INNOVATIVE FORMATS AND NEW WORK METHODS

Objectives: brainstorming, exchange of ideas, networking, knowledge transfer

Participants: 10 to over 500 people
Duration: half a day to a full day, sometimes over several days

Network: Moderator

Details:
• Barcamps are also referred to as unconferences.
• Hierarchies and one’s own status play no role here.
• The program only emerges on the day of the event itself – through a lively discussion among participants.
• The discussions in the groups require a very active participation of the participants, but also a lot of personal responsibility.
• The more participants, the better, so that as many presentations and insights as possible can be created or sessions held.
• Participants suggest topics and visibly illustrate them, for example, through post-its on a board; together, they then vote on timing and individual sessions.

Objectives: exchange, networking, team building, knowledge transfer

Participants: 10 to over 500 people
Duration: about 4 to 8 hours

Materials: tables for up to 5 people, writable tablecloths

Details:
• Event in which close collaboration takes place to foster creative processes.
• Mix of crowd sourcing and linked idea generation.
• Group dynamics are used to answer questions about the future, participants can help shape the process so that participation within the group is as active as possible and the result is particularly productive.
• The topics are already defined and ideas and visions for them are developed in the World Café.
• Hierarchies and one’s own status play no role here.

Objectives: networking, team building, communication, knowledge transfer

Participants: 10 to 2,000 people
Duration: 4 hours to several days

Network: Moderator

Details:
• Small group discussions that can change – as often as desired – spontaneously and without a fixed group constellation.
• Hierarchies and one’s own status do not play a role here.
• The discussions are coordinated by a moderator who also compiles the results.
• Speakers may also spontaneously come forward and define their own content on an overall topic.

Objective: networking, brainstorming

Participants: 2 people in each conversation, no limit to the total number of participants
Duration: 5- to 15-minute conversations

Details:
• Similar to speed dating, a quick, intense and diverse exchange of thoughts is desired, with a time limit.
• Participants come from diverse genres and have a wide variety of knowledge.
• The Warp Conference is a popular format within a conference for concept development and ideation of the future.

Objectives: getting to know each other, product overview, topics, event content

Participants: 8 people each and 1 to max. 2 speakers, no limit to the total number of participants
Duration: max. 4 minutes presentation and one minute question and answer session

Material: tables for up to 9 people

Details:
• Speed dating format where speaking time is strictly limited.
• Participants or speakers rotate, with the speaker introducing topics and products to the table participants.

Objective: knowledge transfer

Participants: one person each, no limit to the total number of participants
Duration: 10 minutes speaking time per presentation

Details:
• A science competition in which scientists (at best with good communication skills) present their research within ten minutes.
• Afterwards, the audience votes on the best presentation, with the strength of the applause deciding the winner.
• The Science Slam is an entertaining program item during a meeting or conference, where the audience acts as the jury.

Objectives: career orientation, employer branding, personnel marketing, recruitment

Participants: no limit on total participants

Details:
• Applicants go through knowledge tests, assessment centers and job-specific exams in which they can show their creativity.
• In this process, company processes are presented in a real but simplified way in order to quickly check the candidate’s suitability for the job profile.
• This format is time-saving and at the same time so effective that recruitment costs can be significantly minimized.

Objectives: brainstorming, discussion, exchange, networking

Participants: 10 – 30 people
Duration: about 2 hours

Material: Packed lunches (Seminaris Hotels offer specially created walking-break backpacks with food and drinks to go) and a room with technical equipment for the briefing as well as the evaluation of the results

Details:
• Casual and informal meeting during break times for a personal exchange with learning effects.

Objective: Solution approaches in a team

Participants: 10 – 30 people
Duration: 1 – 2 days

Material: Post-Its, drawing material, handicraft utensils
Network: Moderator

Details:
• An insight goal must be set in advance, which the facilitator will keep revisiting.
• All participants are included in the brainstorming, the basic idea is worked on openly and should always be a component.
• The participants come from a wide variety of industries and are experts in their field – regardless of their professional qualifications.
• In a Thinkathon, informal discussions and associative thought processes take place.
• The ideas are presented at the end in the group constellations. The materials and forms of presentation used are irrelevant.

Objectives: action plans, strategies, visions

Participants: 10 – 80 people
Duration: 3 days

Methods: Timelines, mind maps, lists
Network: Moderator

Details:
• The term Future Conference comes from Future Search, in which the past, the present and trends as well as visions of the future are considered in six steps with respective intermediate steps in order to design a future perspective.
• When working on the topics, there may only ever be one solution that includes everyone.
• The moderator announces previously defined rules of conduct so that the atmosphere is always constructive.
• Participants work independently and come together in small and larger groups for discussions.

Objective: resource-saving use of consumables, electricity and renewable energies during the conference (standards of the European environmental management system EMAS – Eco Management and Audit Scheme).

Participants: no limit of total participants
Duration: approx. 3 – 5 minutes per speaker

Details:
• This format (and at the same time this method) is especially popular with companies that want to visibly improve their own environmental performance to the outside world. The speakers have a limited speaking time to do their part for sustainable environmental protection in the company.
• In addition to the resource-saving consumption during the event, the waste handling is also documented in detail.
• If possible, participants should arrive by public transport.