Ridesharing is all about people getting together to get where they need to go. Why not take advantage of that same concept when coming up with ideas for your rideshare program? Conducting a brainstorming session often inspires you to take your program in directions that you might never have thought of otherwise. It can be an effective tool for new ideas (e.g., marketing campaigns, rideshare fairs, contests) as well as for problem solving ("how can we help people take bus or rail when there isn’t a stop near the office?").

Here, the marketing experts at CommuteSmart News offer ways to make the most of a brainstorming session:

The Set-Up

• Select a topic. Decide what you want to cover in a session, and be ready to pose it as a question or a series of questions. Be specific. “How do we make our rideshare program better?” is probably too broad. More appropriate topics might be ways to attract more people to your rideshare fair or developing a rideshare program slogan.
• Do your own brainstorming first. Many experts say that the best brainstorming comes from a mix of individual and group input. Brainstorming alone by sitting down and thinking things through before your meeting will help you keep the group on track and productive. Brainstorming afterwards lets you take the hodgepodge of ideas and consider them in light of your role as the rideshare expert.
• Select participants. "Don’t just pick friends and neighbors," advises Metro’s Donna Blanchard. "Invite people from different departments and levels of seniority. Ask ridesharers as well as people that currently drive alone." If people are reluctant to participate, remind them they they’ll also benefit from any programs you come up with as a group. Or if that doesn’t work, "serve food," says Blanchard.
• Be visual. On a large presentation board, write down ideas as people say them. This helps you collect the ideas and also serves as a prompt to keep things flowing.

The Process

Take a moment to go over the rules with the group. The methods introduced by Alex Osborn in his 1950s classic Applied Imagination, which popularized brainstorming, are still valid today. They are:

• Don't allow criticism. Nothing stymies the creative process like the fear that your contribution will be called stupid.
• Encourage wild ideas. Sure it may seem crazy to suggest that the CEO rideshare to work on a pony to kick off Rideshare Week, but you never know what idea may grow from that seemingly ridiculous one.
• Go for quantity. Brainstorming works on the notion of "quantity breeds quality." The more ideas, the better.
• Combine and/or improve on others' ideas. After all, if it's just people saying their own ideas, you can collect those via email or in a suggestion box. Instead, encourage people to take each other's thoughts further, expand on them, or add their own twist. That sort of group energy is what brainstorming is all about.