This content may be of interest to you
Resources
Creativity techniques are structured methods that enable a team to generate ideas, challenge solutions, or draw lessons from a project, within a clear framework and with a concrete deliverable. They go far beyond traditional brainstorming.
When a project hits a roadblock, the instinct is often the same: call a meeting where everyone shares their opinion. The result: few new ideas, nothing actionable. The problem isn’t a lack of intelligence on the team’s part. It’s a lack of structure.
But not all methods address the same need. This article presents six creativity techniques, categorized by objective, to help you choose the right one at the right time.
Before we talk about tools or facilitation, we need to clarify one simple thing: what is the team supposed to produce in the end? This is often where creativity workshops fall short. People confuse idea generation, decision-making, and analysis, and in the end, nothing really gets done.
In practice, there are three common situations:
A marketing team looking to be creative for a campaign needs to keep its options wide open. Conversely, a project team tasked with finalizing a plan needs to structure discussions and make decisions quickly. Confusing these objectives prevents creativity from being effectively harnessed.
Before starting a workshop, take two minutes to clarify three points:
This last point is key. Without a clear deliverable, even a good workshop won’t produce anything actionable. For example, in a product team, a workshop was launched to generate a large number of ideas. After an hour, more than 50 ideas had been listed, but none were implemented because they hadn’t been prioritized.
These methods come in handy in very specific situations:
In such cases, structuring the creative process helps broaden the scope and generate truly useful new ideas. This ability to choose the right framework and facilitate these sessions is, in fact, one of a manager’s key skills, particularly in terms of their ability to structure group thinking. Once the objective has been clarified, the appropriate method can be implemented.
When the goal is to generate ideas, the main risk is staying on the surface. Initial ideas come quickly, but they are often similar to one another. To foster creativity, you need to create conditions that encourage the team to explore further.
Design Studio is an iterative and collaborative creativity technique based on drawing. The idea is to have each participant visually represent their ideas, and then collectively refine them over several rounds. More specifically:
In practice : Groups are limited to 5 people, with sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 1 hour and 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of the topic. For in-person sessions, all you need is paper and pens. For remote sessions, Miro works very well. The outcome: concrete, visual solutions that are ready to be tested.
When should you use it? When the topic has already been defined and you want to come up with concrete solutions. Not when you're starting from scratch.
For example, during a workshop on hybrid onboarding, each participant mapped out a different onboarding process. The team settled on a set of 100 questions to ask one another during weekly meetings—an idea that would not have emerged from a simple discussion. The simplified version was implemented the very next week.
The Round Robin is a circular writing technique that helps generate a large number of ideas by drawing on everyone’s contributions. Its rotating format prevents the same people from dominating the conversation. The principle:
In practice: 5 to 15 people, 30 to 45 minutes. All you need is paper and markers. The outcome: a wide range of ideas, ranked by priority.
When should you use it? When you want to generate as many ideas as possible and encourage everyone to contribute, including those who are usually quiet.
This format is based on principles similar to those of asynchronous communication: everyone contributes at their own pace, which encourages more well-developed ideas.
For example, in a project team, the Round Robin approach brought out ideas from team members who never speak up in meetings. Some of these ideas became key elements of the final plan.
When a team already has ideas but can’t seem to make progress, discussions quickly become repetitive. People compare options and debate, but no decisions are made. These three techniques help structure the discussion to turn an existing idea into a solid solution.
SCAMPER is a creativity technique that allows you to examine an idea, product, or process from multiple angles in order to improve it. Each letter of the acronym represents an operation to be applied to the existing solution:
The principle is simple: you take the existing solution and systematically run it through each filter. This forces the team to explore angles they wouldn't have considered on their own.
In practice: Up to 6 people, lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. Use a SCAMPER template (paper or digital) to guide the discussion. The deliverable: an improved version of the solution that can be implemented immediately.
When should you use it? When you have feedback from the field, room to make changes, and want to transform what already exists rather than start from scratch.
For example, in an operational team, a process used to take several days. By applying the SCAMPER framework to each step, the team eliminated two unnecessary steps (Eliminate) and automated a validation step (Adapt). The result: immediate time savings.
