If you are reading this article it means that we can congratulate you with securing funding for your next ground-breaking innovation or research project. Congratulations!
The kick-off meeting of the Horizon Europe project will set a tone for the next few months and years of collaboration. Thus, it is important to ensure that the kick-off meeting really serves its purpose. In this article we will focus only on in-presence project kick-off meetings. The online kick-off meetings will explore in another article.
Problem: Blablabla kick-off meetings
Unfortunately, the main important outcomes of most of the kick-off meetings are opportunity to get to know other team members and possibility to read collectively the proposal again. If you have already participated to some of them, you might know the standard approach. The project coordinator provides the general information about the project, the consortium partners present themselves, then they prepare and present specific Work Packages. Basically – they put the slides together out of the information already written within the proposal. While it is a great opportunity to read again the proposal collectively and repeat what should be done within each of WPs, at the end the main outcome of this meeting is not really a game-changer for project implementation. Thus, the impact on project’s success is not very important.
Another way of organising a kick-off meeting
What we propose and suggest project consortiums do is to organise a kick-off-meeting in the form of a collaborative workshop rather than meeting. We have tested how the atmosphere and engagement changes completely during the kick-off meeting when we shifted the traditional format of presenting our work package to a format of the mini workshop with an exchange of opinions, decisions, generation of new ideas, and establishment of way of work for specific tasks. Every project partner wanted to participate and contribute to the results. Not speaking about the positive, engaging and refreshing work environment during our half-an-hour WP presentation (slash) workshop. And the results were amazing. After the kick-off meeting, we went home and we knew exactly what we are going to do next, when, why, where, a set of next steps were already established, decisions taken and we just had to move forward.
Preparation of workshop
Preparing your kick-off meeting might be a little bit more challenging, but we promise you will not regret the difference that it makes. There might be various ways to organise this kick-off workshop. We propose to use a Lego Serious Play ….
What is Lego Serious Play
Lego Serious Play is a facilitation methodology that utilizes Lego bricks as a tool for creative thinking, problem-solving and group communication. It is a hands-on, experiential approach that encourages participants to participate, make decisions and deeply understand the processes, risks, tasks, strategies and so on. In a typical Lego Serious Play session, participants are given a set of Lego bricks and are guided through a series of structured activities and questions. They use the Lego bricks to build models that represent their tasks, goals, ideas, solution. These models serve as a form of communication and allow participants to express themselves in a visual and tactile way.
Why it is effective
Through the process of building and storytelling, participants are prompted to explore new ideas, challenge assumptions and generate innovative solutions. Participants can express their thoughts and ideas visually, allowing for more effective communication, especially in situations where language, cultural, technical barriers might exist. The visual nature of Lego models also aids in conveying complex ideas and fostering shared understanding among participants – tasks, dependencies, process, timeline, risks and more.
How Lego Serious Play will improve the results of your kick-off meeting / workshop
One of the main advantages will be the fact that all the participants of the kick-off will already explore the proposal and work packages before arrival to the meeting / workshop. And during it they will establish practical (rather than theoretical) way of working, reaching milestones and KPIs, collaborating and so on.
Want to try?
If your project will start soon, we would like to propose your consortium to try this approach for free!
Our professional lego serious play facilitator will join your kick-off workshop to facilitate the process and bring project your kick-off meeting to the next level. We will help you to organise an effective kick-off meeting from the round table, preparation of communication and dissemination tools for the first year till the end of this meeting.
If you are interested, please contact linda@witberry.lv
Why us?
WIT Berry is involved in several Horizon Europe projects as a communication and dissemination partner. Its leading communication manager, Linda is a certified Lego Serious Play facilitator. While there are other companies across Europe who propose Lego Serious Play facilitation, we are almost sure that we have unmatching expertise and experience – our deep understanding of Horizon Europe projects and Lego Serious Play.
