An internal innovation contest, from bringing sponsors on board to the final pitch
NéolisInvented name
A large energy group runs an innovation contest open to all its branches. We designed and ran the whole journey over several months: bringing the jury on board, remote workshops, weekly coaching, then a four-day bootcamp with a maker space and a pitch in front of the jury.
- Sector
- Energy, international group
- Size
- Several dozen participants from every branch, in a very large group
- Format
- Several months, remote then a four-day bootcamp
- In the room
- A few dozen employees from every branch and several countries, in eight teams, with a jury of senior leaders and experts.
Context
- The contest has two aims: give many employees a real experience of innovation methods, and bring the executive committee solutions solid enough to be tested.
- Participants come from every branch and several time zones. They keep their day jobs throughout the contest.
- This is a new edition. The review of the previous one said what to keep and what to improve: a jury involved earlier, clearer roles, earlier preparation.
The challenge
Keep scattered teams energised over several months, and take them all the way to a prototype and a test plan that a jury can judge and an executive committee can fund.
The design
Key ideas
The jury on board from day one
A half-day workshop with sponsors, jury and experts opens the journey. They sharpen the theme, the criteria for choosing participants, and a six-criterion jury grid: strategic fit, a pilot possible within the year, a solid test plan, a clear prototype, desirability, and wanting to join the project after the pitch.
Challenges written by the participants
At the kick-off, the participants themselves turn the theme into challenges, then form teams around them. A learning journey in five tracks follows: past, present, future, art and nature. The past track has them reread old patents from the group.
Close coaching between the big moments
One hour of coaching per week per team, two teams per coach. A mid-point check-in where one ambassador per team runs a kiosk while the others rotate. Then the finalists are supported towards a pilot in the field.
A bootcamp where people make things
Every morning, people choose between sport, a collective mural or an inspiring session. The days mix prototyping with industrial designers, test planning and cross-team feedback. A maker space provides the materials, with a budget per team. Each team area shows three boards: feasible, desirable, viable.
A finale like an inventors’ fair
An innovation fair open at the end of the day, a public-speaking masterclass, then the pitch to the jury. Each evening is designed on its own: getting to know each other, raising the competition with a music quiz, then letting the pressure go.
How the time was used
- Open
- Explore
- Decide
- Celebrate
Remote
Open
On-boarding
Sponsors, jury and experts: roles, theme, criteria, where to find candidates.
Open
Kick-off
Two half-days: participants write the challenges and form teams.
Explore
Learning journey
Five tracks guided by specialists: past, present, future, art, nature.
Explore
Weekly coaching
One hour per week per team.
Explore
Mid-point check-in
One kiosk per team, three rounds of visits.
The bootcamp
Every morningOpen
Pick your morning
Sport, a collective mural or an inspiring session.
Explore
Prototype
With industrial designers, in the maker space.
Decide
Test
Test plan, critical assumptions, cross-team feedback.
Late afternoonDecide
Innovation fair
Each team shows its prototype.
Decide
Final pitch
Public-speaking masterclass, pitch, jury deliberation.
Last eveningCelebrate
Winners announced
The winners join the in-house incubator.
The seminar in miniature
The learning journey
Once the challenges are written and the teams formed, five tracks guided by specialists: past, present, future, art and nature. The past track has people reread old patents from the group. Everyone draws on it to look at their challenge differently.
Mid-point check-in
Halfway through, between weekly coaching sessions, each team sets up a kiosk. One ambassador stays to present progress while the others make three rounds of visits to the other teams, and come back with ideas and feedback.
Choose your morning
At the bootcamp, each day starts with a choice: sport outdoors, a collective mural or an inspiring session. Everyone starts at their own pace, and teams mix before diving back into their project.
The making workshop
In the rooms, the eight teams prototype with industrial designers, using the workshop’s materials and a budget per team. They also write their test plan, pin down their critical assumptions and give each other cross-feedback. Every team space displays three boards.
The innovation fair
At the end of the day, the fair opens its doors. Each team shows its prototype on its stand, like an inventors’ fair, and answers visitors’ questions. A full-scale rehearsal before the jury.
The final pitch
After a public-speaking masterclass, each team pitches to the jury of senior leaders. The jury scores with the grid it wrote itself at onboarding: teams have known from the start what is expected of them. Then the jury deliberates.
Winners announced
On the last evening, the winners step onto the podium and the pressure finally lifts. They join the internal incubator, supported all the way to preparing a pilot in the field. Every innovation leaves with its one-page sheet for the executive committee.
The materials, redrawn
The journey, from onboarding to pitch
-
Onboarding
Sponsors, jury and experts
-
Launch
Participants write the challenges
-
Learning journey
Past, present, future, art, nature
-
Midpoint
One kiosk per team
-
Bootcamp
Prototype, test, cross-feedback
-
Fair and pitch
In front of the jury
Weekly coaching, two teams per coach
- Remote
- In person
The jury scoring grid
Jury scoring grid
Team
| Weight | Score | |
|---|---|---|
| 1Fit with strategy | ||
| 2A pilot possible soon | ||
| 3A solid test plan | ||
| 4A clear prototype | ||
| 5Desirability | ||
| 6Wanting to join the project after the pitch | ||
| Total |
Deliverables and follow-up
- One prototype per team, its critical assumptions tested, and a filmed pitch.
- A one-page sheet per innovation for the executive committee, and an innovation portfolio.
- A map of the test plans and what they taught.
- The winners incubated in-house and supported up to the preparation of a pilot.
What we take away
- A jury brought on board from the start becomes an ambassador, and its grid tells the teams what is expected of them.
- Over several months, regular appointments keep the energy going: the weekly coaching matters as much as the bootcamp.
- Each edition learns from the last. The review of the previous one shaped this one.
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