Experimenting Business Lab -workshop with regional development experts

Authors: Heidi Myyryläinen, Emmi Ollila, Kati Hyvönen, Laura Palovuori & Kirsi Palomäki

Business LAB workshop concept

The DistanceLAB project is concentrating on developing the remote work practices and remote services. The tools are developed in Distance LAB project and are freely available (Distance LAB 2024). The benefit of international cooperation is to get the knowledge and experience of different partners. There are many ways to bring ideas together and spark innovation remotely. One solution developed in the project by the Swedish partner is a “Business Lab” workshop, which has been tested in Finland and is showing promising potential. The goal of the Business Lab concept is to offer a workshop structure where participants work together to create solutions for a challenge they have selected.

The Business Lab workshop is a collaborative, cross-industry innovation process that brings together people from different organizations to tackle challenges, exchange ideas, and develop one or several practical solutions. This method aims to promote collaboration and cross-pollination of ideas in the age where remote work is common. Anyone can freely access the method at Distance LAB project website and invite a group of participants to solve a particular challenge on their own. The challenge can be one that all participants share, or it might be unique to certain individuals; however, insights from everyone are valuable for finding effective solutions. The participants can come from different locations and sectors, each bringing their expertise. The organizer can utilize ready-made steps in facilitating the workshop.

The process is based on the idea of open innovation, which suggests that organizations can benefit from using external resources alongside their own. Naturally, organizations have the flexibility to share insights and resources to the extent that suits their objectives – whether it be sharing and finetuning internal insights or resources or gaining external output for the organization. (Chesbrough 2017) Take, for example a small organization or a remote area – partnerships can be crucial for expanding access to resources and overcoming isolation.

Business Lab is built around a framework that encourages creativity and structured problem-solving where every participant contributes. After a structured process, the participants fill in the open innovation concept canvas which gives a basic description of jointly developed solution.

Testing the workshop with regional developers

Concept was tested in an online event with experts from Finnish regional development organizations, municipalities, cities, Centria University of Applied Sciences and LAB University of Applied Sciences. The suggested time was shortened to one and half an hour session. The session covered three relevant and interesting topics to the participants. The participants knew the theme beforehand.

First, the project coordinator introduced the workshop rules: everyone’s ideas are welcome, and all participants should respect each other. The participants then split into two smaller groups, each with its own facilitator. Both groups joined separate Teams rooms and chose the challenge that interested them most. The groups first brainstormed solutions individually, then collaboratively, and finally selected one solution to describe in detail using an open innovation canvas. They also discussed the next steps for moving forward.

Reflections from the workshop and recommendations for using Business Lab workshop

Business Lab provides a structured and collaborative approach for a workshop that can help achieve goals in a short time. However, it also has limitations. As one of the participants commented, the process is very fast. Short time may not give enough time for processing topics profoundly and having conversations that one would ideally need. This tool offers a flexible platform for structuring forward-focused, solution-oriented online discussions.

It is always possible to adjust the workshop concept based on diverse needs. In our workshop, flexibility was key. We used a platform that best suited our goals and participants. Miro was used for brainstorming. However, some participants found switching between Teams and Miro to be challenging. Therefore, during the workshop, they could then engage exclusively through Teams while the facilitator shared Miro and took notes there as ideas were shared. For smoother collaboration, future sessions could involve sharing ideas via chat for easy integration into these tools, keeping everyone focused and engaged.

Workshops are spaces for collaboration, and it is useful to pay attention to the designing spaces that bring together diverse perspectives and allow effective co-creation.  Remote meetings are routine, but through this concept, we had the chance to consider organizing the workshop with special awareness. Testing a structure of this workshop revealed important observations. The workshop is available for anyone needing a clear framework that aligns everyone around shared goals, addressing differences in priorities and communication. The structure encourages participation, ensuring all voices are heard and ideas are exchanged. This process brings together different perspectives to develop solutions. It keeps discussions focused, leading to clear next steps and actionable outcomes. The workshop concept promotes learning and knowledge exchange.

References

Chesbrough, H. 2017. The Future of Open Innovation: The future of open innovation is more extensive, more collaborative, and more engaged with a wider variety of participants. Research Technology Management. 60(1), 35–38. Cited 24 Oct 2024. Available at https://doi.org/10.1080/08956308.2017.1255054

Distance LAB. 2024. Communication and Innovation pilots: How to participate. Cited 24 Oct 2024. Available at https://interreg-baltic.eu/project-posts/distance-lab/communication-innovation-pilots-how-to-participate/

Authors

Heidi Myyryläinen is a RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences.

Emmi Ollila is an RDI Specialist at LAB University of Applied Sciences.

Kati Hyvönen is a RDI Specialist at Centria University of Applied Sciences.

Laura Palovuori is a RDI Specialist at Centria University of Applied Sciences.

Kirsi Palomäki is a RDI Specialist & Recruiter at Centria University of Applied Sciences.

Authors are working in Distance LAB-project that is co-funded by European Union Baltic Sea Region programme and co-funded by Norwegian partners. The implementation period is 1.1.2023-31.12.2025.

Illustration: https://pxhere.com/en/photo/1451427 (CC0)

Reference to this article

Myyryläinen, H., Ollila, E., Hyvönen, K., Palovuori, L. & Palomäki, K. 2024. Experimenting Business Lab -workshop with regional development experts. LAB Pro. Cited and the date of citation. Available at https://www.labopen.fi/lab-pro/experimenting-business-lab-workshop-with-regional-development-experts/