How can you balance structure and flexibility during creative sessions?

1 Define the purpose and scope

Before you start any creative session, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you want to approach it. What is the problem or opportunity you are trying to address? What are the criteria and constraints you need to consider? What are the expected outcomes and deliverables? Having a well-defined purpose and scope will help you set the agenda, choose the right methods and tools, and communicate the expectations and roles to your participants.

2 Choose the right format and duration

Depending on the purpose and scope of your creative session, you may opt for different formats and durations. For example, you may choose a brainstorming session to generate a large number of ideas, a workshop to develop and test prototypes, or a focus group to gather feedback and insights. You may also decide to have a single session or a series of sessions, depending on the complexity and urgency of the project. The key is to choose a format and duration that suits your objectives, resources, and participants.

3 Prepare the materials and environment

As you plan your creative session, you should prepare the materials and environment that will support your creative process. This includes a brief or challenge statement that summarizes the purpose and scope of the session, a facilitator's guide that outlines the agenda, methods, and rules, and a set of tools and techniques such as brainstorming, mind mapping, affinity diagramming, or voting. Additionally, choose a space that is comfortable, accessible, and conducive to creativity such as a meeting room, studio, or virtual platform. Lastly, gather supplies and equipment to capture, document, and share your ideas such as sticky notes, pens, flip charts, cameras, or laptops.

4 Invite and engage the participants

The success of your creative session hinges on the quality and diversity of your participants. Thus, you should invite people who have relevant knowledge, skills, and experience, as well as different perspectives, backgrounds, and styles. Moreover, it's important to make sure they are motivated, interested, and willing to contribute. To ensure their engagement, you can send them an invitation that explains the purpose and scope of the session. Additionally, you can ask them to do some pre-work or research to stimulate their thinking. When they arrive, welcome them warmly and introduce them to each other. Encourage them to participate actively throughout the session by utilizing icebreakers, warm-ups, prompts, and feedback.

5 Adapt and improvise as needed

Even if you have planned and prepared your creative session carefully, you may still encounter unexpected situations or challenges that require you to adapt and improvise. For instance, some of your methods or tools may not be working as intended, some of your participants may not be engaged or cooperative, or some of your ideas may not be relevant or feasible. In these cases, you need to be flexible and responsive, and make adjustments or changes as needed. To achieve this, you should monitor the progress and mood of the session, ask for feedback and suggestions from your participants, modify or skip some activities or steps if they are not meeting your objectives or needs, change the pace or tone of the session if the energy or attention level is low or high, and resolve any conflicts or issues that may arise among the participants.

6 Summarize and follow up

At the end of the creative session, summarizing and following up on the results and actions that emerged is important for consolidating learning, celebrating achievements, and planning your next steps. Reviewing and highlighting the main ideas, insights, and outcomes of the session is beneficial, as is thanking participants for their contribution. Documenting and organizing the output of the session should be done to share with participants and other stakeholders. Additionally, evaluating and reflecting on the effectiveness and satisfaction of the session, as well as identifying strengths and areas for improvement, is necessary. Finally, communicating and implementing the action plan and next steps while keeping participants and other stakeholders updated and involved is key.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?