XS✔ ◾ 🧠⚡️ Brainstorming improvements (#7140)

* Update rule.md

* Update rule.md (#7139)

* Update rule.md

* Update rule.md (#7182)

* Improvements

* make brainstorming uppercase consistent

* Add image

categories/others/rules-to-better-brainstorming.md

@@ -14,4 +14,7 @@ index:
 
 ---
 
-SSW has been running brainstorming for many years. Every time we try improve the process to ensure the attendees and the company are getting the most out of the day.
+SSW has been running Brainstorming days for many years. Every time we improve process to ensure the attendees and the company are getting the most out of the day.
+
+![](brainstorming-day.png)
+**Figure: SSW Brainstorming 🤖**

rules/brainstorming-agenda/rule.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 type: rule
-title: Do you the Brainstorming day agenda?
+title: Do you know the Brainstorming day agenda?
 uri: brainstorming-agenda
 authors:
   - title: Adam Cogan
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ Ensure this is sent out to all staff months before the event to encourage ideas.
 
 ### Hi All,
 
-I’m really excited about our brainstorming day! I hope you’re all thinking about what you would like to work on.
+I’m really excited about our Brainstorming day! I hope you’re all thinking about what you would like to work on.
 
 To prepare for our Brainstorming day, send Adam, Matt W, William, Piers and Brady something that you would like work on as a group.
 E.g. Our awesome SophieBot project came out of the Melbourne Brainstorming Session last year.
@@ -53,4 +53,4 @@ See video on: [https://ssw.com.au/rules/use-the-brains-of-your-company](/use-the
 - **3:30 pm** - 🎤 Start presentations (Tip: Start presentations earlier/later depending on how many people are attending)
 - **6:00 pm** – 🍻 The pub!
 :::
-:::
+:::

rules/brainstorming-day-retro/rule.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 type: rule
-title: Do you do a brainstorming day retro?
+title: Do you do a Brainstorming day retro?
 uri: brainstorming-day-retro
 authors:
   - title: Adam Cogan
@@ -18,15 +18,15 @@ archivedreason: null
 guid: 49948fd0-6eb7-4140-b82c-4a9268661fb6
 ---
 
-The results of the brainstorming day can have great impact on the company. Its important to get everyone thoughts on each idea.
+The results of the Brainstorming day can have great impact on the company. Its important to get everyone thoughts on each idea.
 
 Send out a Microsoft form with the following questions
 
 1. Did you watch the Brainstorming presentation (in person or live stream)?
 2. ✅ What went well?
 3. ❌ What went well?
 4. 💡 Any ideas to improve it?
-5. {{IDEA NAME}} - How good was the outcome of the brainstorming session?
+5. {{IDEA NAME}} - How good was the outcome of the Brainstorming session?
    - Rating /10
    - In the question, Include a link to the GitHub Discussion and YouTube video of the presentation
 6. {{IDEA NAME}} - Which option/s should we do?
@@ -35,4 +35,4 @@ Send out a Microsoft form with the following questions
 
 Repeat questions 5 and 6 for each idea.
 
-This should be done on the friday after the brainstorming day. 
+This should be done on the friday after the Brainstorming day. 

rules/brainstorming-idea-farming/rule.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 type: rule
-title: Do you know how to farm brainstorming ideas?
+title: Do you know how to farm Brainstorming ideas?
 uri: brainstorming-idea-farming
 authors:
   - title: Adam Cogan
@@ -18,11 +18,11 @@ archivedreason: null
 guid: 3dcf22f6-5c13-46b4-88c7-b6edac5d6996
 ---
 
-Its important to have some pre-prepared ideas for the brainstorming day. This helps the day run smoother and can make it more valuable.
+Its important to have some pre-prepared ideas for the Brainstorming day. This helps the day run smoother and can make it more valuable.
 
-GitHub Discussions provides an awesome way to let employees discuss the ideas before the brainstorming day. GitHub Discussion template also make it easy for attendees to submit quality ideas in a consistent format.
+GitHub Discussions provides an awesome way to let employees discuss the ideas before the Brainstorming day. GitHub Discussion template also make it easy for attendees to submit quality ideas in a consistent format.
 
