5 reasons I use Post-it® Notes for collaborating
It always feels like someone is moving faster, innovating faster and launching new ideas faster. How do we keep up with a world where ideas are everywhere, change is continuous and the possibilities are endless? My name is Jeff Gothelf and I help business teams across the globe ideate and innovate faster. Collaborating in teams can be challenging without the right tools to create a healthy brainstorming environment. Here are a few reasons I use Post-it® Notes for collaboration:
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1. They are disposable
Post-it® Notes are intended to be thrown away. They are small bits of paper we use temporarily to illustrate an idea and move on, which is why I believe they are the perfect tools for ideation. I like to point out the transient nature of Post-it® Notes at my workshops by asking attendees to write down their first idea, crumple it up and throw it on the ground. Teams discover the freedom to brainstorming when they understand ideas aren't precious.
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2. They are versatile
There are no rules for what can be written or drawn on a Post-it® Note. You can write a sentence, one word, in all caps, or draw a picture, anything to best capture your idea. I like the versatility that a small, blank piece of paper offers brainstorming. It encourages iteration and exploration of ideas. You can get to the crazy ideas with the flexibility of a Post-it® Note.
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3. They force concise thoughts
The size of a Post-it® Note is a huge asset for ideating. It forces you to whittle your idea down to its essence when you share it with your team. Concise ideas force concise conversations. You can move on from ideas that don't feel quite right faster, and quickly pivot in the direction that seems right.
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4. They are democratizing
Activities facilitated with Post-it® Notes give everyone a voice. All contributions are valued equally and the group considers all opinions. It levels the playing field because one idea doesn't carry more weight than others. When we write ideas on Post-it® Notes, more people feel welcome to participate – reaching shy people, new people and possibly lower level people who don't feel comfortable speaking up.
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5. They are reliable
Post-it® Notes work. The quality of the Post-it® Brand is unsurpassed by any competitors. Having a reliable product that sticks, doesn't bleed through or leaves residue on the wall means one less thing to think about. It allows you to simply use the tool to come up with incredible new ideas, without a second thought.
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Jeff Gothelf is Neo's lean evangelist, spreading the gospel of great team collaboration, product innovation and evidence-based decision making.
Jeff is a speaker and thought leader on the future of user experience design, often teaching workshops or giving talks on building cultures that support teamwork and innovation. Jeff is passionate about advancing the principles that lie at the core of Neo, and often does so on a global scale.
Prior to joining Neo, Jeff led the UX design teams at TheLadders and Web Trends. Earlier he worked with and led small teams of software designers at AOL. He is the co-author (with Josh Seiden) of "Lean UX: Applying Lean Principles to Improve User Experience."
