How do you facilitate agile innovation workshops?

1 Define the goal and scope

Before you invite participants, you need to have a clear and specific goal for the workshop. What problem are you trying to solve? Who are your customers and what are their needs? What assumptions do you want to validate or invalidate? How will you measure success? Having a well-defined goal and scope will help you design the workshop agenda, select the right methods and tools, and communicate the expectations and outcomes to the stakeholders.

3 Plan the agenda and activities

Once you have the goal, scope, participants, and format of the workshop, you can start planning the agenda and activities. A typical agile innovation workshop consists of four phases: discover, ideate, prototype, and test. In each phase, you will use different methods and techniques to explore the problem, generate and select ideas, build and refine prototypes, and gather and analyze feedback from customers. You can use various frameworks and tools to guide the workshop, such as design thinking, lean canvas, customer journey map, brainstorming, sketching, storyboarding, wireframing, prototyping tools, landing pages, surveys, interviews, etc. The key is to choose the activities that suit your goal and scope, and to allocate enough time and resources for each phase.

4 Facilitate the workshop and engage the participants

As a facilitator during the workshop, your role is to guide the participants through the agenda and activities, ensure everyone is engaged and productive, manage time and energy levels, and resolve any issues or conflicts that may arise. There are various techniques and tips you can use to facilitate the workshop effectively. Setting ground rules and expectations at the start, such as respecting each other's opinions and being open to feedback, can help create an environment for collaboration. Icebreakers and warm-ups can break the ice and build rapport among participants. Questions and prompts can encourage participation and elicit insights. Visual aids and templates can structure information, document the process, and capture outcomes. Online tools and platforms can enable collaboration, communication, and feedback in remote or hybrid workshops. Breaks and energizers can keep participants focused, motivated, and refreshed.

5 Follow up on the workshop and implement the learnings

After the workshop, you need to follow up on the results and actions, and implement the learnings. Summarize and share the key findings, insights, and feedback with participants and stakeholders. Evaluate and prioritize ideas and prototypes based on their feasibility, desirability, and viability. Plan and execute the next steps such as further testing, validation, or development of the ideas. Measure and track progress and impact of the innovation process using metrics that align with your goal and scope. Celebrate and reward achievements of the workshop, while acknowledging contributions of participants.