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PURPOSE: Discuss and verify the purpose of the session (to identify, resolve, and/or allocate issues for resolution).
YOUR ROLE: Explain your role as facilitator.
AGREEMENT: Establish the agreement.
• Explain the difference between meetings and workflow management sessions.
CONTENT AND PROCESS: Explain the terms content and process.
INFORMATION GAPS: Explain the nature and role of Information Gaps.
SPEED: Explain the role of speed in all workflow management sessions.
ISSUES: Define and discuss issues.
• Instruct your associate to write “Issues” on his or her notepad.
• Collect and display these issues.
CRITICAL ISSUES: Identify Critical Issues.
BOARD: Board the Critical Issues.
NUMBER: Number all Critical Issues for ease of identification.
RANK: Rank the Critical Issues.
• Identify the top five Critical Issues.
QUESTION EXERCISE: Run the Question Exercise.
• Collect and board the first round of questions.
• Ask for a better question.
• Run the second round of the Question Exercise.
• Collect and board the second round of questions.
• Determine whether there are any additions to or deletions from the list of issues.
• Ask whether the first issue can be resolved immediately.
• If yes: Resolve it and promote it to the Action Plan.
END SESSION, or resolve the next issue.
• If no: Determine the Next Steps for resolving the issue (via a Problem-Solving Session, Innovation Session, reallocation, postponement, or other means) and promote it to the Action Plan.
• Repeat the process until all Critical Issues have been addressed.
ACTION PLAN: Complete the Action Plan components.
END SESSION. (Switching roles during a one-on-one
Issues Management Session would be done for training purposes only.)
PURPOSE: Discuss and verify the purpose of the session (e.g., “to discover preemptive brand-positioning opportunities”).
YOUR ROLE: Explain your role as facilitator.
AGREEMENT: Establish the agreement.
• Explain the difference between conventional meetings and workflow management sessions.
CONTENT AND PROCESS: Explain the terms content and process.
INFORMATION GAPS: Explain the nature and role of Information Gaps.
SPEED: Explain the role of speed in all workflow management sessions.
INNOVATION SESSION PHASES: Explain to your associate that all Innovation Sessions are composed of four phases: Ideation, Building, Evaluation, and Action Plan.
STARTING: After a brief discussion with your partner, write up your understanding of the session goal.
INFORMATION GAPS: Write “Information Gaps” on your easel.
TOP OF MIND: Instruct your associate to write down any ideas he or she already has about new brand-positioning opportunities (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: At the end of the allotted time, display your colleague’s ideas on your easel.
QUESTION EXERCISE: Explain the purpose of this exercise, and request that your associate write as many questions as possible in the next three minutes.
• Do not board your associate’s questions yet. Instead, instruct your associate to ask a better question (three-minute time limit).
IDEATION: Ask your associate to write as many new brand-positioning ideas as possible within the next three minutes.
DISPLAY: Board the outcome of the preceding step.
MIND-READING EXERCISE: Run the Mind-Reading Exercise with your associate (maximum five-minute time limit).
SHARE: Ask your associate to share his or her list with you, but do not board the results.
IDEATION: Instruct your associate to write at least three more new positioning ideas (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board the outcome of the preceding step.
GENIE EXERCISE: Run the Genie Exercise for your associate (five-minute time limit).
SHARE: Ask your colleague to share his or her list, but do not board the results.
IDEATION: Request that your partner write at least three more new positioning ideas (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board your associate’s new ideas.
BUILDING PHASE: Let your associate know that you’re now switching to the Building phase of the one-on-one Innovation Session. Explain the Building phase within the context of a group session vs. a one-on-one session. Explain how the Building phase is utilized in a group setting, and guide your associate to customize the process for a one-on-one format.
IDEATION: Ask your associate what new positioning ideas have arisen as a consequence of the building process (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board the outcome of the preceding step.
EVALUATION PHASE: Let your associate know that you’re now switching to the Evaluation phase of the one-on-one Innovation Session.
CONCEPT-BUILDING: Explain how to convert new product (or positioning) ideas to concepts.
IDEATION: Identify new ideas, concepts, combinations, patterns, interconnectivities, etc. (five-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board the outcome from the preceding step.
CONCEPT-RANKING: Explain the ranking process and implement it.
SWITCH ROLES: If your partner is capable of facilitating a one-on-one Innovation Session, switch roles and run the session again with you as the participant.
ACTION PLAN: Promote the most viable concepts to Action Plan status. Include all Information Gaps. Switch roles if your partner knows how to run a one-on-one Innovation Session.
PURPOSE: Discuss and verify the purpose of the session (e.g., “how do we curb the high turnover of senior sales personnel and the resultant loss of their accounts?”).
FACILITATOR: Explain your role as facilitator.
AGREEMENT: Establish the agreement.
• Explain the difference between conventional meetings and workflow management sessions.
CONTENT AND PROCESS: Explain the terms content and process.
INFORMATION GAPS: Explain the nature and role of Information Gaps.
SPEED: Explain the role of speed in all workflow management sessions.
PATTERNS/INTERCONNECTIVITIES: Board all problems on a separate sheet and instruct your colleague to write down any patterns or interconnectivities he or she observes (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board all observations from the preceding step.
NO EVALUATION: Remind your associate that there can be no evaluating or judging during the Ideation stages of the one-on-one Problem-Solving Session.
VERIFY PROBLEM: Run a What-If Exercise (five-minute time limit).
SOLUTIONS: Instruct your associate to write at least three possible solutions within five minutes.
DISPLAY: Board the solutions and partial solutions.
SOLUTION FOUND: Ask your associate if he or she believes a solution has been found.
• If yes: Proceed to the Action Plan. Include all Information Gaps.
END SESSION.
• If no: Continue with the Problem-Solving Session (or change roles, if your associate knows how to run a one-on-one Problem-Solving Session).
ENTRY POINTS, LEVERAGE, AND QUESTIONS: Explain the role of each in the Problem-Solving Session.
QUESTION EXERCISE: Run a Question Exercise (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board the questions.
BETTER QUESTION: Without pause or comment, instruct your colleague to ask a better question.
SOLUTION FOUND: If a solution has been found, proceed to the Action Plan. Include all Information Gaps.
IDEATION: If a solution has not been found, run the Mind-Reading Exercise (five-minute time limit).
SOLUTIONS: Without pause, ask your associate to write three possible solutions to the problem (three-minute time limit).
DISPLAY: Board the suggested solutions.
SOLUTION FOUND: Ask your associate if he or she believes a solution has been found.
• If yes: Proceed to the Action Plan. Include all Information Gaps.
• If no: Change roles.
OR: Schedule the problem for a group Problem-Solving Session.