Let's have a brainstorming session!
Being
managed by humans who are not infallible, companies very often run into
problems. One major problem is the non-availability of qualified
employees with the right attitude. If a person with a degree in fine
arts is appointed as a human resource manager, you can imagine the
disastrous situation that can follow. This is very much in evidence in
the state sector where people are recruited without looking into their
real qualifications and aptitude.
Once I met a law graduate working as a teacher. At a well-known
communication centre a girl who holds a Bachelor's degree in Arts works
as a computer operator. Many more such cases can be cited. The problem
here is not with the employee but with the employer. When recruiting
personnel for a particular job the employer should look into the
relevant qualifications of each applicant. In addition, the employer
should be satisfied with the applicant's attitude to the job.
Another problem faced by certain business establishments is their
inability to market a product effectively in a competitive environment.
For instance, the market is flooded with various brands of toilet soap.
They come in attractive packs in different colours and fragrances. The
prices vary in most cases. However, most consumers regularly buy a
particular brand. In business circles this is known as brand loyalty. A
new competitor will find it extremely difficult to wean the consumer
from this brand loyalty.
Some business establishments find it difficult to motivate their
workers. They find that certain employees have become virtual passengers
doing nothing productive for the company. Such people, strangely, do not
keep quiet. They start gossiping and launch mud-slinging campaigns
against their bosses. Apart from creating unnecessary problems for the
employer they will also demand higher salaries and annual increments!
In order to tackle such problems most business establishments hire
human resource consultants and hold conferences. Faced with the problem
of recruiting new employees, a New York telephone company held a special
meeting to tackle the situation. As they faced a severe shortage of
telephone operators, the company had to come up with a quick solution.
Instead of depending on the advice of human resource consultants, the
company organized a brainstorming session. Sitting round a table the
employees came out with their views quite freely. Many divergent views
were expressed and a stenographer took down their ideas. After some time
the company directors assessed the ideas and found that some of the
views expressed by the employees were really important. However, they
had to reject certain suggestions as they were mere 'fluff'.
There are certain dos and don'ts in a brainstorming session. Usually,
policy makers do not attend such sessions. Instead, participants are
drawn from equal ranks so that they could express their views without
inhibitions. Participants are generally not encouraged to criticize the
views expressed by others. A moderator will shoot down any attempt to
disrupt the proceedings by making unnecessary comments such as "That's
ridiculous!" or "That's not going to work." The purpose of a
brainstorming session is to come out with fresh ideas to solve an
existing problem.
The brainstorming sessions of the telephone company produced 150
ideas for recruiting employees. The ideas were expressed in a matter of
20 minutes. In a similar brainstorming session, Reynolds Metals
developed a new sales strategy for one of their new products. Another
brainstorming session at General Motors produced more than 100
suggestions on how to smooth a casting.
The creator of brainstorming was Alex F. Osborn, a co-founder of
Batten, Barton, Durstine and Osborn advertising agency. He is credited
with organizing small brainstorming sessions for the agency's employees
to come up with names for their new products and to create sales slogans
for their clients. Some time later brainstorming became a regular
feature with the advertising agency.
At a brainstorming session organized by a private hospital down
south, the management wanted to know how to address customers. The
prevailing practice was to call the customers- most of whom are patients
or their relatives- as 'uncle' or 'aunt. A senior employee suggested
that all the customers should be addressed as 'Sir' or 'Madam'.
Meanwhile, another employee had a different view. "How can you address
these rural people as Sir or Madam as they will be non-plussed. One of
the receptionists said the customers did not mind being addressed as
'Uncle' and 'Aunt', as the terms were endearing. All the views and
suggestions were recorded and submitted to the management for further
action.
Brainstorming sessions should not be confined to business
establishments. We can use them to solve some of our family problems as
well. What happens most of the time is that the father or the mother
takes unilateral decisions without any heed to the views of their
children. Sometimes, young people may have better solutions to pressing
family problems. Therefore, an informal brainstorming session would be
ideal to settle family problems.
We owe a debt to Alex F. Osborn who created this wonderful tool for
solving problems in an effective and inexpensive way.
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