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The Charette Procedure
Brainstorming multiple ideas with multiple stakeholders
Have you ever tried to hold a brainstorming
session with more than 10 or 15 people? Or tried to brainstorm
ideas for two or more related issues? It’s rarely pretty! These
sessions quickly spin out of control, becoming chaotic and unproductive.
What's more, they tend to be dominated by only a few people, with
the majority remaining silent.
When an idea-generating session has numerous
related issues or numerous stakeholders, simple brainstorming
is often inadequate. This means that sessions are less creative
than they might be, buy-in is undermined, and people disengage
from the process. This is a serious problem if you need to achieve
consensus.
However, brainstorming can still be effective
if you take a slightly different approach to organizing the brainstorming
sessions.
One such approach has a name: The Charette Procedure
(sometimes spelled ‘Charrette’). It involves organizing people
into several small groups, each of which brainstorms ideas one-after-the-other
until everyone involved has had a chance to contribute fully.
Derived from the French word for wagon, it come from the practice
of architecture students in the early 1800s, who used carts to
rush their drawings from one place to another to get final approvals.
In much the same way, when you use the Charette Procedure, you
take the ideas generated by a group, and cart them over to the
next group, for them to be built upon, refined, and finally prioritized.
The Charette Procedure allows for maximum participation
in idea generation, without compromising the quality or effectiveness
of the brainstorming. The benefits of the process include:
- Effective use of time because many issues
can be discussed at the same time;
- Improved buy-in from stakeholders, who have
the opportunity to contribute their ideas on each issue;
- Encouragement of high quality options because
the most popular ideas are polished with each round of discussion;
- Elimination of stalled discussion, because
new people can progress an issue on each round.
How to Use the Tool
The Charette Procedure is quite simple to apply.
Depending on your situation you may complete the various group
discussions in one day, or they can be held over a series of days
or weeks. The system you choose will be based on the logistics
involved and the magnitude of your project.
- Agree on a set of issues that need to be
discussed.
- Divide your larger group into small groups
that are conducive to brainstorming. As with many types of group
interaction, a group size of seven participants plus the recorder
is ideal. Here again, the specifics of your situation will dictate
the size of your groups. When planning the groups, consider
the following:
- If you have a set deadline, make sure
the number of groups and iterations can be accommodated.
- Think about the mix of people within
the groups. Groups with a diverse mix of skills, background
and experience are generally more creative than those of
similarly skilled people.
- Make sure the number of groups is equal
to or greater than the number of issues to discuss.
- Assign an issue to each group. If there are
more groups than issues, then assign some issues to more than
one group.
- Have each group elect a recorder. You may
also suggest this person facilitates the group discussion as
well.
- Each group brainstorms an issue.
- Record all ideas, as for regular brainstorming.
Click the link to find out more about the regular brainstorming
process.
- Set a time limit for discussion. This
will depend heavily on your overall schedule as well as
the complexity of the issues being discussed. Strike a balance
between too short a session that might not uncover enough
detail, and longer discussions that might lose focus
- When the group’s time is up, the recorder
moves to the next group.
- The recorder reviews the issues and
current state of the brainstorming list with the new group.
- Brainstorming begins again, with each
group now discussing a new idea or issue. The new group
builds on the existing ideas and generates new one.
- Repeat this step until each group has
discussed each issue once.
- In the final group session, allow time to
organize and draw together the ideas into key ideas, themes
or strands. If several groups have been working at the same
time on the same issue, this is a good time to bring together
the different streams of ideas.
- Once the final session has finished, reconvene
the whole group and have the recorders present their lists.
This is a good time to work with the group to prioritize issues
or approaches, if this is appropriate. Techniques that can help
you with this are:
Key Points
The Charette Procedure is an efficient and effective
process for brainstorming and capturing ideas, when there are
multiple issues and many people involved. It is a systemic and
organized approach that allows everyone to contribute in a meaningful
way. When you are faced with a complex, multiplayer decision,
the Charette Procedure is a great way to harness ideas and priorities
as the foundation of well-considered and widely accepted plans.
Spread the Word:
New Articles (Not included in the Mind Tools E-book.)
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Reverse Brainstorming - A different approach to brainstorming
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Synectics - A useful backstop creativity process*
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Crawford's Slip Writing Method - Gathering ideas from many contributors
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A full list of Mind Tools articles is available here.
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