who shared an idea ensures proper recognition and facilitates follow-up discussions.

• Using jargon or unclear language: Technical terms or ambiguous wording can make notes difficult to understand for those who weren’t present. Clear and concise language is key.

Avoid these Mistakes:

• Automatically record all ideas shared during the brainstorming session to ensure no insights are overlooked.

• Organize notes in a structured way for easy review and reference.

• Automatically assign action items based on the discussion, prioritizing quality over quantity.

• Attribute each idea to the person who shared it to ensure proper credit and facilitate follow-up discussions.

• Use clear and concise language so the notes are accessible to all stakeholders, even those who weren’t present.

How do we make sure follow ups for my brainstorming session actually happen?

After a brainstorming session, follow-ups might include organizing ideas into categories, assigning tasks to team members to further develop specific ideas, or scheduling a follow-up meeting to discuss next steps and implementation plans.

Here are some examples of what you can use Circleback to automate:

• Automatically send meeting notes and action items to all participants via email.

• Integrate with Zapier to create tasks in project management tools like Trello or Asana based on brainstorming session outcomes.

• Send meeting data to a designated Slack channel for team members to review and discuss further.

• Update a Notion page with key insights and action items for easy reference.

• Automatically update Salesforce opportunities and contacts with any new leads or ideas generated during the session.