SPA Conference session: Game On: From Game-Zero to Gaming in No Time

One-line description:Overcoming hurdles to increase innovation and collaboration
 
Session format: Workshop (150 mins) [read about the different session types]
 
Abstract:Innovation games work and are a great addition to your Agile tool-kit. They save time, help to build better products, can help difficult teams to collaborate and generally are more fun. But introducing these games to an unreceptive or even receptive organisation can be a challenge. Knowing which games to use and when to use them, getting stakeholder and team member buy-in, and bringing games out of product definition workshops and in to everyday/weekly meetings can feel like an uphill battle.

In this collaborative session we'll explore ways to overcome these hurdles. We'll look at strategies to get comfortable with playing games as well as ways to get your entire organisation to embrace them.
 
Audience background:Those who have never played innovation games, those who have had some experience with innovation games but have had difficulties in starting or introducing them to their working teams.
 
Benefits of participating:Increased knowledge of the problems these types of games solve, evidence they work and sound strategies to help bring them to their workplace.
 
Materials provided:A handout that describes a structured way for people to overcome hurdles within their organisation.
 
Process:The session is a series of collaborative games used to illustrate the effectiveness and importance of knowledge and innovation games.
 
Detailed timetable:10 min intro
20 min activity and discussion
15 min lecture and shared experiences
30 min activity looking at roadblocks
10 min break
30 min activity creating solutions
20 min reflection
10 min closing

+5 min flex time
 
Outputs:Posters detailing roadblocks and barriers to adoption.
 
History:This session has previously been run at Agile Cambridge 2011 and UX Cambridge 2011 where it received high ratings from participants.
 
Presenters
1. Ryan Haney
Redgate
2. Mark Dalgarno
Software Acumen
3.