Revitalize your workshops and offsites with an Inspiration Board
An Inspiration Board is a powerful tool to energize your design thinking workshops and team-building offsites. It's quick and easy to set up and incredibly effective at fostering creativity and team bonding. Let's explore how you can integrate this dynamic activity into your next session and watch your team's inspirations come to life.
Setting up your Inspiration Board
To kick off this engaging activity, hang a large sheet of paper prominently titled "Inspiration Board." This will become a canvas for your team’s creativity and aspirations. Provide each participant with sticky notes and invite them to write or draw something that inspires them. To ease any hesitations about drawing, remind them that they can simply write the idea, and offer a visual vocabulary—a collection of simple symbols and shapes that participants can use to express their ideas more comfortably. Remember, the goal is to encourage free expression so participants can create as many stickies as they wish.
The contribution process
As your team fills the board with their inspirations, something magical happens. Each sticky note represents a personal source of inspiration, a glimpse into what fuels your colleagues' creativity. Encourage everyone to post their stickies and take a moment to step back and observe the collective inspiration that emerges. This process not only highlights individual creativity but also opens up avenues for shared understanding. If you have a large group, you might ask pairs, trios, or small groups to share and explain their stickies with each other before posting them to the Inspiration Board.
Fostering team bonding and creativity
Once the board is complete, guide a discussion around what participants notice in their colleagues’ inspirations. Are there common themes? Surprises? Perhaps some inspirations remind others of things that drive them, too. These insights can spark meaningful conversations, bridging gaps between team members and fostering a deeper connection.
An Inspiration Board does more than bring energy to a room — it creates a platform for understanding and collaboration. By realizing shared inspirations, teams can build stronger relationships and unlock new dimensions of creativity.
