This is a group activity that explores group dynamics, team-building and creative problem solving. It is also a lot of fun. A team of any size has the challenge to prepare a dinner for themselves and their peers, with limited resources and limited time. It works well with new teams as an exercise to help them bond, but it can also be effective for the development of experienced teams.
A great tool to kick-off ANY workshop! The hot air balloon is a metaphorical method that aims to identify strengths, weaknesses, external forces, stakeholders and goals all in a simple and well-structured process.
The charm is that you’re not relying on another dull matrix but actually going through an imaginary journey that engages us to think outside of our typical thought patterns. Just gather all participants and collect their input step-by-step in the process.
Things can get tough sometimes, it will happen, we are human. Life is full of contrast, good/bad, light/dark, happy/sad, with/without - so we need some processes/tools/methods for facilitating ourselves to a better place. Also, when things are on the up & up, it’s still useful to curate your own toolbox to build up yourself and to support others.
This exercise supports a user-centred approach to product and service innovation. Teams create an imaginary user (a persona), map out an average day in his or her life, and identify the challenges that he or she experiences. Teams then use this to brainstorm new products or services that could help with those challenges. Finally, sketches or prototypes of the best ideas are quickly developed presented back to for feedback.
A critical thinking mindset supports people to reflect by using critical thinking questions when they discover and discuss new information. Critical thinking involves the evaluation of sources such as data, facts, media, stories, observable phenomenon, and research findings. Good critical thinkers can draw reasonable conclusions from a set of information and discriminate between useful and less useful details to solve a problem or to make a decision. Critical thinking skills are key to making better, and well-informed decisions.
Systems thinking is a way of approaching problems that asks how various elements within a system — which could be an ecosystem, an organization, or something more dispersed such as a supply chain — influence one another. Rather than reacting to individual problems that arise, a systems thinker will ask about relationships to other activities within the system, look for patterns over time, and seek root causes.
Teams need to explore, test and try new things to innovate. Early efforts will be improved and progress when feedback is given and received. Feedback is a key part of any project development and crucial to the iterative process.
It's important to have a learning/growth mindset to see new possibilities and a framework in place to provide boundaries and a safe container for both the receiver and the giver of the feedback at hand.
A process such as I Like, I Wish, I Wonder can support teams (big and small) to collect feedback quickly. Can be run online or face-to-face. A Miro template is attached below.
They say “A Calm Mind is an Effective Mind” and with a calmer mind, you can better explore those challenges in life with calmness and centered awareness.
Constant change, learning new things, and uncertainty are a few of the situations that can cause even the calmest people to feel some stress.
This 5-step exercise can support people in stressful times by helping them to get grounded in the present moment when your focus is distracted by unhelpful thoughts.
What made success possible? In less than one hour, a group of any size can generate the list of conditions that are essential for its success. You can liberate spontaneous momentum and insights for positive change from within the organization as “hidden” success stories are revealed. Positive movement is sparked by the search for what works now and by uncovering the root causes that make success possible.
As a leader or manager in a large organization, you probably have a sense of the culture and people challenges facing you, but at the same time, you must also manage not only down but up and across the organization.
Culture Mapping gives you the intelligent information you require to make a business case for the interventions, executive support, and budget you will need to minimize risk and maximize the chances of success for your change initiative.
While it is admirable to share our gratitude and good feelings with others, we rarely stop to think about what giving others our gratitude can do for us. As it turns out, it does quite a lot for our brains, resilience, and mental well-being.
Purpose: People and Teams need to reflect as part of learning and innovation. Reflection can reveal strengths and areas for improvement. During the transition from one year to the next, we tend to focus on what's coming up in the new year.
Planning ahead and creating goals is important, but let's not forget to reflect on the previous year to learn from our experiences and get focused and deliberate about the future choices we make. After the Reflection, there is a gratitude and intention-setting option.