Click to learn more about the project

 “How can we redesign our services and become more socially innovative?” Dr Nicky Howe.

Teaming up with Southcare Inc and facilitator Alicia Curtis, GroupMap joined in the action with over 30 brilliant minds to create innovative aged care organisations.

Here’s their top 3, which they were happy to share. How would you rate?

1. Be okay with failing – Don’t blame failure, celebrate it. Define the appetite for the risk, then take a bite!

2. Create a culture of open communication – have respectful debates and look outside your own community for ideas.

3. Challenge the values of the boardroom- give people permission to think innovatively and challenge the “common sense” approach in the boardroom.

Engaging youth was the next challenge, but with over 46 ideas generated, there were certainly a few stand outs. Popular actions included advertising in youth areas and universities, reaching out to grandchildren and specialised training programs. Specific governance strategies included changing constitutions to re-define board profiles to hosting youth-driven think tanks. Ideas that really broke from the norm included reaching out to detention centres, immigrant families and having permanent rotating positions.

So how did they come up with these ideas?

People sat in cross generation teams and were addressed by industry leaders who shared their views and insights, creating a little communication fodder. Some believed it was about creating innovation champions within organisations and individuals change agents (Sue Van Leeuwan, CEO-Leadership WA) whilst others believed it required the whole Board to have the right mix and culture. Patrick Critchton, Justine Colyer – Chair.CEO – Rise Network).

What seemed less divided was the need for training the next generation through structured pathways (Julian Keys- Chairperson, Swancare) and creativity and diversity on boards to ensure you aren’t just recycle the same old concepts.(Andrew York, CEO – People who care)

The group was given tasks like writing a business case for their board and to brainstorm takeaway actions to increase engagement of youth in aged care. Seeing a room full of passionate people taking a collaborative approach to problem solving was great. Coupled with an electronic meeting tool that brings everyone’s ideas together in real time was an effective way to solve common problems across the sector.

All the best for your next collaborative workshop. We hope these tips and story helps you create better engagement too!

GroupMap feedback from workshop facilitator

GroupMap feedback from CEO Sponsor

GroupMap feedback from participant

GroupMap feedback from participant 2

The post Creating workshops with a difference – Youth Leaders in Aged Care appeared first on GroupMap.

We’re asking the people of Perth to help answer some BIG questions for the City and will display what people think on the screen at Northbridge Piazza in celebration of World Creativity Week and Innovation Month on the 28th and 29th of April 2013.

All your ideas will be shared in turn to everyone and you will also see suggestions from others.  You can add or reject suggestions and move ideas around. Everything you do influences the final outcome on the big screen.

The more ideas you work through, the more you’ll see. As an idea gets added to more and more maps, it gets bigger and bigger on the group view. Check out the video to find out more.

Click on  your favourite questions below and you’ll be taken through to your own map (Ranking Map or Mind Map) where you can start creating your own response. Join in anytime! You can also TWEET responses to @groupmapapp and we’ll add it into the mix.

What questions take your fancy? See what others have said.

What will transport look like in 2030?
(floating cars or solar powered cycle mobiles?)

What would make your top 5 dream devices of the future?
(hmm, papa needs a brand new bag!)

Tips and tricks to improve creativity?
(your advice could be the muse)

How does the quality of a movie script impact your enjoyment?
(put those movies where you think they belong)

What makes a city truly innovative?
(get those brain juices flowing!)

Social networks – For work, for play or both?
(oh to tweet or not to tweet… ps. it’s okay to tweet @groupmapapp)

What do you think is the next big disruptive idea?
(time travel… I really want time travel)

Have some BIG IDEAS for Perth?
(be bold, be brave!)

Got some final ideas for the next digital festival? Share them here.
You can also tweet your ideas to us @groupmapapp or info@groupmap.com
Like us on Facebook to stay connected and check out some of the results.

GroupMap is an online brainstorming and group response tool for workshops, planning and team activities which captures the wisdom of the crowd  and uses it for decision making. It ranked 3rd nationally at the oZAPP awards and was a scholarship winner at Spacecubed.

GroupMap has been used as a tool to help answer some big questions such as corporate strategy, workforce retention, strategy planning, innovative initiatives and student learning in the public sector and corporate organisations in a simple, engaging and collaborative way.

The post Pause…and tell us what you really think! appeared first on GroupMap.

Using polling may be a choice but that certainly won’t work for an innovation workshop and the chances of ideas being seen at the bottom of a discussion board or in a series of tweets is squat diddilly.

So how do you get 150 brilliant minds to solve a wicked problem?

