When the pandemic hit, organizations struggled to support a workforce in upheaval. According to one McKinsey study, companies were experiencing an innovation crisis. Ninety percent of executives believed that the pandemic would fundamentally change the way they do business – and just 21% felt equipped to pursue new growth successfully.
Now more than ever, executives are prioritizing innovation-led growth, aiming to draw out sharp, creative ideas to shape the future of doing business. Virtual collaboration tools make it possible for teams to connect and innovate, even as they’re dispersed across company and home offices.
Ready to get started? We’ve gathered 10 templates from Miro and our community to help you master the steps of the innovation process.
1. Business Model Kit
Global business design and innovation strategy firm Board of Innovation created theBusiness Model Kit Template as a more engaging and straightforward alternative to Excel.
Leverage this visual tool to ideate and refine business models, correct existing issues, and communicate the outcome to other teams in a simple way. Perfect for individual and team brainstorms about new business ideas, it creates clarity on value streams and stakeholders.
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2. Discovery Flow
The innovation transformation leaders at Ming Lab designed The Discovery Flow framework to facilitate the exploration of opportunities for innovation and prioritization of promising ideas. By mapping out relevant stakeholders, their impact, pain points, and needs, you can then uncover and rank opportunities in this exciting workshop.
3. Business Innovation Discovery Canvas
When your team needs to understand important context around strategic problems, turn to the Business Innovation Discovery Canvas. The strategic design agency Prime Motive created this activity, which will help your team:
- Understand the internal operations of the business — what existing people, networks, and processes come into contact with your project.
- See the broader business parameters — the company’s strategic objectives, products and where it stands against competitors.
- Consider the end users, customers, or audience — who you serve, what their needs are, and the journey they’re on.
- Take societal factors into account —. understand the business’ impact across the triple bottom line of society, the environment, and economy.
4. Disney Creative Strategy
Bridging the gap between imagination and reality, the Disney Creative Strategy Template enables teams to brainstorm ideas in a way that balances ambition and execution. Approach your challenges wearing three different hats: That of the dreamer, the realist, and the critic.
5. Crazy Eights
This quick and dirty brainstorming exercise encourages everyone to bring their wildest ideas to the table. Team members are given eight minutes to sketch eight ideas. The Crazy Eights template is a fun way to kick off a website redesign, to rethink the UX on a page, or even rebrand your company logo.
6. Innovation Mix Kit
Whether you’re a design thinking pro or new to the approach, kick off a design thinking workshop with this template. German innovation agency HYVE is responsible for the Innovation Mix Kit Template, which provides a framework for the innovation process, clear guidelines for idea development, and a straightforward design-thinking procedure. With it, you can:
- Gather all relevant information about the problem
- Gain a deeper understanding of all the underlying factors
- Identify a creative solution, capable of solving the problem
7. Innovation Cards
For years, innovation consultant Blackbot has helped schools and other organizations develop creative problem-solving skills. Now they’ve created a template to help teams do the same. Innovation Cards are an integral part of a 90- to 120-minute workshop that helps teams generate new hypotheses for thorny problems.
8. Innovation Matrix
The Innovation Matrix is designed to identify new areas of innovation. Teams can use the template to identify areas of improvement in current business models, map out new products, improve existing ones, and breakthrough into new areas of business.
9. Karate Brain
This fun template empowers teams to go from ideation to execution. In just 30 minutes, participants pick their favorite ideas from brainstorming sessions. Those ideas battle it out on the board, illuminating their strengths and weaknesses in the process. BTNG, a design thinking agency, created this useful and user-friendly template.
10. The Innovation Journey
Innovation and storytelling are the two pillars of growth. Orbit Ventures GmbH product director Adrian Ewecker designed this template to help teams articulate the story behind their innovative new product or service. In doing so, they can ensure they’re always centering the customer’s experience.
Limitless collaboration
Beyond fostering innovation, Miro’s visual workspace can help your team brainstorm, iterate, teach, and more. Discover all of its exciting use cases and the collaborative possibilities it unlocks.
