Idea workshop – OPERA
“We are, once again, about to start identifying risk and stress factors of work. How could I motivate everyone working in my area of responsibility to participate in the evaluation and to bring up the essential issues?”
Topic: a general method that can be applied to many situations
Time required: from half an hour to an hour, requires preparation
Materials: summary of safety observations, a pen and a notepad, flip charts, markers
Method description
Based on the safety observations, choose one work-related matter that requires development (development area) for which you try to come up with solutions together.
Ask the participants to write the development area as the title of their notes. First, ask the participants to think about how the issue could be resolved. Ensure that the space is quiet (do not discuss the matter together yet).
Form pairs.The pair briefly presents their ideas to each other and then chooses 3–5 ideas or solutions that they want to present to others. Write the presented ideas down on a flip chart. Alternatively, you can ask the pairs to write their ideas on A4 paper or a large post-it note (one idea per note) and stick them on a wall.
Ask each pair to briefly present the ideas or solutions they chose. If necessary, remind the participants that the functionality of the ideas is not evaluated at this stage.
Tell the participants that each of them has five (three) votes at their disposal. Ask the participants to mark their vote with a tally mark next to the development idea or solution they support. Instruct the group to focus on each other’s ideas: for example, you can only give one vote to your own idea.
The next step is grouping. Group the ideas and solutions together by popularity and theme.
Finally, specify the implementation of the most popular ideas and solutions: responsible person(s), schedule and evaluation of results or effectiveness. You can also take on a new development area to solve.