Hat Workshop

How to generate clarity, direction & commitment to organizational Goals

Hat Workshop

The difference between brilliant and mediocre teams isn’t so much in their collective mental capacity, but in how well they can tap into their collective wisdom and how well they function together.

Why? Building ownership across the organizationWhen an organization sets out new goals and directions it is crucial that their members fully understand the scope and consequences of the new goals. The better the staff understands and takes ownership of the new goals, the faster the organization can reach them.

How? Lateral thinkingWorking and thinking as a unit the group follows De Bonos six thinking hat system.The six thinking hats guides you to make better decisions by forcing you to move outside your habitual ways of thinking. As such, it helps you understand the full complexity of the decision, and spot issues and opportunities to which you might otherwise be blind.

When we think in the “normal way”, we try to do too much at once. We may be looking at the information, forming ideas, and judging someone else’s ideas all at the same time. The Six Hats method allows us to unbundle thinking. Instead of trying to do everything at once, we separate out the different aspects of thinking. This way we can pay full attention to each aspect in turn.

The workshop purpose is to build ownership on the objectives and actions, the staff is not just told to do but are creating their own tasks and area of responsibility. By developing the objectives and actions for themselves the staff also tailored them to their knowledge and interests to execute them more efficiently.

What? Clarity, Direction & Commitment

The workshop should in the end have resulted in:• Clarity of the goal.• Initiate cross function collaboration.• 3 objectives.• Defined actions to the objectives.• Delegated actions to business units, work groups or members.• Generate commitment and dedication to the actions, objectives and goal.

Some questions that should be answered throughout the workshop.• What does this goal mean for us?• Where will the goal take us?• What will the consequences be?

Discover: Diverging Information gathering and creating objectives.

Define: ConvergingOrganizing information and select the objectives.

Develop: DivergingGenerating actions for the objectives.

Deliver: ConvergingCreating action plan and delegate owners for the objectives.

Process The workshop process goes through four main activities based on the double diamond design process. Starting with diverging and open up to new possibilities to converging narrowing down options

to identify the most reasonable solution. This mix of diverging to converging thinking provides a framework to open up the dialogue to new alternatives and to break old patterns.

Workshop stepsThe thinking hats sequence can be changed depending on what the process or meeting is target towards. This time we have chosen to use the hats in the following ordered.

Step 1: White Hat; facts, figures and information. (Objective)

Gathering and sharing of information known or needed, facts and figures related to directly or indirectly to the organizations goal.

Step 2. Red Hat; Intuition and emotions. (Subjective)

What intuition, hunches, opinion and emotion does the group have to the situation? Create forecasts of the organizations future and identifying links between the trends, patterns and forces to the organizations goal.

Step 3. Green hat; Creativity and alternatives. (speculative/creative)

What are the possibilities, alternatives, new ideas and approaches that can lead us to the goal? This step is to generating objectives to the goals

Step 4. Blue hat; Overview process control. (Overview)

Selection of tree objectives.

Step 5. Black hat; Critical thinking. (Objective)

Why would the objectives not work? Criticism, judgment and negative aspects of the objectives.

Step 6. Yellow hat; Positive thinking. (Objective)

Positive aspects of why the objectives will work to reach the goal.

Step 7. Green hat; Creativity and alternatives. (speculative/creative)

What are the possibilities, alternatives, new ideas and approaches that can lead us to the objectives? Generating actions to the objectives.

Step 8. Blue hat; Overview process control. (overview)

Selection of the actions.

Step 9. PresentationStep 10. Follow up

Tools-The Hat matrixThe matrix is specially developed for this workshop and a tool that will help you and your team to organize the information in step 5-7 of the workshop. Start by type the organizations goal in the orange field

on the matrix. Each team should focus on one goal so the workshop become focus. If you have more than one group that is attending the workshop each group can focus on the organizations different long and short term goals.

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Tools-The decision matrix

The decision matrix is a tool that can be used to help you and your team to decide what to focus on. By evaluate the level of importance and feasibility you post one post-it in each square. The matrix helps the team to look upon the different alternatives more objectively and place them in proximity of each other. Be alert of the bias the team may have to the alternatives before placing them on the matrix.

1 2 3 4

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FEASIBILITY / VIABILITY

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UNWISE USE OF TIME TO ADDRESS THESE

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The decision matrix

Step 1White hat – Facts & Information (objective)

Goal: • Spread the known facts and information in the group.

Task: Put up articles, post-its notes and other facts that have direct or indirect consequences to the organization. Display them on a big wall and try to identify links and patterns in the information.

