Program Planning with Ideation Meetings
The Tool: Ideation Meetings
The purpose:
Congrats, you just landed a new project! The good news is that you are being trusted with an innovative (and possibly expensive) program. The bad news is, the stakeholders in your organization all have a different idea of what this should look, feel, and smell like.
Enter: Ideation Meetings
Use Case:
Full disclosure, I am not an expert in this topic - there are lots of folks in the UX space who have innovative and collaborative tools for making these meetings happen (like this one and this one). But I have been successfully planning ideation meetings at my own organization, twice a year for the past three years, and here are some best practices to share with my fellow designers.
These meetings are especially effective if you have already worked with your team to complete a Logic Model, and therefore have clarified the objective and impact the project will have on the organization.
Instructions for use:
Plan your deliverables
Determine what you want to achieve - is it a storyboard, a workshop schedule or a list of e-learning modules? Then, work backwards from there, and set up a series of meetings to reach creating that objective.
I like to start the work with smaller groups, present to a larger group, and then finish with a smaller group.
Structure your invites
Whose input is needed in these meetings? What input are they expected to give?
Define clear outcomes
If you are planning ideation over a series of days or weeks, set clear benchmarks for each meeting. Outline what will be accomplished by the end of each meeting, and put it in the invite so everyone is on the same page.
Select a strong facilitator
The leader of these meetings needs to strike the right balance of asking for input and keeping everyone on topic. Some of the questions to ask SMEs might be useful here.
Document ideas
My team likes to use sticky notes and different colors of markers for the various types of suggestions that come out of the meeting. When the meeting is over, we transfer ideas and notes from the whiteboard into various templates to plan the program.
The Pros:
Hosting one, or more, ideation meetings is a way to receive collaborative input from all stakeholders in the project. If run effectively, these meetings will ensure stakeholder buy-in and set up a collaborative process from start to finish.
The Cons:
Just like the logic model, ideation meetings are only useful if they are set with intention, and if action items are clearly assigned. If the meeting facilitator does not feel confident, or each meeting does not have a clear goal, your efforts will not yield the results you are hoping for.
The Takeaways:
Defining and implementing a collaborative process for program development can help make sure your stakeholders feel heard during the design process.
