Earlier this year, the Kilkenny CEB piloted a series of ‘creative workshops’ with a group of CEB client companies. The group included companies from the neighbouring counties of South Tipperary and Carlow. This pilot programme proved extremely successful at introducing the effectiveness of creative thinking techniques in assisting participants to consider their existing product and service offerings. So we decided to follow-up on this pilot with a more intensive programme.

We now intend to establish a ’creative business innovation network’ of up to 18 companies and provide support to the network (e.g. facilitated meetings, structured techniques, etc.) for a period of 1-year initially.

 The business innovation network will have the following aims:

• To continue the delivery of training of established creativity techniques
• To use these techniques to support real business objectives and challenges
• To create a long-term support system between groups of participants
• To support each participant in his/her endeavour to create an innovative work environment

We had a very well-attended information session last week in the Newpark Hotel, Kilkenny to launch this new programme and such was the interest that 18 companies subsequently signed-up to participate in the business innovation network from January of next year. 

Structure
The group of 18 companies will now be sub-divided in to triads (i.e. small groups of three people), and they will maintain communication and support each other to achieve their individual objectives throughout the course of the programme.

They will also ‘practice’ techniques learnt at Network meetings, to generate ideas for each other, to help each other overcome obstacles they face in their business and generally coach and mentor each other. They will also commit to pre-arranged conference calls or meeting up at least once between main Network meetings.

The Network Meetings
The Network meetings will take place once a month over the 12 months (i.e. total of 12 meetings). Each meeting will begin with a 30 minute feedback session, with one member of each triad reporting on the progress of his/her group.

There will then follow a 1½ hour session during which a new creativity / innovation technique will be introduced by the network facilitator. This will also be accompanied by an evaluation /decision making technique.

Participants will then engage in group workshops for circa 1 hour to practice the given techniques on relevant challenges chosen by the group.

This will be followed by 15 minutes of feedback, and finally 30 minutes of goal setting. (i.e. – participants will re-form into their triads and agree on their individual tasks and goals to be achieved within the coming month.)

During the programme the whole group will also be encouraged to work on a combined project such as a fundraising challenge for charity or other not-for-profit organization.

This is an exciting initiative and I am very much looking forward to seeing how the participants will benefit from the various elements of the network. I will keep you posted on progress.

Sean.

www.kceb.ie