Assessing ideas
Assessing ideas
Once you have a nice list of ideas you need to reduce these to a smaller list for further consideration.
Initially, you want to get these down to a manageable number, that you believe as a group, have some merit in solving your issue.
You then need to have a process for discussing these in greater depth that will ultimately lead to an idea (or ideas) that you can put into practice.
Previously (see Simple Example), we have referred to a couple of straight forward processes – a simple voting procedure and ranking technique.
People
So, you have an initial list of ideas what ways are there to proceed?
Whilst there will be many there are some areas you ought to consider:
Reduce on the day of the meeting
Advantages:
- Key personnel are already present
- The ideas are still fresh in peoples minds
- You are reducing delays
Disadvantages:
- People will be very tired and concentration may have dropped
- The need to complete the meeting may lead to rushing this step with reduced effectiveness
- There may be fewer opportunities to elaborate or expand on any of the ideas
Reduce later
Disadvantages:
- Key personnel may not be available
- Leaving it for more than a week could reduce any momentum gained
- Individuals may have hazy memories of the reasons behind some of the ideas put forward
Advantages:
- People do have the time to consider the ideas in greater depth on an individual level
- People will be more refreshed during the later meeting
- It is possible to organise sub groups to consider specific ideas
- You may be able to get other key personnel involved
Reviewing the ideas
What do you want to do with the idea?
It is very unlikely that the idea will be accepted as it stands.
However, you don’t want to add extra information that effectively waters down the idea and loses focus.
At this stage the remit of any organisation is not the main focus; solving the problem as efficiently as possible is.
It is only when you start to focus on the implementation of the idea that a multitude of comments may narrow its aims to meet specific organisational goals.
It is at this point that differing techniques can be used to challenge the veracity of the ideas.
These techniques will allow people to approach the idea from different perspectives and hence get people thinking in different ways.
This could lead to a refinement of these ideas.
Keep going
The aim is to arrive at a great solution that hopefully overcomes all of the hurdles that the problem presents.
You want the best solution that you can get in the time available.
To do this you must persevere as a cursory review of an idea might either consign it to the bin or fix it as the best solution when this may not be the case.
It’s up to the manager of the process to make sure that every ounce of a potentially good solution is squeezed out of the process.
This takes time and good encouragement of the group.
As well as adequate organisational skills, good leadership and motivational input is needed.
Strengths and weaknesses
To get the ball rolling it is good to get a quick view on the ‘pluses’ and ‘minuses’ of the idea.
Firstly, get the positive position by asking each person in turn to provide a benefit of implementing the idea.
This can be blindly obvious, such as, ‘simple to implement’.
Do this for a few rounds until you have a good list.
This list can also become a list of ‘pros’ for the project when presenting the proposal to others at a future time for implementation.
Such an exercise can stimulate additional ideas.
Next, generate a list of the ‘minuses’ – anything that may prevent the idea from being implemented.
These could come from a variety of considerations, for example:
- Consideration of cost, quality and timing implications
- Health and safety aspects
- Knock on effects after implementation on other projects and individuals etc
Once a meeting is over make sure that people can get in contact with you.
By circulating the minutes of the meeting and asking for feedback you will continue to get fruitful ideas.