In a previous post I wrote about how to inject creativity into strategy workshops. Now I’m going to discuss ways you can make your creative workshops more strategic. This doesn’t mean losing the energy and spontaneity required for creative sessions. It just ensures that the ideas you generate are purposeful and on brief. Here are some suggestions on how to do this.

1 Have clear objectives upfront

During the planning phase, be clear about how many ideas you’re aiming for, what the format of the idea will be and what constitutes success. Without clear goals, it’s hard to plan and deliver a successful session. If you keep the task vague, the chances are that the workshop will lack direction.

2 Separate ‘divergent’ from ‘convergent’ thinking

The workshop will go through 2 thinking phases. It starts with divergent thinking ie ‘going out’. This is classic ‘brainstorming’. It's all about generating many potential ideas without judgement. Here, you’re using creative exercises to stretch your thinking. Then you move to convergent thinking which is all about ‘going in’. Here is where you narrow your options. You focus on the good ideas and shape them into detailed solutions.

When running a session, be clear on where you are in the process. Spend as much time converging as you do diverging.

3 Use objective criteria to help judge ideas

When people come to identify ideas to pursue, they often act quickly. They rely on their gut feel or intuition to guide them. This is fine, but risks bias creeping in. In addition, provide rational, objective criteria when judging ideas. For example, ease of implementation, speed to market, and profit potential. Use a scoring or a rating system eg 1-5 to evaluate ideas across these criteria.

4 Have a clear structure / framework for capturing ideas

Design a bespoke template for capturing ideas - see the example below. This makes your thinking more structured. It lets you compare ideas easily. Create whatever format works for you, but an ideas template should:

• provide an opportunity to both describe and visualise the idea

• have no more than 3 or 4 boxes (otherwise it becomes a box-filling exercise)

• include both specific and descriptive elements

5 Ask teams to pitch their ideas

To ensure clarity of thinking and introduce an element of healthy competition to the proceedings. Ask participants to ‘sell’ their ideas using all their skills of persuasion. Give each team just 30 seconds to pitch their ideas for potential funding. Offer some kind of prize or recognition for the team with the most inspiring idea.

So to summarise

Ensure your creative workshops don’t feel random and disorganised. Insert strategic dimensions to ensure the output is productive, useful, and on brief. Of course, allow for improvisation and meandering. But, always make sure your idea workshops are strategic as well as creative.