Fortunately, the committee of the Public Sector Innovation Conference realised that a little innovative technology for group brainstorming and consensus building was needed to get the most of out of the workforce on the day. (See their review here)

Facilitated by Innovation Culture, the group was tasked to solve a wicked problem around 6 areas in the public sector. They had to come up with some ideas, ranked against urgency and impact and present the findings to the panel of Director Generals on the same day. We’ve shared some tips and learning below.

Map 1
The practice mindmap – Gift ideas

Each team was asked to come up with ideas for presents that they would like to receive. As ideas of gifts floated around the room as suggestions, people who saw a fit that they wanted to would add it to their map. In under 5 minutes, we had a shopping list ranked in order of demand.

Map 2
The practice 2D chart – Rank the gifts

The top gifts were then ranked against cost versus the perceived level of “coolness” associated with that gift. This showed how the teams’ vote on ideas influenced the overall ranking of the gift in the group’s response.

Map 3
Creating a Focus Goal – How Might we

To stimulate some creative thinking, the question was asked about potential opportunities. The key words chosen to start the sentence was How Might We… Groups were asked to come up with ways to complete that sentence.

Map 4
Develop a SMART goal

Each Department was then asked to write a SMART goal for their area which would then be shared with others. There was no voting required, but it quickly generated a list of all goals and provided some practice for goal setting.

Map 5
Innovation perspectives – Idea generation around 6 perspectives

With some goals now developed, the group was asked to come up with ideas that could be implemented to meet some of these goals. Teams were asked to put their ideas against 6 different perspectives such as processes and systems, skills and knowledge and collaboration and partnerships. Over 50 unique ideas were generated on the day, of which the top 6 were identified.

Map 6
Rank the top initiatives (2D Chart)

The top 6 ideas were then visually ranked by the group against the following criteria:

Level of value – what value will it provide to the government, community and industry.
Level of impact – what level of impact will it have on the outcomes against the other ideas.

In the end there 3 clear stand out initiatives that were presented back to the panel.

So here are our top 5 tips for effective large group brainstorming and creating audience engagement.

1. Have a practice map or two – it takes away the fear of having to get it right the first time and it makes for a great ice breaker if you have an interesting or fun topic. Gifts are great, but you can also try movie stars, books, food and songs.

2. Follow brainstorming rules… at first. Allow for quantity of ideas without judgement. Let one thought stimulate others and provide an anonymous free flowing environment for ideas to come to life. Everyone has a voice, so give everyone the opportunity.

3. Allow the 4 D’s – Debate, deliberation, discussion and deliberate dissent is all needed to then go through the ideas on their own merit. Group brainstorming has been said to be ineffective without the ability to cull and work through ideas. ( This means being able to reject suggestions or delete ideas in GroupMap!)

4.Pick technology that fits the audience – If you want long detailed narrative, then use discussion boards. If you simply want a tally, then polling suits. But if you want innovative ideation and collaboration then make sure your technology is simple to use, encourages social engagement but without distraction and one that shows what the group has built together, in real time.

5.Manage GroupThink and the dominant participants – You know the problem. You’ve built a collaborative environment with shared ideas and consensus. You then get that one person who decides that their opinion or idea should supersede entire group’s view. And, they will make a point of it. Thank them for their input, capture their feedback and then move on graciously.

Public Sector Innovation Conference is an annual conference managed by the Institute of Public Administration in Australia and was jointly run by the Innovation Centre of WA. Its goal is to increase collaboration across government departments and to foster improved communication and innovative outcomes.

GroupMap is an online audience response tool which allows large group brainstorming and consensus buildings. Ideas are suggested in turn to manage information overload, and are rotated for equal air time. We make things fast but fair. It is an effective tool for group ideation and decision making for workshops, conferences and classrooms.

The post How to get 150 people solving a wicked problem using innovative audience response system. appeared first on GroupMap.

Timing: 20-40 mins

Number of people : 5-100

What you need:

A focus subject

A few probing questions, here’s a few to kick you off for your lesson plan:

• What would be the public perception of this subject?
• How would someone from a different culture describe this?
• What specific examples does this subject remind you of?
• What would surprise you about this subject?
• Recommended Map Type: Mind Map

Initial settings: Set maximum ideas from 3-5, disable suggestions, hide GroupMap.

Outcomes:

• Individuals capture their own perspective and understanding of a topic which can be shared with others.
• The group has built an overall view of a subject which can be compared to other research, industry findings or actual facts.
• Highly engaged group discussion which drives the consensus building process and sharing of information within teams and with the group at large

Example of questions

• What traits do entrepreneurs possess?
• What specific issues/laws/ideas are present in this particular case?
• What are the morals of this story?
• What meaning do you think this piece of art is trying to convey?

Optional: Do the same exercise before and after a class, presentation or seminar and you can then see what has changed.

