Kongsberg
KONGSBERG is a technology group that delivers solutions to their customers that operate in extremely challenging environments, from the bottom of the sea, to outer space.
Kongsberg had two challenges, they wanted senior stakeholders across the business to learn to run and effectively facilitate innovation workshops, and then leverage these workshops to explore how their diverse product range could benefit other vertical markets. Their overarching aim was to unlock new business opportunities by identifying and tapping into the potential applications of their technologies across different industries.
After some in-depth research they landed upon the Newicon Innovation Kit and “Design Thinking” methodology. Kongsberg didn’t want a big consultancy approach, they also didn’t require an agency to facilitate the workshops for them, they wanted to gain the knowledge and understanding of how best to run these events internally. It was important for them to have a customer centric innovation process across the business and for their senior stakeholders to have a deep understanding of how best to:
The team already possessed a solid grasp of design thinking at a high level and recognised its potential business benefit and they were eager to implement it more comprehensively across the entire organisation, globally, in countries such as the USA, Norway as well as the United Kingdom.
Kongsberg, with its formidable reputation, had already established a considerable market footprint firmly rooted in the oil and gas sector and they were looking for ways to better utilise their existing technology and transcend industry boundaries into all sectors and across business departments. Ultimately, their objective was to find a company or tool with the expertise to conduct internal training to equip their well-established global teams with the skills necessary to independently oversee this “workshop and facilitation” aspect of their business.
Kongsberg were drawn to the Newicon “Agile Architecture process” and the “Innovation kit” and after a demonstration of the innovation kit, they were immediately captivated, realising that it offered the precise solution they had been seeking. The business leaders were enthusiastic about the prospect of independently utilising the kit across their organisation, they recognised the kit eliminated the need for third-party reliance moving forwards. During the pandemic, the team adeptly transitioned to the online format, leveraging tools like Miro and video conferencing for seamless remote collaboration. In parallel, Newicon were also committed to ensuring the team's proficiency in in-person collaboration as well, through comprehensive training using printed guides and meticulously prepared resources.
In order to train the Kongsberg team, the Newicon designers picked one of Kongsberg's business challenges and ran an online workshop, during which the senior team were able to reap the benefits first hand as well as receive hands on training and get a practical understanding of how the process works.
Newicon's Head Of Design put together a specific framework for Kongsberg and equipped their team with an extensive facilitation guide before the two day session, enabling thorough preparation for all those taking part beforehand.
Day 1)
Training
We commenced with a walk-through of the innovation kit workshop. The Newicon design team ran a session with a small number of the Kongsberg team, ensuring no more than 5 people were in a session at a time. The day was run as a standard real life workshop with designated stopping points at each exercise, and the team delved into the details of the problem space chosen to assist the facilitators. The breakdown of the session included: An introduction to the exercise, its objectives, step by-step guidance, what to avoid, and tips for facilitation success.
At the end of the first day the Kongsberg team had gained a comprehensive understanding of the kit and how to facilitate it. The focus was less on achieving a definitive solution to a particular problem, and rather built upon introducing the kit and imparting facilitation skills to maximise its effectiveness in future workshops.
Day 2)
Facilitation support & training
This saw the senior team at Kongsberg enthusiastically taking part in facilitating various segments of the workshop utilising the innovation kit. Throughout the session the Newicon team actively engaged as staged participants whilst offering valuable suggestions, guidance and feedback, and assistance to both facilitators and participants. This collaborative approach fostered the development of the team's confidence in independently conducting future internal and external workshops.
The Newicon workshop facilitators integrated into both days, ensuring sessions were productive. Both days were recorded and this ensured valuable resources for future reference.
The Innovation Kit training sessions yielded a range of promising ideas and insights for Kongsberg as well as equipping the team with a comprehensive understanding of how the the workshops are run/facilitated, and they were left with two practical options moving forwards:
This left Kongsberg in a pragmatic position, with positive possibilities to explore. The business leaders involved in the workshop possessed the skills and knowledge to implement their new skills across the business strengthening their position.
We asked Kongsberg how they found the training process, the results of which were very complimentary:
Feedback questions
How clear was the Facilitator Guide to follow? (0-10)
0 - Not clear and all & super hard to follow, 10 - Very clear & very easy to follow
Answer: 9
8 - instructions are extremely clear, but it requires a fair amount of prep (knowing what’s to come, etc)
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How easy was the Facilitator Guide to understand? (0-10)
0 - Not easy to understand at all, 10 - Very easy to understand
Answer:
10
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What do you like the most and what the least about the Facilitator Guide?
Answer:
I like the “Just Read Me” and the “Know but don’t share” Favourite section: “Things that can go wrong”, page 15
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Have you got any recommendations for improvements to the Facilitator Guide?
Answer:
Expand on “Things that can go wrong”, page 15
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Innovation Workshop & Resources:
How clear were the Kit exercises, information and instructions to understand? (0-10)
0 - Not easy to understand at all, 10 - Very easy to understand
Answer:
8: When I first watched the video, I had the impression the exercises were repeating themselves. Then I looked in more detail and it became clear. It’s clear but not obvious.
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How easy were the Kit exercises to complete? (0-10)
0 - Not easy to complete at all, 10 - Very easy to complete
Answer:
10
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How likely would you recommend the Kit to other people? (0-10)
0 - Not very likely, 10 - Highly likely
Answer:
8 - The kit is great. It fits a specific purpose though
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How likely are you to use the Kit in your upcoming workshop? (0-10)
0 - Not very likely, 10 - Highly likely
Answer:
8 - depends on timing and purpose
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How useful are the provided resources to run the workshop (eg. Miro board, Workshopper Books)? (0-10)
0 - Not useful at all, 10 - Very useful
Answer:
10 - love the Miro board
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What do you like the most and what the least about the Workshop?
Answer:
Most: method is great, I trust the process.
Least: We need to run 1-day workshops for a lot of objectives.
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Have you got any recommendations for improvements to the Innovation Kit Workshop?
Answer:
Given the importance of defining a valid workshop objective, I would recommend spending more time explaining the level of granularity required.
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Innovation Kit Training:
How clear was the training process to follow? (0-10)
0 - Not very clear to follow, 10 - Very clear to follow
Answer:
8 - It's all really clear
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How useful the training was to help you facilitate the workshop? (0-10)
0 - Not very useful, 10 - Very useful
Answer:
9
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How likely would you recommend the training to other people? (0-10)
0 - Not very likely, 10 - Highly likely
Answer:
10
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What do you like the most and what the least about the training?
Answer:
Most: Good learning for our buck. Super easy interactions, appreciate it.
Least: It's quite intense. I had a hard time focusing in the afternoon.
Interested in finding out how you can start to Innovate using the Innovation Kit across your business? Or looking for some help getting your project or idea off the ground?
Discover more: https://newicon.net/innovation-kit
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