EVOLVE YOUR SKILLS

Prototyping ideas within multidisciplinary teams is a valuable process throughout the lifecycle of a project. This workshop is all about how to prototype using paper templates to bring ideas, products and services to life.

The digital tool-using consumer grows more and more complex with multiple devices, allegiances, habits. In this learning experience, we will review the best practices for cross-platform thinking and storytelling. The instructor will lead attendees through a series of activities that offers insights into platform behavior critical to understand today.

The goal of innovative companies is to create novel, functional, and seductive ideas. This group 3D product activity challenges teams to look past the designated functions of an object to new possibilities, tapping into the cultural trend of making to teach the skills of innovation.

Meetings are often perceived as an inefficient part of the day. In this learning experience, we review ways to meet and co-construct a new way of meeting. Meetings can be useful: depending on group dynamics, level of engagement, and team decision making. But for some organizations, meetings take far too much time and resources. We will break down what it means to meet effectively while sharing tips from some of the best companies including calendar coordination, roles in the room, atmosphere, visual cues and creative formats.  

This class will provide participants with an overview of business development: pitching, negotiating, selling and positioning ideas.  Teams explore how to build trust with clients, set up and present ideas, as well as the art of growing current business through “tiny bets,” risk-taking, and putting innovative concepts at the center. 

Not all companies are software companies, but we can certainly learn from their methods. Agile only works when you actually ‘work it’. What feels like superpowers are gained through an overview of modern collaboration methods and optimized environments. Our discussions focus on the benefits of "design in the open" and how to practice iterative methods of idea generation, execution, and storytelling. We talk about what works, what doesn't, and hands-on problem solving of the current process and ways of working challenges.

This learning experience offers strategies for finding clarity and navigating ambiguity at work  That is, navigating change when it seems unclear or uncertain. Whether it’s your own to do list, peers, bosses or executives requests, we’ll cover techniques for how to respond and manage requests during organizational change like a champ. It is possible to seek patterns in daily request chaos, pivot and respond, and have an appropriate reaction to the unknown. The instructor will take the participants on a journey to improve company communication and processes, with the goal of increasing connectivity and productivity for individuals who want to soar during transitions.

Often, collaboration is challenging because the team is short on time, resources, and an empathetic working environment. In this class, we will explore proven methods to stimulate productivity and togetherness required to improve output.

Courage, grace, empathy and simple communication strategies can help teams have authentic, growthful and mutually beneficial relationships . This class is part empathy building, part conversation navigation.

According to many industry analysts, “data is the new oil.” Yet data can be elusive and hard to pin down. Or simply overwhelming. New data tools and technologies are promising consumer insights with previously unimaginable depth and certainty, and clients are demanding “data-driven” approaches to work. But the results of these tools and approaches don’t always stack up to the hype. How do you talk about data in a way that separates the myths from the realities, and how can you actually use data to drive transformative insights to grow customer relationships? We’ll show you how.

As consumers move through the online and offline world, user experience is at the heart of creating connected, seamless brand interactions. This class journeys outside of company walls to discover how technology plays a role in current consumer behavior and opportunities that exist to make meaningful brand connections.