-1. First, look at ideas that have come through via email, and also any ideas from past brainstorming sessions
+1. First, look at ideas that have come through via email, and also any ideas from past Brainstorming sessions
 2. Come up with a few ideas for the day, these should come from high-level people in the company.
 3. If necessary, call the person who came up with the idea and ask for further explanation or for them to record a Done Video to sell their idea.
 4. Create GitHub Discussions for any noteworthy ideas, these discussions will serve as talking points for your company to iterate upon the idea.
@@ -37,9 +37,9 @@ Now that you have some initially curated ideas use Microsoft forms to gather, it
 
 - ✅ Retro - What is working well at {{ COMPANY NAME }}?
 - ❌ Retro - What are 1 (or more) things that you would improve at {{ COMPANY NAME }}?
-- 💡 Any brainstorming ideas for next week? (that is not listed above)
+- 💡 Any Brainstorming ideas? (that are not listed above)
   Create a GitHub Discussion {{LINK TO NEW GITHUB DISCUSSION TEMPLATE}}
 
-3. 2 weeks before the brainstorming session send out the form to the company.
-4. Go through all the ideas and pick the ones that are the most valuable
-5. Ensure all the GitHub Discussions have enough information to be able to be worked on.
+1. 2 weeks before the Brainstorming session send out the form to the company.
+2. Go through all the ideas and pick the ones that are the most valuable
+3. Ensure all the GitHub Discussions have enough information to be able to be worked on.

rules/brainstorming-team-allocation/rule.md

@@ -18,18 +18,16 @@ archivedreason: null
 guid: 1c77e04d-8351-415a-80e8-24983048f7f5
 ---
 
-Separating the group into teams on the brainstorming day can take a long time. It is better to do this before the day. Doing it early also allows you to keep team sizes consistent and share the teams with the group before the day.
+Separating the group into teams on the Brainstorming day can take a long time. It is better to do this before the day. Doing it early also allows you to keep team sizes consistent and share the teams with the group before the day.
 
-## Idea voting - Gather, iterate and gauge interest in ideas
+## Form - Vote on ideas
+Send out a Microsoft Form to the entire company to vote on which ideas they want to work on. It should have the following questions
+- Are you attending the Brainstorming day? (2 options - Yes/No)
+- For each idea (1 question per idea) - Do you want to work on {{IDEA NAME}}? {{LINK TO DISCUSSION}} (1 option - Yes) 
+- Indicate that people should pick 3 or more ideas
 
-4. 1 day before the brainstorming review the results of the form, curate the ideas, and create GitHub Discussions for any new and awesome ideas.
-5. Using the nicely curated ideas, create a 2nd Microsoft Form with the following questions:
+Having a separate question for each idea is important to get the data in a good format to allocate teams with minimal data transformation.
 
-- Ideas - Rank the importance of fixing these items
-
-  👨 = friendly for non-devs
-
-8. Send that form out to all employees to gauge interest and importance in the ideas.
 
 ## Team allocation
 
@@ -49,7 +47,6 @@ Upload the Excel file to ChatGPT and use this prompt
 I need this data in a format to allocate teams, I want each idea as a row then each person who voted for that idea as a column after it.
 :::
 
-
 1. To assign teams, start by assigning the most capable people to each team as a team lead - its not required but is helpful if this is the person who came up with the idea
 2. After each team has a team lead, assign the remaining people based on their preference, skillset and interests
 
@@ -63,15 +60,15 @@ I need this data in a format to allocate teams, I want each idea as a row then e
 
 ## Team setup
 
-In order to make the brainstorming day as productive as possible, set up the PowerPoints using a template.
+In order to make the Brainstorming day as productive as possible, set up the PowerPoints using a template.
 
 1. Create new Teams team for the Brainstorming day E.g. Sydney Brainstorming 2023
 2. For each team, create a folder in the Files tab
-3. Use a brainstorming PowerPoint template to create a PowerPoint for each team
+3. Use a Brainstorming PowerPoint template to create a PowerPoint for each team
     - The template should have the structure of a good Brainstorming presentation (Show the pain, suggested solutions and proposed next steps)
 
 
 `youtube: https://youtu.be/C6XdZgxy2K8`
-**Figure: Brainstorming powerpoint template**
+**Figure: Brainstorming powerpoint template (6 min)**
 
-Having all the presentations in one location makes it easy to collaborate and ensures they wont be lost.
+Having all the presentations in one location (Teams team) makes it easy to collaborate and ensures they wont be lost. It also means all the presentations can happen on a single device, instead of switching laptop every presentation which can be slow and lead to AV issues.

rules/digesting-brainstorming/rule.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 type: rule
-title: Do you digest brainstorming outcomes?
+title: Do you digest Brainstorming outcomes?
 uri: digesting-brainstorming
 authors:
   - title: Adam Cogan
@@ -18,10 +18,10 @@ archivedreason: null
 guid: ef1035b9-2f40-4cd6-8915-51a0e91354ce
 ---
 
-The brainstorming day is a lot of fun, but its important all the outcomes are captured and acted on.
+The Brainstorming day is a lot of fun, but its important all the outcomes are captured and acted on.
 Once you have everyone's thoughts on the ideas, they need to  be digested into actionable items.
 
