Workshop and Coaching Modules

Our offerings include the preparation, execution, and follow-up of specially designed coaching for innovation projects.
 

The aim of this coaching program is to provide the project team with the necessary domain-, social- and self-competencies to generate actions to responsibly solve problems in various situations. We train the project team about methods and tools to identify market opportunities and design a meaningful strategy and a viable and scalable business model. The teams will learn to attract resources and to act as knowledgeable and responsible business persons to operate an enterprise.

We offer a modular tool kit of physical workshops (Face-to-Face/F2F) and online workshops (Innovation Work Units/IWU). These modules range from half a day IWU to up to three days F2F. From this kit, the coaching program can be customized to the environment and the needs of the company. For all modules, we use state-of-the-art methods as well as concepts developed at our chair or together with our network of research and practice.

 

This toolbox includes, among other things, the following modules:

 

B2B/B2C Sales and Marketing
Depending on the project idea, different marketing and sales concepts are relevant for the team. Depending on the customer segment, we offer methods for developing a market launch strategy for B2B or B2C.
Design Thinking
As part of a workshop or a methodical accompaniment of the innovation process, we focus on the customer's needs and develop solutions from this perspective, which are tested in several iteration loops and on the basis of prototypes. Concrete techniques are used to build up empathy with the user and then to open up a versatile solution space in the idea generation phase. The goal is a prototype that creates a positive added value for the user.
Fast Forward Business Modeling
The design of business models has a considerable influence on the development and success of a company. In this workshop the participants use different methods to simplify and aggregate the relevant activities of a company. On the one hand, the degree of abstraction of the methods enables a quick concretization of the relevant aspects. On the other hand, the methods create a holistic understanding of the corporate structure and processes. Thus all essential factors can be thought through on a conceptual level. The participants go through the four phases of idea generation, feasibility analysis, prototyping and decision making.
Jobs-To-Be-Done
The Jobs-To-Be-Done approach according to Anthony Ulwick is similar to Design Thinking in that it is a user-centered methodology that enables a structured recording of customer needs. The aim is to develop or improve products or services that satisfy a previously unmet customer need.
Market and Competitor Analysis
The understanding of the surrounding market structures and the competitive environment are essential for successful positioning and the identification of competitive advantages. In this workshop, we first analyze the market potential and hurdles of successful market entry. Extended by an extensive competition analysis, the competitive advantages and the USP of the project can be worked out.
Negotiation
We see negotiation as a central part for project teams. We perceive negotiation not as non-routine high-dollar interactions but as problem-solving where you are better off than the status quo. In this highly interactive module, the project team will be faced with different situations where they will learn how to negotiate, how to determine the costs of negotiation and how to settle a deal after all.
Pricing and Financial Planning
Defining an appropriate pricing strategy is one of the key challenges for a successful market launch. To master this challenge, we focus on cost-based, competitive-based and especially value-based pricing methods. Together with our colleagues from the Chair of Marketing and Management Accounting, we will guide you through the steps to find the right price for your solution and to determine the revenue strategy for your market launch.
Project Management
This module focuses on project management skills that foster agile and lean projects. We base this module on project management standards from the Project Management Institute (PMI) and combine them with the latest insights from Lean Startup and Agile Project Management.
Team Core Values
The goal of this workshop is that the team members define their personal values as well as agree on team values for their venture. Based on the team values, the team defines a vision for the venture. As a helping tool for self-reflexion, each team member gets a visualization of their personal value tendencies that is created based on a scientific questionnaire. Each team member can conduct this questionnaire before the workshop.
Technology Application Selection
The computer, the Internet or the laser led to groundbreaking innovations that lastingly changed people's ways of working and living. They are good examples of the so-called "technology push" innovations that have emerged from research. "Technology push product developments are characterized by starting with a particular technology and then integrating that technology into products that either better meet known market needs or create new markets.
During the Technology Application Selection (TAS) workshop, participants will be introduced to the methodology developed by EnTechnon through short theoretical impulses to generate new ideas and understand how to find possible applications for new technologies.
Value Driven Innovation
Observing, asking the right questions, bringing what has been seen and heard into a meaningful structure - all these are essential elements for understanding your customer in detail. Methodologies such as Design Thinking and Jobs-To-Be-Done help to understand customer needs in a structured way. The participants are introduced to the methodologies through short theoretical impulses and then transfer these directly to their own business model. A special focus here is on the Jobs-To-Be-Done method according to Anthony Ulwick, who assumes that the structured collection of customer wishes and their core tasks is essential in order to be able to assert oneself successfully against competitors.
Value Network Analysis
The main goal of this workshop is to identify and analyze the added-value flows in the environment of your solution. Based on this understanding, a role screening in the corresponding business environment will be carried out in order to identify potential partners and corresponding internal as well as external resources to use. We will identify what role your own company will play in this network, which services can be outsourced to partners and which services make your own company valuable for the partners. This workshop can be done as F2F or IWU.