Step 1 – Provide the Context
Provide a little background or explain the subject matter you want to group to think about. Are there any constraints or would you like them to go as widely as possible. Providing videos, reading material, images or case examples will usually help with the depth of discussion. Alternatively, you may simply wish to see what the group already understands about the subject matter.

Step 2 – Individual brainwriting
Have each person/team, enter the GroupMap session and without any initial discussion put down 3-5 things(or more if you wish) that they already perceive that they understand about the topic. Studies show that individual brainwriting produces greater diversity and more implementable solutions, so allow 5 minutes or so for this activity.

Step 3 – Team based discussion
Ask people to form teams, if not already and to share their individual responses with each other. People may decide to change their top 3-5 based on those discussions…or not.

Step 4- Group Brainstorming
Setting change: Enable suggestions and increase number of ideas to unlimited.
At this point in time, it may be good to now throw in probing questions based on what has been done to date to challenge thinking and exploring of options.
Ask individuals/teams to now look at suggestions from everyone and to add, reject, move or merge these to their own map. This will essentially create their own final response to the topic.

Step 5 – Team or Group Discussion
Setting change: Unhide GroupMap
Open up the GroupMap to reveal what the entire group thought about the subject. Ask teams and individuals to compare their response to the group and encourage general open discussion from the floor. People may wish to change their responses as they listen and discuss.
Once you feel satisfied that discussion has concluded, you should now have a weighted and overall perspective view of the group on this particular subject matter.

Optional: You may also ask individuals to reflect on why their responses are very similar or very different to the group’s perspective and why that might be the case. Some may wish to share this with the group.

GroupMap is an innovative group response tool that allows individuals to capture, sort and prioritise their own ideas. These ideas are then suggested in turn to others who can add, reject, move or merge these to their views. All individual views are then merged in real time to reveal what the GroupThinks instantly. Information overload and groupthink are managed and the user interface is designed for simplicity. GroupMap is an online brainstorming and consensus building application that has been used by government, universities and corporate to improve productivity, speed of knowledge exchange and enhance collaboration and consensus decision making in their organisations.

The post Lesson Plan- More Effective Brainstorming on a subject matter with GroupMap appeared first on GroupMap.

There are audience response systems and then there are audience “engagement” systems. Sadly, not all problems can be addressed with multiple choice answers.

By moving beyond the simple polling for, the National Association of Graduate Career Advisory Services were able to tackle some big issues facing student work experience and future employment. Here’s how they did it.

GroupMap used at NAGCAS

Over 110 Career Professionals were surveyed using GroupMap to identify and rank key barriers for student employment. This was compared to the student responses taken from international and domestic students at Curtin University Careers Centre. This was used to address the gap between student and employer expectations.

By using online brainstorming and idea ranking software, the conference group was first asked to write what they thought were the main barriers for work experience and employment. iPads were used to capture responses, visually in real time. Individual unique responses were shared and then aggregated in real time for decision making.

The Top 10 issues were identified using a collaborative mindmap which used audience consensus and input to indicate consensus. These issues were then ranked against 2 main criteria on a GroupMap 2D chart comprising of:

1.Urgency – How quickly must the problem be addressed due to its impact on employment and work;

2.Influence – How much direct influence can the professional group have in addressing the issue, either directly or through advocacy

The top 2 issues were identified based on its ranked position (Highest urgency and highest level of influence). This was done in real time, using the audience’s response to determine the final rankings. Delegates were then divided into 2 groups and set to task brainstorming potential solutions using GroupMap.

Ideas ranked on GroupMap 2D Chart

There were some obvious benefits in using audience response technology:

• Ideas were “real” and driven by the audience, not pre-made beforehand.
• Seeing ideas from peers in real time helped stimulate even more thinking
• Being able to brainstorm independently dramatically increased the number of ideas generated.
• The choice of maps allowed the group to move from ideation to prioritisation.
• Individuals could compare their own views to the person sitting next to them, as well as the group’s view.
• Visual ranking managed information overload
• Having a conversational map was an excellent tool for leading and focussing discussion on the top solutions on the day.

Delegates were provided with follow up access to maps for post conference deliberations. Over 25 potential actions were produced on the day for relevant institutions to consider in their own settings.

Some of the NAGCAS delegates using GroupMap

NAGCAS is Australia’s peak professional body for career development in the higher and tertiary education sectors. Results and findings, including a review of GroupMap can be seen in their 2013 March publication.

GroupMap is an online group brainstorming and audience response tool which allows individuals to create and share unique responses which is then pulled together in real time to show the group’s result.

The post Innovative audience response system used to address future employment appeared first on GroupMap.