-Create a PBI or send a task for every item that the brainstorming team decides is valuable.
+Create a PBI or send a task for every item that the Brainstorming team decides is valuable.
 
 Send a summary of what was implemented to the company with links to the PBIs.
 

rules/how-brainstorming-works/rule.md

@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 ---
 type: rule
-title: Do you know how a Brainstorming day works?
+title: Do you know how to facilitate a Brainstorming day?
 uri: how-brainstorming-works
 authors:
   - title: Adam Cogan
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ archivedreason: null
 guid: 925eeb66-04f2-4a4a-bb5d-aa7836f1d0f6
 ---
 
-At an annual brainstorming day, employees are invited to share their ideas, give feedback, and pick the best one to work on. The benefits of brainstorming are
+At an annual Brainstorming day, employees are invited to share their ideas, give feedback, and pick the best one to work on. The benefits of Brainstorming are
 [well understood](https://raybourn.com/the-5-benefits-of-brainstorming/), but in order to focus the productivity on something useful, it is important to have a system for suggesting, voting, and working on ideas.
 
 Everyone at the company is encouraged to suggest ideas prior.

rules/meetings-do-you-know-the-agenda-for-the-initial-meeting/rule.md

@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ guid: d4f0ce1d-97b8-4b6f-a7ed-bc599a0d5c31
 ---
 The first meeting is on you. While you have 1 - 2 hours to provide the prospective client with enough information to decide whether to pursue a [Spec Review](/rules-to-better-specification-reviews), the focus of the initial meeting is the client, their problem, and how you might build a solution.
 
-The best way to action this is to ask questions, **listen and take notes**: Clients appreciate someone genuinely considering their needs. A brainstorming session is a fantastic way to give and receive feedback immediately. Even if the client decides not to use you, you should **provide them with useful information** and a positive impression.
+The best way to action this is to ask questions, **listen and take notes**: Clients appreciate someone genuinely considering their needs. A Brainstorming session is a fantastic way to give and receive feedback immediately. Even if the client decides not to use you, you should **provide them with useful information** and a positive impression.
 
 <!--endintro-->
 

rules/use-the-brains-of-your-company/rule.md

@@ -26,19 +26,19 @@ guid: e774f9e0-d13b-45f0-bd9d-ac1146f51ee3
 
 `youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/ov8OGcApBjc`
 
-Your employees are your greatest asset, yet their valuable knowledge and insights often go unnoticed. Why not harness their creativity and problem-solving abilities by hosting a fun and collaborative brainstorming day? It's a simple but effective way to unlock innovative ideas, foster team bonding, and empower your workforce. 🧠💪
+Your employees are your greatest asset, yet their valuable knowledge and insights often go unnoticed. Why not harness their creativity and problem-solving abilities by hosting a fun and collaborative Brainstorming day? It's a simple but effective way to unlock innovative ideas, foster team bonding, and empower your workforce. 🧠💪
 
 Check out this video!
 
 <!--endintro-->
 
 `youtube: https://www.youtube.com/embed/X1qJyKTbfXk`
 
-Employees on the front line often have valuable insights into opportunities for improvement, what is painful, increased efficiency, and even entirely new business ideas. Empowering these employees with an annual brainstorming day is a great way to transform their good ideas into valuable solutions, as well as giving them the opportunity to learn and grow from each other. Also, many employees enjoy the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in fun ways that their day-to-day jobs may not always afford them.
+Employees on the front line often have valuable insights into opportunities for improvement, what is painful, increased efficiency, and even entirely new business ideas. Empowering these employees with an annual Brainstorming day is a great way to transform their good ideas into valuable solutions, as well as giving them the opportunity to learn and grow from each other. Also, many employees enjoy the opportunity to flex their creative muscles in fun ways that their day-to-day jobs may not always afford them.
 
 Different companies have different approaches to this. For example:
 
 - **Atlassian** - give employees 1 day a year to work on a feature they want
 - **Google** - employees are allowed to dedicate 20% of their time to 'pet projects' (subject to approval)
 - **Microsoft** - Scott Guthrie takes senior leaders offsite for 1 week each year
-- **SSW** - Adam Cogan conducts an annual brainstorming day in each state office
+- **SSW** - Adam Cogan conducts an annual Brainstorming day in each state office