A resource kit you can use to apply creative collaboration and unleash potential in your team or organization.
Tools to inject energy into the process, get people moving, and have fun.
Tools to unleash creativity, discover valuable insights, and develop new products and services.
Tools for personal development, reflection, self-awareness and how to integrate learning and grow.
Tools focused on implementation, and driving and supporting change in organizations.
Tools to build effective teams - foster trust and openness for better collaboration.
This is a method for individuals and teams to define the structure, direction and first steps of a project. The individual or team works through a set of questions and documents the answers in a sharable digital format. This can either be a “living” document that develops with the project it can be left as just a clear and concise record of the starting-point.
Bring the project group together. Do a short check-in to ensure that everyone is mentally as well as physically present.
Explain that this will be a short workshop with the purpose of creating clear structure and direction for the project ahead. It will be fast and focused. There will be nine questions which we will discuss as a group, capture the answers on paper, then transfer to a digital document to share.
To keep the energy and speed going, it may be useful to stand around a whiteboard/flipchart, rather than sit at a table.
Create a Parking Lot on the wall/table. Explain that this is to support us with focus. We will “park” any points or questions that don’t directly contribute to answering these questions. They can be discussed or answered after the session.
Agree as a group how long you have to spend on this. Divide that time equally between the 8 questions: e.g. if you have 90 minutes, you can spend 11 minutes per question.
As the facilitator your job is to keep the discussion focused and purposeful. You can take the role of scribe and timekeeper. You might also assign these roles to others in the group
Write up (or stick up a printed copy of) the following questions. Address each one in turn for the allotted time.
Purpose: What is the overall purpose of the project? (express this in one sentence)
Desired Outcome: What specific outcomes should be achieved by the end of the project? (aim for 2-4 bullets)
Target Group & Value: Who are you doing the project for? And what value does it provide to those people? (aim for 3 bullets or less)
Roles: Who is involved and what are they responsible for? Here are some suggested roles: Lead - leading or owning the project Wingman - main support for the lead, on a day-to-day basis Core - the main group of people working on the project Advisory - people the core team can go to for input and feedback Decision - leader or manager with the responsibility to approve the project
Milestones & Budget: What needs to happen by when? And how much money do you have? (broken down into bullet points, on a broad level)
How: How will the team work together, how will you communicate, divide tasks, collaborate, approach decision making, etc. (try to define about 5 guidelines with short descriptions for each)
Success / Fiasco Criterias: What do success look like? What does failure look like? (aim for 4-5 bullet point for each one)
Connections: What projects are connected to this one? Are there any other documents or data sources that we need to take into account? (list the connections with hyperlinks to key documents)
When each question has been answered and documented, decide who will take responsibility to compile all of this into a digital document to be shared with the team. Before closing the session give the project lead a chance to clarify any points that need clarifying.
Finish with a check-out, asking each person what their next action is related to this project.
The purpose of this simple exercise is to demonstrate three key principles useful for creativity and idea generation: quantity is a condition for quality; building on the ideas of others; the ideas we come up with are usually all the same. The format is simple, with small groups standing and drawing apples. At the end of the exercise the whole group reflects and draws out learnings and reflections.
IDOARRT is a simple tool to support you to lead an effective meeting or group process by setting out clear purpose, structure and goals at the very beginning. It aims to enable all participants to understand every aspect of the meeting or process, which creates the security of a common ground to start from. The acronym stands for Intention, Desired Outcome, Agenda, Rules, Roles and Responsibilities and Time.
A short activity to run early in a program, focused on sharing fears, anxieties and uncertainties related to the program theme. The purpose is to create openness within a group. The stinky fish is a metaphor for "that thing that you carry around but don’t like to talk about; but the longer you hide it, the stinkier it gets." By putting stinky fish (fears and anxieties) on the table, participants begin relate to each other, become more comfortable sharing, and identify a clear area for development and learning.
A team-building activity in which a group is challenged to physically support one another in an endeavor to move from one end of a space to another. It requires working together creatively and strategically in order to solve a practical, physical problem. It tends to emphasize group communication, cooperation, leadership and membership, patience and problem-solving.
This workshop aims to help participants define, decide and achieve their goals. By supporting participants to envision where they want to be in a number of years on a holistic level, and defining the steps that will take them there, participants get a clearer picture of the action they need to take.
This exercise is useful for bringing groups together, to create interpersonal bonds, and to build trust. Participants stand opposite each other and have 30 seconds to give appreciative feedback to the other person. The group rotates until everyone has given feedback to everyone else. It is often used as part of wrap-up activities, to create an energized feeling to leave with.