Groupidea

Groupidea is a collective approach to generating and refining ideas within a group setting. It centers on inclusive participation, structured facilitation, and the synthesis of contributions from diverse stakeholders to create actionable concepts.

Key elements include a clear objective, diverse representation, a neutral facilitator, and ground rules that protect equal speaking time and encourage constructive iteration. Sessions typically combine generation techniques such as brainstorming, brainwriting, and mind mapping with techniques to organize and evaluate ideas, such as affinity clustering and dot voting.

A typical workflow begins with preparation (defining the problem, selecting participants, arranging logistics), followed by a generation phase, synthesis and clustering of ideas, evaluation and selection, and finally refinement or prototyping. Digital tools can support asynchronous groupidea, enabling idea submission, commenting, and voting across time zones.

Applications of groupidea span product design, policy development, organizational change, and research planning. Benefits commonly cited include a broader pool of ideas, increased participant buy-in, and faster exploration of concepts. Limitations can include participation disparities, groupthink, and challenges in measuring impact.

Variations of groupidea exist in online or hybrid formats, with varying emphasis on structured techniques or open-ended ideation. Related concepts include brainstorming, nominal group technique, participatory design, and co-creation.

See also: brainstorming, nominal group technique, participatory design, co-creation, mind mapping.