Before launching a project, we often focus on what will work. A pre-mortem allows us to do the opposite. We imagine that the project has failed and try to figure out why. This helps identify risks that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Step-by-step process:
Setting the Stage (5 min). The facilitator asks: "The project failed spectacularly. Why?"
Individual writing exercise (5 min). Each person writes down one risk on a Post-it note, drawing on their own experiences.
Brainstorming and voting (5 min). The risks are shared, ranked by severity, and the group decides on the preventive measures to be implemented.
In practice: There are no restrictions on the number of participants, although a small group tends to encourage open discussion. Allow 15 to 30 minutes. Use Post-it notes and pens for in-person sessions, or a digital whiteboard for remote sessions. The deliverable: a list of prioritized risks with associated preventive actions.
When should it be used? At the start of a project, once the objectives and plan have been defined but before implementation begins.
For example, in a transformation project, the pre-mortem revealed a lack of buy-in from frontline teams—a risk that no one had mentioned until then. The project team organized workshops in advance, which helped prevent a bottleneck during the deployment phase.
Bono's Hats (or Six Thinking Hats, created by Edward de Bono in 1985) are a creativity technique that structures a discussion by separating different perspectives. Each "hat" represents a different analytical perspective, which helps keep facts, emotions, criticism, and ideas from getting mixed up.
The 6 hats:
How does it work? There are two options. Either the entire group wears the same hat at the same time (we explore each perspective in sequence), or each member is assigned a different hat and argues from that perspective. In both cases, a facilitator guides the discussion and ensures that everyone stays in their role.
In practice: 4 to 6 people, 15 to 30 minutes. Prepare summary sheets for the different perspectives, badges, or colored cards. The deliverable: a structured analysis of the solution, with suggestions for improvement for each perspective.
When should you use it? When a topic is complex, there are multiple angles to explore, and the usual discussions tend to confuse the issue.
For example, in a management team, Bono’s hats helped bring to light areas of tension (black hat) and opportunities (yellow hat) that had remained hidden in traditional meetings.
In many teams, projects follow one after another without any real learning. We move on to the next one without taking the time to analyze what worked and what didn’t. As a result, the same problems keep cropping up, and teams feel like they’re starting from scratch. Retrospectives are precisely what allow us to turn experience into concrete improvements. These moments are also essential for establishing a culture of regular feedback, which enables us to adjust our practices as projects unfold.
DAKI is a retrospective technique structured around four key areas. The acronym stands for:
It allows a team to quickly identify what works, what doesn't, and what needs to be changed.
Step-by-step process:
Individual writing exercise (10 min). Each participant writes down ideas on sticky notes (one idea per note) and categorizes them into four groups: what to stop, what to add, what to keep, and what to improve.
Group discussion (10 min). Participants take turns presenting their sticky notes. The facilitator groups similar ideas together.
Voting and action plan (5 min). The team votes to identify the top three areas for improvement. A leader is assigned to each area.
In practice: Up to 6 people, lasting 25 to 45 minutes. Post-it notes and a whiteboard for in-person sessions, or Easy Retro / Miro for remote sessions. The deliverable: 3 prioritized improvement actions, with a designated person in charge of each.
When should you use it? At the end of a project, a sprint, or a phase—whenever a process is going to be repeated and it makes sense to improve it for next time.
For example, in a product team, a project had fallen behind schedule. The DAKI retrospective revealed a lack of coordination among the subteams. Action taken: implement a mid-project review for future projects, which improved end-to-end workflow.
Creativity techniques are not magic formulas. What produces results is the combination of three elements: a specific goal, a structured format, and an expected deliverable.
To generate new ideas, the Design Studio and Round Robin are the most effective approaches. To challenge an existing solution, try SCAMPER, the pre-mortem, or Bono’s hats. To learn from a past project, DAKI is the go-to method.
When these elements come together, creativity becomes a real driver for moving teams forward. It’s not just a “fun” item on the agenda.
Creativity techniques are structured methods that enable a team to generate ideas, challenge solutions, or draw lessons from a project, within a clear framework and with a concrete deliverable. They go far beyond traditional brainstorming.