Time: 30 min

TIP

Try to stick with the white hat and just state facts and information. It is good to assign a group leader that can manage the team through the steps.

Let the attendee know about this task so that they can gather and prepare some relevant facts.

Step 2Red hat – Feelings & Emotions (subjective)

Goal: • Identify trends, patterns, and forces.• Create projections on future headlines.

Task:Use the red post-its to identify links, hunches, intuition, patterns and forces on facts and information posted on the wall. Don’t hesitate to express opinion, emotion or feelings. Use different covers from various magazines and construct your own future headlines.

Time: 30 min

TIP

Nothing is wrong, so don’t hesitate to express any thought, even the smallest or silliest connection can trigger great ideas.

Use strings or yarn to visualize and stretch the links.

Step 3Green hat – Alternatives & creativity(speculative/creative)

Goal: • Create objectives to the goals

Task:While looking at all the information, facts, forces, trends and future scenarios what can be done to reach goal. Generate objectives that will help the organization to reach their goal.Focuses on creativity, “everything goes” what is the possibilities, is there alternatives what new ideas and approaches can we figure out to reach our goals.What can be done if we would cross-pollinate business units or teams?

Time: 30 min

TIP

The green hat is speculative and creative phase where no devil’s advocate should be present, be creative and build on each other’s ideas.

Think quantity not quality.

Step 4Blue hat – The Big Picture(Overview)

Goal: • Select the three most relevant objectives.

Task:Look up on your wall of information and discuss which three objectives will be the most reasonable to reach the goals with the help of the decision matrix. When you have chosen the objectives, transfer the related information, projections and opportunities (white and red).

Time: 30 min

TIP

Try to be as objective as possible when looking on all the information and the objectives while using the matrix.

Try to avoid individual voting and use the matrix to spark a dialog.

1 2 3 4

1

2

3

4

5

5

FEASIBILITY / VIABILITY

IMPO

RTA

NCE

UNWISE USE OF TIME TO ADDRESS THESE

YOUR DESIGN SHULDACCOMODATE THESE

YOUR DESIGN MUSTADDRESS THESE

NEG

LEC

TCO

NSI

DER

FOCU

S

The decision matrix

The decision matrix

To facilitate the process use the matrix to decide which objectives to choose.Evaluate the level of importance and feasibility of the objectives before posting one in each square. Use the three objectives that get rated highest and transfer them to the worksheet.

Step 5Black hat – Critical Judgement(objective)

Goal: • Identify threats that can jeopardize the objectives.

Task:Discuss what factors could jeopardize the objectives and the goal. What can go wrong, what are the negative aspects of the objectives? How can the objective take the organization further away from the goals?

Time: 30 min

TIP

By blocking and questioning your decision you will fully grasp the objectives, but stay objective and be aware of your bias.

Build on each other’s thoughts.

Step 6Yellow hat – Positive Judgement

Goal:• Identify the positive aspects of the objectives.

Task:Discuss in the group the positive aspects of the objectives and why they will work and how they will get you closer to the goal.

Time: 30 min

TIP

The black hat is over, now it’s time to see the positive side to the objectives.

Build on each other’s ideas; see the opportunities and positive consequences.

Step 7Green hat – Alternatives & creativity(speculative/creative)

Goal: • Action to the objectives

Task:Generate possible actions that can lead up to the objectives.focusing on creativity, “everything goes” what is the possibilities, is there alternatives what new ideas and approaches can we figure out to reach our goals.

Time: 30 min

TIP

The green hat is speculative and creative phase where no devil’s advocate should be present, be creative and build on each other’s ideas.

Think quantity not quality.

Step 8Blue hat – The Big Picture(overview)

Goal: • Create action plan for the objectives.

Task:Look up on your worksheet of information and discuss which actions will be the most reasonable to reach the objectives.

Time: 30 min

TIP

It will facilitate future work if you delegate the actions to units, work groups or individuals to take responsibility for the actions.

Use the decision matrix to objectively look upon the actions to select.

Step 9PresentationSpend a few minutes to summarize your content before presenting it to the other groups. Share and discuss the findings, insights, bias and difficulties of the workshop.

There could be many different ways of presenting your groups conclusions.

• Statement of the context, objectives, actions and who could be responsible for them.

• Role-play where you act out the outcome.

• Magazine headlines and its story.

• Future sample of the board of directors meeting agenda.

Step 10Follow upThe most crucial step after the workshop is to build a team that has dedication, time, power, knowledge and resources to manage the objectives and actions.

Good luck !