Conduct an Innovation Week That Inspires Loyalty and Ignites A Passion

Jumpstart your company’s idea culture by launching with an Innovation Week at your business. Through a week-long series of activities, brainstorms, problem solving activities and innovation initiatives, you and your colleagues will experience a wide variety of methods for thinking differently to solve problems and identify new opportunities.

How it works

Our innovation programs are customized to your business, but follow a template that ensures the week is productive and action-  oriented.

• Pre-Week Promotions Build Anticipation. In the two weeks leading up to Innovation Week, we will kick-off a variety of promotional activities at your business that sets the tone for Innovation Week activities. These promotions include emails, on-site activities and signage that get employees engaged in and thinking about how they will contribute.
• “Key Players” Planning Brainstorm. You will select key stakeholders on your team to participate in a planning workshop that gauges specific issues and opportunities that can be tackled – all while building their own skillsets to lead discussions throughout the week. These players – a mix of leaders and those recognized for creative thinking, will be key to a successful program.

Once these sessions are over, the real work begins as we kick-off Innovation Week at your business with the entire (or select members or teams) staff.

• Monday is Launch Day!The morning kicks off with a company-wide meeting and a few quick thinking activities that set the tone for the week. Staff will be divided into small groups to tackle a quick business challenge and then present the results before their peers. Teams will learn that solving a problem has many solutions – and that thinking outside the box can spark better results.Using project and opportunities identified during the preview meetings. A group lunch brainstorm will be held to identify processes, product and services issues that are holding the company back from the next big thing. Through a fun fast-paced session, team members will prioritize opportunities to be tackled and sign up to join the efforts they want to be involved in.An afternoon session with the executive team will assign teams and finalize the goals of the program.The day ends with a fun group activity for your employees and a take-home assignment that is simple to complete.
• Tuesday is Team Building Day. Teams begin the day reviewing their ‘idea’ assignment with a winner being declared for most outside the box thinking. Heading back to work, the team reconvenes at the end of the day for a two-hour session of specific problem solving and team building exercises, carefully crafted to help employees understand the importance of tapping into each others expertise and challenging the status quo of thinking.
• Wednesday is Problem Solving Day. Having identified specific challenges during the pre-meetings and on Monday, teams will begin working together to solve specific problems that creative, out of the box thinking requires. Teams will gather three times during the day to work on problems, once at the beginning, once during an extended lunch and finally at the end of the day closing with presentations by groups.
• Thursday is Disruption Day. Thinking like a competitor is critical – because it puts you in the frame of thinking to identify vulnerabilities of your own company. On Disruption day, your team will be focusing on how to not just compete with, but completely annihilate your business through creative new products, new sales approaches and tactical changes. Teams will finish the day presenting how they have found ways to disrupt your business and hurt your enterprise.
• Friday is Looking Ahead Day. The last day of Innovation Week is really just the first day of your innovation culture’s future. A series of final innovation exercises and planning meetings will conclude with goal setting and a program that kicks off future efforts to promote and support an innovative culture.

Why Host An Innovation Week?

Companies who effectively involve employees in generating new ideas and have them participate in the execution have more engaged and connected workforces. Upwardly mobile employees who might otherwise seek opportunities elsewhere remain more engaged and see that their input can impact the future of the company. Senior management get a creative way to tap into the talent and experience of their staff in a highly effective manner that solicits groundbreaking ideas.

Employees who have ideas to cut costs, improve process or create a new revenue stream are given a safe, effective avenue to take risk and offer up ideas they’ve been holding back on or lacked an avenue to share and develop with their colleagues. Most importantly, employees can get recognition for ideas – and learn to leverage their colleagues knowledge and experience to be more effective collaborators.