When we design the Catalyst space, we keep certain elements in mind. Human beings work best if they have an environment that has both a prospect (or view) and a sense of refuge (or protection). We put breakout groups in the same room so that they feel a connection to one another and can sense the work that is going on around them. Putting them together, there is a sense of community.
Our environment has various surfaces for interacting with information (include scaling up ideas). The surfaces vary in combination, but may include: screens for digital work like spreadsheets, marker boards for brainstorming, paper for keeping a semi-permanent record of things. Access refers to the ability of a group to find information quickly either visually or digitally in the room. Interaction means that people can physically work or play with the information and not just view it or be talked to about it.
Figure 1.0 A sample environment with spaces for interaction between people and information.
Our environment enables individuals and groups to model solutions in a variety of digital, analog and 3-dimensional tactile media, thus supporting diverse learning styles. It challenges the pitfalls of typical conference set-ups by using a dynamic physical landscape that supports a broad number of working styles and modes, from individual work to large group assemblies. A variety of technological tools can be enabled in order to support individual and collective work, depending on the objectives and scope of work. These tools also allow us to deliver the right information to the right teams at the right time throughout the event, lowering the barriers to creative action.
Having everyone in one physical space, working through a highly interactive, well-crafted event, maximizes productivity. This compresses time by reducing the need for multiple meetings and asynchronous communications spread out over a period of weeks or months. Like many other things in life, when people are afforded the opportunity to focus intently on something for several days their performance accelerates, better solutions emerge, and they build stronger relationships and a better sense of community among themselves.
COLLABORATION ENVIRONMENTS
It's not as simple as choosing a technology enabled environment from a menu of options. First, we start with the purpose, objectives and desired outcomes that the experience is meant to achieve. Then we back into the inputs--what information do the participants need in order to make informed decisions and solve problems? Once we know what we want to do and what information we need to get it done, then we decide on the number of days it will take and the number of brains in the room needed to do the work.
Designing collaboration is the currency of our expertise and the size of the session only matters when we understand the problems we are solving for and the right inputs and people needed to solve them. For example, we can run a full digital studio system for 20 people and we can run a less complex analog system for 100 people, and vice versa. The environment supports the work and can be configured in many different ways, depending on the objectives.
ARC5 Catalyst Workshops [2-3 days] may involve 50-150 participants, utilize a temporary digital studio system or a robust analog system for the length of the workshop + one prep day.
ARC5 Catalyst Design Forums [2-3 days] may involve 10-50 participants, utilize a temporary robust analog system for the length of the forum + one prep day.
ARC5 Design Sessions [1-2 days] may involve 10-50 participants and utilize a robust analog design system for a shorter design period.
ARC5 HUBs [1-36 months] may involve 35-55 participants at a time and are temporary 'semi-permanent' collaboration hubs for organizations that make the investment to have ongoing sessions at regular intervals along a transformation program timeline. Our hubs are resourced with experienced facilitation teams on-demand. These have proven to substantially cut down implementation timelines and prototyping cycles, reducing the overall spend
ARC5 Collaboration Zones are permanently designed collaboration 'on-site' environments for the ultimate culture and organizational change impact on the future of work. Our collaboration zones are technology enabled and include the training and methodology necessary for in-house collaboration.
ARC5 Labs [1-6 months] are a series of sessions at regular intervals focusing on innovation and ideation. These experiences are built for experimentation, rapid failure, rapid iteration, connectivity, and research.
ARC5 Summits (Conferences, Town Halls and Roadshows of the Future) are founded on people science principles that draw from our extensive knowledge of collaboration and information design. Both domains figure prominently in these offerings to maximize investment dollars and create memorable, dynamic experiences in arenas that are woefully inadequate.