IN PRACTICE

This is the Real LIFE

This experience came from a real case when our team members were called to a creative meeting of a new business concept for our Group Company.

In the past, we used to pick just some members, 2 or 3 and gather ideas about a concept when needed. This small group was then selected regarding their participation or knowledge about the project; we used to think it was just a waste of everyone´s time to call each team member into creative sessions.

After acquiring all the knowledge of block 2, Ideation, I could see the potential of co-creation in such sessions. Then we called the entire group for a meeting, and the results were terrific. The people shared together, and the gain was more insightful than the primary outcome (great three Creative Concepts); the social interaction and the discovery of new potentials really captivated our attention.

Let’s get on with it!

The Process

The first activity of the session was

“The Crazy 8”

In the online session, we first shared space for talking. An opening activity of exchanging everyone’s project was just right in need, given the actual circumstances of curfew in Colombia. Everyone working at home on different projects makes us feel disconnected from the other team members and their jobs. To have an update of what each one is doing in the actual moment, made everyone present in the meeting and closer to each other.
It was a nice feeling to understand the group’s mood and act up on this light. It was a smooth beginning for the session.

The session was then guided through some activities that I facilitated. The first one was “The crazy 8” (Picture to the Left); this was such a great tool to start this Cooncepting meeting and bring all ideas up on the table. Then we shared a mural to visualize all of our best ideas (Picture to the right).

We continued the process with some tools from the books “Methods of Design” and “Gamestorming.” First, we clustered all of our ideas and shared meanings upon them. After discovering our Golden Nuggets, we began to build the concepts into the main ones. Then we voted for our favorites.

The remaining three ideas were then made a bit stronger and shaped. We called for three subgroups of people in our team; each would receive a concept and discuss some questions about it, such as “How many employees is this going to need?, Who is going to be in charge of what? What to do? What do we need for…? and so on. After 10 minutes, each group would pitch their concept to the rest of the team in 5 minutes.

 

The pitching gave more light into each concept, we ended up having three great concepts, so strong that we could not pick one to present to the company, but the three of them as options to invest.

 

Working in this way allowed us to share again, as long ago, because of the pandemic, we were not allowed to anymore. The time shared, the dynamics of the group and subgroups, the energizers, and the team’s motivation were a major gain in the process. Everyone left the meeting so enthusiastic, asking for another creative session soon!