When a project hits a roadblock, the instinct is often the same: call a meeting where everyone shares their opinion. The result: few new ideas, nothing actionable. The problem isn’t a lack of intelligence on the team’s part. It’s a lack of structure.
But not all methods address the same need. This article presents six creativity techniques, categorized by objective, to help you choose the right one at the right time.
Before we talk about tools or facilitation, we need to clarify one simple thing: what is the team supposed to produce in the end? This is often where creativity workshops fall short. People confuse idea generation, decision-making, and analysis, and in the end, nothing really gets done.
In practice, there are three common situations:
A marketing team looking to be creative for a campaign needs to keep its options wide open. Conversely, a project team tasked with finalizing a plan needs to structure discussions and make decisions quickly. Confusing these objectives prevents creativity from being effectively harnessed.
Before starting a workshop, take two minutes to clarify three points:
This last point is key. Without a clear deliverable, even a good workshop won’t produce anything actionable. For example, in a product team, a workshop was launched to generate a large number of ideas. After an hour, more than 50 ideas had been listed, but none were implemented because they hadn’t been prioritized.
These methods come in handy in very specific situations:
In such cases, structuring the creative process helps broaden the scope and generate truly useful new ideas. This ability to choose the right framework and facilitate these sessions is, in fact, one of a manager’s key skills, particularly in terms of their ability to structure group thinking. Once the objective has been clarified, the appropriate method can be implemented.
When the goal is to generate ideas, the main risk is staying on the surface. Initial ideas come quickly, but they are often similar to one another. To foster creativity, you need to create conditions that encourage the team to explore further.
Design Studio is an iterative and collaborative creativity technique based on drawing. The idea is to have each participant visually represent their ideas, and then collectively refine them over several rounds. More specifically:
In practice : Groups are limited to 5 people, with sessions lasting between 30 minutes and 1 hour and 30 minutes, depending on the complexity of the topic. For in-person sessions, all you need is paper and pens. For remote sessions, Miro works very well. The outcome: concrete, visual solutions that are ready to be tested.
When should you use it? When the topic has already been defined and you want to come up with concrete solutions. Not when you're starting from scratch.
For example, during a workshop on hybrid onboarding, each participant mapped out a different onboarding process. The team settled on a set of 100 questions to ask one another during weekly meetings—an idea that would not have emerged from a simple discussion. The simplified version was implemented the very next week.
The Round Robin is a circular writing technique that helps generate a large number of ideas by drawing on everyone’s contributions. Its rotating format prevents the same people from dominating the conversation. The principle:
In practice: 5 to 15 people, 30 to 45 minutes. All you need is paper and markers. The outcome: a wide range of ideas, ranked by priority.
When should you use it? When you want to generate as many ideas as possible and encourage everyone to contribute, including those who are usually quiet.
This format is based on principles similar to those of asynchronous communication: everyone contributes at their own pace, which encourages more well-developed ideas.
For example, in a project team, the Round Robin approach brought out ideas from team members who never speak up in meetings. Some of these ideas became key elements of the final plan.
When a team already has ideas but can’t seem to make progress, discussions quickly become repetitive. People compare options and debate, but no decisions are made. These three techniques help structure the discussion to turn an existing idea into a solid solution.
SCAMPER is a creativity technique that allows you to examine an idea, product, or process from multiple angles in order to improve it. Each letter of the acronym represents an operation to be applied to the existing solution:
The principle is simple: you take the existing solution and systematically run it through each filter. This forces the team to explore angles they wouldn't have considered on their own.
In practice: Up to 6 people, lasting between 30 and 60 minutes. Use a SCAMPER template (paper or digital) to guide the discussion. The deliverable: an improved version of the solution that can be implemented immediately.
When should you use it? When you have feedback from the field, room to make changes, and want to transform what already exists rather than start from scratch.
For example, in an operational team, a process used to take several days. By applying the SCAMPER framework to each step, the team eliminated two unnecessary steps (Eliminate) and automated a validation step (Adapt). The result: immediate time savings.
Before launching a project, we often focus on what will work. A pre-mortem allows us to do the opposite. We imagine that the project has failed and try to figure out why. This helps identify risks that might otherwise have gone unnoticed.
