How to Host Innovation Meetings Like a Strategy Consultant – Association Chat

Sometimes it seems like everyone is talking about innovation, but you may have noticed that not everyone agrees on exactly how to “do innovation”. Some people think innovating is limited to a select group of highly creative geniuses who work alone, such as Steve Jobs, George Washington Carver, and Marie Curie. Though there is no doubt these individuals have impacted the world with their work, most innovation is done by teams.

Teams at any company (not just big tech firms) can work together to innovate, whether it is disruptive or incremental, external or internal. At the center of this process lies the innovation meeting. What you do before, during, and after an innovation meeting is critical to the meeting’s success. By preparing and doing the right things, you can ensure it isn’t just another “this could have been an email” meeting – instead it will be the starting point for an innovation journey.

Before the Meeting

Define your goals

What is the objective for your meeting? It is important to have a clear purpose. Will you be clearly defining a problem? Empathizing with your target consumer? Ideating and generating a long list of solutions? Planning an experiment to test an idea? 

Think about what you want attendees thinking, saying, and doing after the meeting. Don’t forget to consider the information you want to collect throughout the meeting and how you plan to get it. If the meeting is being planned by a team, it’s important that everyone is on the same page about the objectives – this is the foundation of planning your experience.

Select the attendees

Innovation meetings are most successful when there are a limited number of people in the room. This makes it easier for everyone to have a voice and form a sense of intimacy amongst the team. It is also easier to coordinate everyone and get them all in the same room at the same time. When we run these sessions, we usually include only six to eight people. It may be tempting to include everyone who has anything to do with the chosen topic. Instead, seriously consider who must be in the room and who could have good contributions, even if they’re not experienced in the topic.

Invite your selected group to the meeting and make sure that this is communicated as being optional. There are few things that can ruin an innovation meeting more than having a grumpy person who does not want to participate. At the same time, the individuals who want to participate must commit to attending the meeting in person. It is possible to run an innovation meeting with a virtual attendee, but it is very difficult given the visual nature of the meeting format.

Develop a conversation framework

When you sit down to plan your activity, don’t forget to factor in your objectives and any limitations (e.g. size of the room, whether there is a whiteboard, etc.). Begin with the end in mind and create a conversation plan for getting those results. For example, say your goal is to innovate your business model by appealing to a new type of customer; you should begin by discussing your current business model, including your key customer segments and the company’s relationship with them. Once the team has a shared understanding of the current state, you can start considering the new group you want to engage.

Find or create visual tool(s)

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of visual tools available online that you can download, print, and use for your meeting. You can see some examples on our digital learning platform here. Think about the conversation framework you created and do some googling to find an existing tool or create your own! Use visual metaphors that relate to the conversational points you want to touch on – images like mountains, clouds, the sun, and pathways are commonly used visual metaphors to get you started.

Create a timed agenda

When you have a conversation framework and visual tools to guide the team through it, you should create an agenda for the meeting. Estimate how much time each tool will take the team to complete, but do not give them enough time to go off-topic. For reference, when we host innovation meetings, we spend 15 to 45 minutes on each visual tool depending on the complexity. Don’t forget to include time for a short agenda and objectives review at the beginning of the meeting and time to explain each visual tool.

Gather the right supplies & set up

An ideal room will have a large table that everyone can sit or stand around to work on your visual tool. A whiteboard is also very useful so you can keep track of the meeting agenda and any important pieces of information that everyone should know. 

When it comes to supplies, sticky notes and fine-tip permanent markers are the name of the game. The great thing about sticky notes is that they can be easily moved around or replaced. There should be more than enough sticky note pads and markers for everyone so that everyone can write and participate in the session. 

During the Meeting

Have a strong facilitator

One person, preferably someone involved in the planning of the innovation meeting, should act as the facilitator. This person should be deeply familiar with the conversation to be had and the visual tools. At the beginning of the meeting, they should reiterate the goals and objectives of the session. Then throughout the meeting, they will explain each tool to the attendees and make sure the team stays on task. It is also the facilitator’s role to drive pace and make sure the group sticks to the set agenda and timing. It may feel uncomfortably fast for the team, but the point is to drive them to action quickly.

The facilitator must also push people to be specific and when it comes to developing a game plan for executing an innovation, realistic. If you see any wishy-washy terms like “marketing” or “education” or “technology”, point them out and encourage the team to write what they mean specifically and seriously consider the implications of these choices.

Establish rules and roles

It is important to set the scene for the meeting – this will not be anything like a typical information-sharing meeting where only one or two people talk and everyone else listens. For an innovation meeting to be successful, everyone needs to participate and be vocal. This means that everyone has the power of the pen, hence why everyone gets sticky notes and a marker. They should also put away any phones or laptops that may distract from the meeting.

Focus on the customer 

During the whole conversation, the team should constantly remind themselves that the innovation they’re discussing must appeal to an end customer. Even if you’re discussing an internal innovation that the outside world will never see, you will have internal customers to appeal to, such as frontline staff whose work will change as a result, or a board that has final approval on a change. Ask the team questions like, 

Walk away with action items

At the end of the meeting, ask the team what action items they need to complete to continue the progress made during the meeting. Push them to be specific about the timeline and who will get what done. Write this down on a whiteboard, flipchart, or sticky notes so that everyone is clear on what needs to be done and can hold each other accountable in the future. It may also be helpful to take notes of any new actions that the team has discussed during the meeting to spur this conversation later and ensure nothing is overlooked.

After the Meeting

Share the outputs with the team

Take photos of the visual tool(s) filled with the attendee’s ideas. Make sure all of the sticky notes are visible (not layered behind each other) in the photo and can be easily read. Type out anything important such as the agreed-on action items. Then send all of these materials to the meeting attendees along with the next check-in date. If the team has a dedicated workspace, you can tape the visual tools onto the walls as a constant reminder of the future plan.

Hold the team accountable

Don’t let the energy of the innovation meeting wane over time. Schedule regular check-ins to verify that the team has made progress on the action items they agreed to during the meeting. Don’t forget to get the next team innovation meeting scheduled so you can continue to make progress and make change.

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