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FACILITATE DIALOGUE

Share your results with others


Some of the greatest value offered by the UN Innovation Diagnostic can be derived from sharing your results with others to spur meaningful conversations around a common innovation framework. Invite your colleagues to take the diagnostic (if they have not already) and organize a conversation around your respective results. Depending on who is in attendance, you may seek different goals for this conversation. Regardless of the size of the group, it is recommended that you dedicate at least 90 minutes to the initial discussion. Below are sample facilitation activities to help guide your conversations.

Structuring the conversation


Below is a sample facilitation guide with curated questions to help spark debate and discussion, and ultimately provide a productive and collaborate roadmap for next steps.

1. Introduce Attendees 🕒15 min 
  • Use a creative opener to engage participants early and bring energy and focus to the discussion. Using the innovation profiles is one good option (i.e., I am Santiago from XXX office, and I received the Implementor profile). Combining introductions with an interactive exercise can also be effective; below are some examples:
    • Walk-the-Room: Place posters around the room with each profile type. Ask participants to go to the poster that represents the profile they received. Conduct introductions by poster.
    • Self-Selection: Set up six tables. Ask participants to group themselves by profiles, with one table for each profile. Participants introduce themselves to the table, then to the room by table.
    • Card Sort: Pictures of different activities, animals, etc. Ask participants to select an image that most represents the profile they received. When introducing themselves, participants announce their profile and explain why they believe the image they selected represents their profile.
  • When providing introductions, attendees should state their name, the team, unit, or organizational perspective from which they took the diagnostic, and their innovation profile.
  • Materials Needed: Flip charts, markers, tables, profile cards
2. Discuss Innovation Profiles 🕒20 min 
  • Hold a group discussion amongst the participants in the room. Consider the following guiding questions:
    • How diverse are the innovation profiles represented in the room? Are you surprised by the distribution? Why or why not?
    • Do those who share the same profiles find themselves in similar situations when it comes to innovation?
    • What are each of your biggest strengths and biggest areas for improvement? What implications might this have on your approach to innovation going forward?
    • Do you think your profile would have changed if you had taken the diagnostic from a different perspective – team, unit, or organization? How and why?
    • Are there other UN entities you believe that you should seek to partner with given our collective strengths and weaknesses?
3. Share Detailed Results 🕒30 min 
  • Now it is time to discuss your detailed results. Consider using the following exercises to help guide your discussion.
  • Find a Match: Within tables, discuss the highest and lowest scoring areas for innovation across the five S.P.A.C.E. modules. If possible, find one or more other participants that share your lowest scoring and/or highest scoring areas, and share your experiences.
  • Yin and Yang: Within tables, discuss your highest and lowest scoring area for innovation across the five S.P.A.C.E. modules. If possible, find one or more other participants that have their highest scoring area of strength to be your lowest scoring area. If you find someone fitting this profile, raise your hands.
    • Discuss what the other person has done to make their highest scoring area so successful. What can you learn from them? Write it down. Remember, you may also find someone different for whom your highest score was their lowest. Return the favor by telling them what you have done to become successful!
  • Now have a conversation as a group. Consider the following guiding questions:
    • Within our detailed results, what is everyone’s highest and lowest scoring module? Were you surprised by your results? Why or why not?
    • Who was able to find someone that shares their greatest strength? Greatest weakness? How about pairs where someone’s greatest strength was someone else’s greatest weakness? What did you learn?
4. Collaboration Opportunities and Immediate Next Steps 🕒25 min 
  • Now it is time to create an action plan. Consider the following guiding questions for the group.
  • 5x5x5: It may be helpful to ask the group to answer each question from the perspective of what can be accomplished in 5 days, 5 weeks, and 5 months.
    • How can we collectively work on our areas for growth? Who might be a natural partner to work with given our needs?
    • Did you identify someone with a particular strength in one of your areas of improvement? If so, what steps can you take to learn from their successes?
    • What other steps can we take in the next 5 days, 5 weeks, and 5 months to improve on our areas of weakness and help others based on our areas of strength?
  • One thing: Have everyone go around the table and identify one thing they will do based on the conversation. Make sure that a facilitator documents the commitments and shares them with the group after the meeting.
  • Discuss who else should be invited into future conversations.
  • Schedule your next meeting before you conclude! Now that you shared a common framework for innovation and established a baseline using the diagnostic assessment, continue to meet and discuss progress. Hold more meetings to share feedback and experiences using Tools in the Toolkit.
  • Agree to take the diagnostic again in four months and see how results evolve.