Once in awhile, I find myself in a meeting that doesn’t seem to accomplish much of anything. It’s a strange result, because I know that I’m meeting with intelligent, innovative people. And all of them have suggested some great ideas. But somewhere along the line, things derail and the potential with which we started fizzles away.

In school or work or sports, decisions are often made in a group setting and we often assume that groups are the best way to produce valuable, creative ideas.

The truth is: groups often hinder creativity.

This seems a bit counter-intuitive. Shouldn’t it be helpful to bounce our ideas off of other people? Doesn’t it encourage the creative process to involve a variety of perspectives? Yes. Groups have the potential to encourage the creative process. Unfortunately, unmanaged groups usual default into a routine that does more harm than good.

For example, let’s say that Sam is in a group trying to decide what color to make their new website. He suggests doing an all-white background. Mark is also in the group and vocalizes his initial reaction: “No, not white. It’s too boring and plain.” Susan also chimes in with, “I like white sometimes, but everyone seems to be using white…”

Mark and Susan have valid concerns, but their responses instantly place limits on the discussion. This may lead to a quick decision, but not the most creative one. Other elements of group dynamics can place further limits on innovation: competition, groupthink, personal biases, hogging the spotlight, aversion to “time wasting”, diffusion of responsibility and more. Most of these things happen naturally when you get a bunch of people together to decide something. And all of them limit the potential innovation of your team.

What to do? With a little intentional effort you can optimize your group or team’s creativity. Here are some things we’ve learned to work on:

• Start with the positives. When a new idea is mentioned, the first responses should all focus on enhancing that idea. Save the concerns for later.
• Enforce a time limit. Groups are about the exchange of ideas, not a lengthly monologue. Allow people to express themselves, but make sure everyone has a chance to chime in. Also, meetings become less effective when they get too long. Try to have several shorter meetings rather than one epic meeting.
• Play devils advocate. People who work together for a long time start thinking alike. Introduce some fresh perspective by thinking like someone else.
• Give group members responsibility. Make sure everyone is invested in the group’s goals by giving them something to do. And don’t just assign busy-work. Make it crucial to the groups functioning like leading discussion, taking notes, or being the time keeper.
• Let people do group work on their own time. You don’t have to resolve every little thing in a meeting. Suggest ideas that people can mull over individually in their spare time. Set up a group forum or project manager where team members can share their input whenever inspiration strikes.
• Think opposites. If you’re fresh out of good ideas, try brainstorming the worst ideas you can think of. Make them really bad. Then, do the opposite. Or sometimes just the process of thinking like this can spark some new ideas.

There’s a lot more you can do, but the important thing is to put some thought into the dynamics of your team meetings. Identify the creative limits you’re placing on one another and get rid of them!