At Just:: we think brilliant programming is all about confidence, collaboration and curiosity. It’s about getting yourself and others into a happy, creative place, having a simple process to follow and lots of tools and techniques up your sleeves to build great ideas and bring them to life!
With our bespoke Just:: Invent ideas generation tools, we invest in equipping all Justees to facilitate dynamic and productive invention workshops.
We don’t just run these internally – we take them to our clients, advocacy partners and to the health charities we collaborate with as part of our industry-recognised pro bono initiative, A Just:: Cause.
You might be surprised by the magic that can happen when you put the right investment, focus and strategic thinking into generating exciting ideas specifically tailored to your communications challenge.
Here are just a few tips for running invention workshops that deliver real results. Go on, have a go (and let us know how you get on!)
1. Get people fired up in advance
Think carefully about who to invite and how to invite them. Use positive, upbeat language or think of a way of “teasing” people about the workshop. The “Inventors” are what makes it productive – and getting them in the right frame of mind to generate fantastic ideas begins before they walk into the room. Consider them your target audience/your “client” – use your powers of influence and persuasion so that the Invent is an experience they want to be part of.
2. Isolate the challenge(s)
Like children need boundaries, creativity needs focus to really flourish. Think carefully in advance about the one or two specific challenges you want your Inventors to concentrate on during the workshop. You will need to craft these challenges from your interpretation of the client brief and/or the insights you have already uncovered – what we call the ‘Curiosity’ and ‘Discovery’ phases. Have the courage of your convictions in isolating your challenges – and recognise that how you frame the challenge for your Inventors will have a direct impact on the nature of the ideas generated. Use the ‘Mum Test’ (getting rid of all jargon and marketing speak) to articulate your challenge. This will ensure you get ideas that go beyond the tried and tested – tapping into the softer/more emotional “core” of a challenge or opportunity.
3. Set expectations
Share upfront what you want people to do and how you want them to be in the session. Signpost the activities you will be doing. Share a flow for the time you will all spend together – don’t specify timings – make it so you can flex to what is happening/how the different Invent techniques are working out.
4. Share the context for the challenge
Spend the first 5-10 minutes sharing the background to the brief so that everyone in the room has the same information to work from. You can do some of this in advance – including key points in the invitation or even getting the group to do some pre-reading/preparation. Only share the most important information so that you don’t overload people – and try and do this in an exciting way as it sets the tone for the workshop (sharing what we call ‘Clues & Hunches’ is a good starter for ten). Spending time isolating the key facts/figures and insights before the workshop is also a good discipline for you (or the team you are delivering the Invent for) – it helps you identify and articulate the heart of the challenge you are working with.
5. Allow for venting
Consider doing what we call a ‘First Burst’ – so people have the opportunity to shed their initial ideas/preconceptions before you start getting them to think more laterally.
Keep your eyes peeled for the second part of my ten top tips in the next Just:: blog post