Brainstorming is a tool that helps to generate inventive solutions to problems. This is where a group of people or individuals get together to create and generate new ideas, It is also used to solve problems and develop teams. This technique works well in groups because brainstorming can be very useful for bringing out the best out of all the team members and gets them working closely together, moreover functioning in group’s gives team members a chance to get to know one another. This method is very popular and very useful because it helps to break out any problems that ascends and develops new ways of looking at things. When brainstorming as an individual you can get lost with an idea, however when working in groups other members of the team can take that idea to another level. Furthermore group brainstorming is very beneficial as it allows ideas to be developed more in depth than individuals.
Before starting the Brainstorming exercise we were given a topic, our team topic was the launch of 4G in London, after that we instructed to pick a leader of the group, In my team there were four people they voted and they chose me as the leader of the group, as a leader, one of my first tasks was to explain to the group that in this exercise there is no right or wrong ….? And respect one another’s opinions. After being chosen as leader I knew in my mind that I had to lead a team which included nervous members since it was their first time being in team which includes variety of people from different backgrounds, however as from my life experience in which I have led cricket and football team, where a captain looked upon to lead from front and set good example for others to follow and reacting in difficult situation. I had to bring about my previous experience by making everyone feel welcome and as part of team where all members can express they opinion in team and can discuss any problem any members may feel during the task.
At the beginning of the exercise the team players were a bit quiet and were too shy to speak in front of people they didn’t know , after a few words of encouragement from myself they all started contributing to the exercise immediately, even then there was one group member who kept going of the task and I had to remind him that this wasn’t a individual activity this is a team exercise and we need to focus on what we are doing, apart from that we had no problems and the rest of the exercise went really well.
The progression steps and the rules of Brainstorming when followed will help the team create a different set of ideas related to the problem when being discussed. This Brainstorming technique can be used in combining with many other techniques as well. You can use the Brainstorming process when you are planning a new activity, presentation or with a group of people to share their ideas on a particular topic or question and any new ingenuity, this process gets much relaxed when you put your ideas on paper, you don’t have put them in an direction or structure, this is your typical personal brainstorming, Also you can follow the same process as described above for groups and individuals. When planning a project or writing a piece of work it’s hard to know when and where to start from but with the help of Brainstorming it’s a great way to begin.
As a leader of the group I had to contribute regularly to keep the discussion flowing, an example of this is “launch of 4G in London would bring more job opportunities which would ultimately result in unemployment figures going down” this will have impact on state benefits being paid to people of London who are unemployed. Another example is “ 4G would be expensive and small businesses would not be able to afford it” which would result in small businesses losing customers and competition. I really felt comfortable working with my group and could contribute easily , besides this few of my points did get challenged by my group which lead to a short debate but in the end we agreed upon them, Also all team members got on with they work and everybody in the team participated.
In Brainstorming activity I played the coordinator role as described by Dr Meredith Belbin in his motivation theory, “Coordinators are the ones who take on the old-style team-leader role and have also been mentioned to as the chairmen”. They direct the team to what they recognize are the objectives; they are usually good listeners and are naturally able to identify the value that each team members brings to the table. Overall the activity was successful and as a team we were able to identify (Understanding Belbin's Team Roles Mode)

Bibliography
Understanding Belbin's Team Roles Mode
Available http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newLDR_83.htm Accessed 31/10/12