Share Your Materials in Advance

A brainstorming session is more effective when everyone is prepared.

When you share materials in advance, your group has time to plan ahead, get organized, and start thinking of ideas. This saves you time during the actual brainstorming session and helps everyone get excited to discuss ideas as a group.

Google Drive is an effective way to choose your brainstorming materials ahead of time.

Participants can access and comment on files without needing to download new software, find a printer, or email updates back-and-forth. In this video, you will share a brainstorming prompt and ask for comments from your group members.

To begin, sign into your Google account and open Google Drive.

Then, open the Starter Project for one of the following brainstorming scenarios: Community Event Shoe Store or Classroom Redesign Make a copy of the document and add it to your Drive.

Change the title of the document to reflect the title of the brainstorming scenario your group plans to discuss.

Then, share it with your group members using the advanced sharing settings. Advanced sharing settings allow you to change editing access and include a message for your group members. This is important to help gather ideas and make sure everyone is prepared. Enter your group members’ email addresses and include some brief instructions of what you would like them to do before your brainstorming session.

Practice leaving your own comments in the document.

Now, it’s your turn: Make a copy of the Starter Project and rename the file, Share the document with your group members, Include a message with instructions, and Practice leaving your own comments.