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DEUTSCH

Step-by-Step

1. For the implementation of this method, the participants should sit around a table. Worksheets and pens are distributed by a project leader. This person is responsible for the organization and time management and will not be involved in the brainwriting.
2. The project leader names a previously defined question or a set of topics on which ideas are to be collected. At the beginning, the question is discussed. Only questions of understanding are allowed, solutions are not to be discussed yet.
3. The 6-3-5 method follows the principle of its name: 6 rounds, 3 ideas, 5 minutes. Start with the first round: Within five minutes, each participant writes three ideas on the given question or topic on the worksheet. Communicating with the other participants is not allowed during the process.
4. After five minutes, each group member hands over his or her idea sheet to the person on the left. The neighboring participant develops them further, thinking about his/her own ideas/perspectives, but also elaborating on the ideas of the other participants. This process is usually repeated for six rounds until the piece of paper is back at the starting position. If there are more or fewer of you, the number of rounds will be adjusted accordingly.
5. There are often similar ideas that are described by people from different disciplines in different jargon. Now write these ideas in a common language so that they are understood by all participants.
6. At the end of the brainwriting session, there are many ideas. Discuss them in the group and prioritize the ideas. In the further course of the project, focus on the ideas and approaches that were ranked highest by all participants.

More about the tool

Advantages and Disadvantages

Advantages:

  • Brainwriting is very efficient. With six participants, a great number of ideas are generated within a few minutes.
  • Influenced thinking through hierarchical structures is largely avoided within the team.
  • The method is very simple and every person, no matter if introvert or extrovert, is able to contribute.
  • The creative process within the team is triggered by the fact that new input is given in each round, on which future ideas can be built.

Disadvantages:

  • There can occur a repetition of already existing ideas instead of new ideas being generated.
  • The quickly changing rounds can overwhelm some participants, so that creativity is slowed down.

Application into practice

In münster.land.leben, the subprojects must also structure and organize themselves appropriately internally. In order to consider how the structure can be improved internally, whether in terms of cooperation with the other subprojects, internal organization or communication with society, the subproject "Science Marketing - Models, Strategies, Instruments for Science/Society" used the brainwriting method. For this, the team members sat together at a table and each person was given a sheet of paper on which the same question or problem was written for all of them: "How can we better position ourselves internally to address complex societal challenges and translate research results and innovations in such way that they meet societal needs, values and expectations?" The workshop facilitator stopped the time for each round. After the first round, the sheet of paper with the first three ideas was passed to the person on the left. Then the person next to them wrote down three new ideas under the previous ones, used the previously written down ideas as inspiration, or developed new independent suggestions. It was not necessary to write down three new ideas or additions in each round. After the idea generation phase, all ideas were read aloud and similar ideas were clustered together. There were many overlaps where team members had used different linguistic labels or terms, but which described the same idea at the core. Toward the end, the ideas were prioritized and made publicly available to all members on a large poster. Frequently mentioned aspects included agile online task management, such as Trello, regular jour fixes, and team events.

Hints from practice

  • The method can also be done virtually. For this, send the template to the participants in which they enter the ideas and share them on a server.
  • Categorize the ideas into the corresponding main topics. This will give you a holistic overview of which ideas were mentioned to which topic.
  • Afterwards, use sticky dots for clustering, which the participants stick on the ideas that they prioritize the most. This will give you an immediate list of your priorities and allow you to address the issues/ideas that are most important to your team first.
  • Reflect on the different names of the topics or ideas. This will give you an idea of the language used by the different disciplines to express a topic. Consequently, this will improve your mutual understanding.

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