Brainstorming/Filtering
Unlike conventional brainstorming, Brainstorming/Filtering does not end with a list of ideas: it ends with one or more specific improvement proposals that have passed explicit feasibility criteria.
When to use it
- When the team needs to generate improvement options creatively before deciding.
- When the problems identified in the retrospective allow for multiple possible solutions and the team wants to explore them before committing to one.
- When the team tends to converge too early on the same old solutions.
How to apply it
- The facilitator explains the activity and its purpose. An ambitious idea target is announced, for example 50 in 10-15 minutes, to spark divergent thinking.
- Brainstorming following the basic rules (see below). All ideas are recorded on a visible surface.
- Defining filtering criteria: once there are between 4 and 8 suggestions, the team votes to choose 4 feasibility criteria. These are written on a separate board.
- Applying filters: each idea is checked against each criterion. A visual system (colored stickers, symbols) is used to mark which criteria each idea meets. Ideas that meet none of the criteria are discarded.
- Final selection: the team discusses the ideas that have passed all 4 filters and chooses one or more to take to the action phase. If there is no spontaneous agreement, the team votes.
Brainstorming rules
- Ideas are recorded in real time on a surface visible to everyone.
- Quantity matters more than quality: brilliant ideas are rarely the first ones.
- There are no silly ideas. Nothing is edited or deleted during the brainstorm.
- Outlandish, fun, and creative ideas are allowed.
- Building on other people's ideas is allowed.
- No judging, evaluating, or criticizing during the brainstorm. Filtering comes later.
Brainstorming methods
- Free-for-all: anyone can suggest ideas out loud at any time.
- Round-robin: participants pass an object around; whoever holds it has the floor. Anyone may pass without saying anything.
- Introspection and sharing: 5-7 minutes of individual or small-group writing, followed by sharing in the style of one of the previous methods.
In remote teams
Remotely, the introspection and sharing method works especially well: each person silently writes their ideas on digital sticky notes before sharing them, which reduces the bias toward the first ideas voiced out loud. Tools such as Miro, FigJam, or MURAL make it possible to apply the filtering criteria visually.
Common mistake
Judging ideas during the brainstorm. When someone remarks out loud that an idea "won't work" or "we already tried that," it blocks the group's creative flow. The separation between generation and filtering is the mechanism that makes the technique work: if they are mixed, the result is a shorter and less creative list than a regular brainstorm would have produced.
Materials
🔧 Diseñar una retrospectiva [Designing a retrospective]Template · Scrum Manager · in Spanish
🔧 Temporizador lluvia de ideas [Brainstorming timer]Interactive tool · Scrum Manager · in Spanish
📄 Ejemplo de la actividad Brainstorming/Filtering [Example of the Brainstorming/Filtering activity]Google Docs document · Scrum Manager · in Spanish
Resources
📄 Tercera fase de una retrospectiva: crear conocimiento [Third phase of a retrospective: creating knowledge, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2023
📄 Ejemplo: cómo diseñar una sprint retrospective [Example: how to design a Sprint Retrospective, in Spanish]Scrum Manager Blog · Oct 2022
References
- Derby, Esther; Larsen, Diana. (2006). Agile Retrospectives: Making Good Teams Great. Pragmatic Bookshelf.
See also
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