Facilitation of Online Workshops.

Design Thinking relies on teamwork. The teams are made up of experts from various disciplines. The collaboration takes place in workshops, which are facilitated with stimulating moderation techniques (so-called tools).

Thanks to modern technologies, this is now done online. This saves time and travel costs and accelerates the collaboration of international and virtual teams. Online Design Thinking is, therefore, ideally suited for modern forms of organization.

My role.

I plan the Design Thinking process with you and facilitate the workshops. This way, you can fully concentrate on your topic and reach your goal in the shortest way.

To do this efficiently, I want to start working with you and your team from exactly where you are. We take care of that during the contracting stage.

My Guarantee of Success

Whenever I submit a proposal, I check the feasibility of the project. I only offer projects that I am convinced will be successful.

Contracting

For each project, I conclude a consulting contract with you. Therefore, we clarify the following points before starting the project:

The Design Thinking question: This can be roughly outlined at the beginning. However, I want to be sure that Design Thinking is a good choice for your issue. Otherwise, I will make an alternative suggestion.
In-house expertise: Design Thinking is interdisciplinary. In this respect, it is important to know in which areas experts from your organization can be involved.
Preliminary work that was already done: Mostly, these are existing documents. As a business consultant, I am bound by confidentiality.

I would also like to capture the framework conditions, such as time constraints, organizational specifics, and also previous experiences with Design Thinking and online collaboration.

The above points may give rise to further questions, which we will discuss.

After I have fully understood your request, you will receive an offer from me. This summarizes the initial situation and the objective and outlines the procedure. This is the basis for my time and cost estimate, which is also part of the quote.

Execution begins after the offer has been accepted.

Execution

Design Thinking follows a process that is divided into phases. A sprint can be planned well: Design Thinking workshops are the core element.

The workshops are not an end in themselves: in these, interdisciplinary teams work together creatively. This is the team to nominate.

I recommend a division into a core team and additional experts: The core team participates in all workshops, whereas the experts are invited when their specific expertise is required.

Workshop planning
We plan the workshop sequence together. Design Thinking recommends phases with main topics (Empathize - Define - Ideate - Prototype - Test). However, optimizations are possible, depending on information already available and preliminary work done.

Rough planning is already part of the offer (see above), so detailed planning is needed. It is essential to select suitable moderation formats (so-called tools). And the flexibility to be able to adjust them as you go along. For this, you can rely on my extensive consulting experience.
Facilitation
As a facilitator, I lead the team through the workshops. In doing so, I rely on complementary consulting, which is perfectly suited for Design Thinking. Your advantage is that you also benefit from my expertise in addition to my facilitation skills.

For the workshops, we use my platforms for video conferencing and online whiteboards. In addition, I like to bring in tools for detailed planning (strategy, financial planning). This way, you can find the right answers to complex questions without having to invest time in preparation or in the acquisition of software.
Results
We put essential workshop results on record. Over time, the solution mosaic comes together. Be it a digital business model, an innovative product, a service in demand, or an optimized process.
Measures: Management decides on the further course of action. The developed solution can be implemented immediately. Or improvements can be demanded. It is important that the developed results are taken up and valued. This also represents an important appreciation of the team's work.

The project formally ends with the closing.

Closing

It is important to me that you are satisfied, so the project ends with a formal acceptance. This allows me to clarify any unanswered questions and we can clear up any misunderstandings.

I also invite you to a debriefing with the team. In it, we discuss strengths and weaknesses, and what we might want to change on a follow-up job.

In addition, we reflect on the results achieved, as well as their further use. And we’ll discuss ways to let your organization benefit from Design Thinking in the future.

Together with the final invoice you will receive all project results collected once again and I will return any materials provided to me.