What is an Innovation Lab?

An Innovation Lab is a facilitated, high-energy brainstorming session designed to spur new possibilities in an area that matters to you and your organization.

While Innovation Labs are customized to meet your organization’s unique needs, they are typically structured to:

• Uncover a new vision in an area the organization is committed to creating or expanding.
• Provide structure and space to explore, get creative and play with new ideas.
• Foster connections between participants to expand the energy, creativity and passion of everyone in the room.
• Summarize and document the ideas uncovered, next steps and ownership.

When does an Innovation Lab make sense?

An Innovation Lab can be a powerful tool to enhance the likelihood of success for an initiative or program that matters to your organization. For example, an Innovation Lab can help you:

• Truly innovate something at your organization (e.g., create something that’s never been done before, or elevate something that already exists to a new level).
• Develop and expand the creativity muscles of your people.
• Enroll others in the creation and execution of organizational initiatives.
• Create momentum and buy-in.
• Create structure and accountability.

Some examples of topics that could lend themselves to an Innovation Lab are:

• Creating a new customer service experience.
• Transforming people development (e.g., coaching culture, mentoring program or next generation leadership development).
• Developing skills in new areas, such as making the shift from compliance to consulting.
• Creating a new business development plan.

How does an Innovation Lab work?

An Innovation Lab consists of three primary steps:

1. Planning – We partner with your leadership team to uncover your desired vision, objectives and outcomes for the session. We work out the details of what the session will be together, including who should participate.
2. Facilitate the Innovation Lab – We facilitate the session, which typically lasts 4-8 hours (depending on your objectives and the size of the group). These sessions are typically delivered in-person.
3. Debrief on Outcomes – We will debrief your leadership team on how the experience went, along with any recommendations or learning points. The ideas, outcomes and next steps are owned and presented by the participants of the Innovation Lab.

Contact us to explore how an Innovation Lab could support your organization.