The Power of Ideas: Ideation Camps as a Solution!
In the ever-changing business landscape of today, teams are constantly coming across problems that they must solve in order to keep the company competitive and have a good financial result. In the wake of innovation by tech startups across various industry verticals, companies are now also faced with additional challenges in terms of technology and product innovation. On top of it all, traditional brands are under more scrutiny for sustainability practices and are facing more regulation and pressure for transparency in terms of how they do business and its impact on the environment from a range of stakeholders such as government entities, shareholders and customers. Altogether, we are seeing a very competitive business landscape with the winners being those who can recognize the problems early and solve them in a satisfactory manner. In this article we will discuss how ideation camps are a great tool for businesses to solve problems and overcome major challenges they face as a team. We start by looking at what ideation camps are, how they work and why companies can greatly benefit from them.
What are Ideation Camps?
Ideation camps refer to workshops that facilitate creative processes in which a group of participants (e.g. team members of the organizing company) are presented with a company problem to solve. Participants work in smaller groups using a variety of ideation techniques based on a camp model and guided by facilitators. This model is typically based on a process of divergence (i.e. generation of ideas) as well as convergence (i.e. filtering and selection of ideas). Not all ideation camps include both processes as some camps are only organized for generation of as many ideas as possible for example. A good ideation camp typically consists of at least 20 participants (including facilitators and invitees) and is held outside of the usual workplace. The latter is due to the creative space and atmosphere required for camps to be really successful. Research shows that participants, especially employees, are usually more engaged if they experience a change of “habitat”. Thus in a new setting they are able to be more creative and/or view the problem from different or new angles. Furthermore, ideation camps can last from a couple of hours to an entire week depending on the objective of the camp. This of course also influences the budget required to organize one.
At the end of an ideation camp, participants present their output or solution(s) to everyone with the aim of this to be documented and presented further to management (post-camp). This can be in the form of ideas and concepts generated or rough prototypes and new business models. These are not necessarily judged but serve as a means to connect the learning process and the overall camp experience with the output generated for every camp participant. As such every participant (e.g. staff member) can add great value towards the growth of the company by sharing their ideas in a “safe” environment.
How does it work?
During an ideation camp, participants are first presented with a problem that needs to be solved. This occurs via presentations and introductory talks with management (and invitees/guest speakers). With the problem being well-defined, participants are then divided into smaller groups with each being assisted by a camp facilitator that answers questions, monitors their progress, makes suggestions and supports participants in every way possible. A camp leader guides the entire event by monitoring the agenda and making sure every group makes progress to make sure that results are generated within the scheduled time. As such, an ideation camp creates a cooperative, playful yet intense atmosphere in which ideas can be generated and built upon in order to solve an important business problem.
There are many aspects that make for a successful camp. These include the organization itself (e.g. location, duration etc.), having the right materials to work with, motivated participants, diversified participants (i.e. different backgrounds & cultures), a well-defined problem to solve, knowledgeable facilitators etc.
Why Consider an Ideation Camp?
Businesses often hit a wall when trying to overcome a major challenge. This can be due to a lack of resources, creativity, new ideas, staff or business culture for example. By organizing an ideation camp, a company is able to (1) define its problem clearly so that every team member understands what is going on, (2) make use of the absorptive capacity, skills and knowledge of all its employees, in other words, increasing its resource efficiency and involving its staff in a collective effort to help the company whilst (3) making use of external participants that are unbiased, and have a fresh perspective on the business, its products and the problem itself. This can also help to foster a stronger organizational and innovation culture if participants are employees from every department. For instance, employees tend to present ideas they’ve been walking around with for a while but didn’t get the right opportunity to present these before. Being specific in terms of the camp output also helps to generate the results expected quickly and on a fixed budget which can be important aspects for management.
All of this, in combination with a camp organizer such as Innovaris, is a great way solve big challenges a company may be facing. Not only can management expect tangible results, but they also have actionable concepts, (product) ideas and business models they can delve further into and develop. For some, the final solution to their problem may be something completely unexpected, while for others it may be the selection of a previously discussed idea. Either way, involving all team members in a creative manner and getting their full input can lead to many additional benefits for a company such as improved motivation, more productivity and better financial results in the long-term.
After organizing an ideation camp, management often has a lot of different options. Depending on the chosen camp model (i.e. generating ideas only or filtering these and selecting the best), managers can opt to develop a selection of ideas or concepts further or do additional (market) research before moving forward using an innovation sprint methodology or stage-gate system. For example, a product idea can be developed further by putting together a product team composed of various members of staff and allocating a budget for the production of an initial prototype. The output of ideation camps, very much depends on parameters set beforehand and the desired output. Hence, planning and organizing an ideation camp is of utmost importance as a means to be effective in solving a business problem whilst being efficient with resources available in the company.
Who can organize such a camp?
In principle, businesses of all sizes can organize an ideation camp. We have seen successful camps hosted by early-stage startups, medium sized companies as well as large corporates with multiple departments. In our experience of planning and organizing ideation camps, we believe it is best to stick with some simple ideation camp principles such as the number of participants, diverse participant backgrounds, a good location, the definition of a camp problem, involvement of external participants (e.g. customers, experts, students etc.), applying horizontal thinking etc. Moreover, as a camp organizer it is a good exercise to ask yourself (1) whether you have the internal experience required to run a camp successfully or if you will need an external partner, (2) if you can use all the employees in your company, and (3) if you can fund an ideation camp or find funding for this.
If you are curious to learn more or want to host an ideation camp in the near future for your company then feel free to drop us a line at team@innovaris.co and tell us what you are looking to achieve! We are keen to help teams innovate, overcome challenges and solve problems they are facing.
