Remember the number of times you had to spend hours in a brainstorm session only to go back and forth on the same topic without really coming up with new ideas.
As crucial as meetings are, sometimes they can be more counterproductive than beneficial.
The crazy eights workshop is the right activity for your team if you need a little creativity within a restricted time. Here is a step by step recipe to guide you through how to run an efficient Crazy Eights workshop.
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Ingredients list
Team
Facilitator
Whiteboard
Sticky notes
Voting cards
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Nutritional Value
Idea generation
Collaborative work
Cost-efficient
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Time
8 minutes
Recipe Instructions
1. Get the team onboard
Gather all concerned team members and begin by explaining the objective of this workshop, which is to generate a diversified range of ideas within a short time frame.
2. Set the timer
Ideally, the facilitator should dedicate around 1 minute for each of the eight sections. During that minute participants are supposed to list down or sketch ideas before moving on to the next one.
3. Quantity over Quality
Keep in mind that the objective of this activity is to have a variety of ideas that the team can later discuss together and not spend time separately thinking of the perfect idea. The more suggestions, the higher the possibility of coming with “the best idea” together.
4. Let’s vote
Once all eight sections are complete, the team can begin the feedback process. Each having a certain number of points, they can score each idea, attributing a higher number of points to their favorite contribution. The cards with the highest score are the ones that will be selected and further discussed and developed.
The process can be repeated as many times as necessary until the team attains its objective.
How to run a virtual Crazy Eights workshop on Excelway
Excelway is a software that enables you to run a successful remote workshop with your team.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the Crazy Eights workshop?
The crazy eights workshop is an idea generation activity that challenges participants to come up with 8 ideas under 8 minutes. This design sprint method started off as an activity for designers to sketch their ideas but any team member who is not a designer is welcome to participate. The concept itself can be applied to any other aspect of work that requires generating as many ideas, and deciding on the best ones as a team.
When is the Crazy Eights workshop used?
The crazy eights are used mostly during the ideation stage of any project. Whether that is when first creating the business or further on, when coming up with novel designs or decisions. Whatever the situation might be that differs from one company to another it is at once a constructive and a fun activity to collaborate on with your team.
What are the benefits of the Crazy Eights workshop?
The crazy eights workshop encourages team members to share ideas that they perhaps had hidden in the back of their head but never really had the courage to say out loud. Furthermore, it enables its participants to work collectively and cover a wide range of ideas in a short period of time making the process cost-efficient time wise.