Step-by-step process:
Setting the Stage (5 min). The facilitator asks: "The project failed spectacularly. Why?"
Individual writing exercise (5 min). Each person writes down one risk on a Post-it note, drawing on their own experiences.
Brainstorming and voting (5 min). The risks are shared, ranked by severity, and the group decides on the preventive measures to be implemented.
In practice: There are no restrictions on the number of participants, although a small group tends to encourage open discussion. Allow 15 to 30 minutes. Use Post-it notes and pens for in-person sessions, or a digital whiteboard for remote sessions. The deliverable: a list of prioritized risks with associated preventive actions.
When should it be used? At the start of a project, once the objectives and plan have been defined but before implementation begins.
For example, in a transformation project, the pre-mortem revealed a lack of buy-in from frontline teams—a risk that no one had mentioned until then. The project team organized workshops in advance, which helped prevent a bottleneck during the deployment phase.
Bono's Hats (or Six Thinking Hats, created by Edward de Bono in 1985) are a creativity technique that structures a discussion by separating different perspectives. Each "hat" represents a different analytical perspective, which helps keep facts, emotions, criticism, and ideas from getting mixed up.
The 6 hats:
How does it work? There are two options. Either the entire group wears the same hat at the same time (we explore each perspective in sequence), or each member is assigned a different hat and argues from that perspective. In both cases, a facilitator guides the discussion and ensures that everyone stays in their role.
In practice: 4 to 6 people, 15 to 30 minutes. Prepare summary sheets for the different perspectives, badges, or colored cards. The deliverable: a structured analysis of the solution, with suggestions for improvement for each perspective.
When should you use it? When a topic is complex, there are multiple angles to explore, and the usual discussions tend to confuse the issue.
For example, in a management team, Bono’s hats helped bring to light areas of tension (black hat) and opportunities (yellow hat) that had remained hidden in traditional meetings.
In many teams, projects follow one after another without any real learning. We move on to the next one without taking the time to analyze what worked and what didn’t. As a result, the same problems keep cropping up, and teams feel like they’re starting from scratch. Retrospectives are precisely what allow us to turn experience into concrete improvements. These moments are also essential for establishing a culture of regular feedback, which enables us to adjust our practices as projects unfold.
DAKI is a retrospective technique structured around four key areas. The acronym stands for:
It allows a team to quickly identify what works, what doesn't, and what needs to be changed.
Step-by-step process:
Individual writing exercise (10 min). Each participant writes down ideas on sticky notes (one idea per note) and categorizes them into four groups: what to stop, what to add, what to keep, and what to improve.
Group discussion (10 min). Participants take turns presenting their sticky notes. The facilitator groups similar ideas together.
Voting and action plan (5 min). The team votes to identify the top three areas for improvement. A leader is assigned to each area.
In practice: Up to 6 people, lasting 25 to 45 minutes. Post-it notes and a whiteboard for in-person sessions, or Easy Retro / Miro for remote sessions. The deliverable: 3 prioritized improvement actions, with a designated person in charge of each.
When should you use it? At the end of a project, a sprint, or a phase—whenever a process is going to be repeated and it makes sense to improve it for next time.
For example, in a product team, a project had fallen behind schedule. The DAKI retrospective revealed a lack of coordination among the subteams. Action taken: implement a mid-project review for future projects, which improved end-to-end workflow.
Creativity techniques are not magic formulas. What produces results is the combination of three elements: a specific goal, a structured format, and an expected deliverable.
To generate new ideas, the Design Studio and Round Robin are the most effective approaches. To challenge an existing solution, try SCAMPER, the pre-mortem, or Bono’s hats. To learn from a past project, DAKI is the go-to method.
When these elements come together, creativity becomes a real driver for moving teams forward. It’s not just a “fun” item on the agenda.
Discover all our courses and workshops to address the most critical management and leadership challenges.
Quality certification has been awarded for the following category of actions: TRAINING INITIATIVES
Training organisation registered under the number 11755339875. This registration does not imply state approval.
.svg)
.png){kind=small}
.png){kind=small}
