Innovation Workshop – Ideas That Actually Hold Up
An innovation workshop with the verrocchio Institute is a structured, facilitated process in which teams develop concrete, actionable ideas within half a day to two days. It’s built on more than 1,000 proven methods, 2,000+ international innovation projects, and the experience drawn from 25,000+ people we’ve worked with across 26 countries. Workshop formats range from a compact half-day kickoff to a two-day innovation sprint, in person, hybrid, or online.
What Is an Innovation Workshop?
An innovation workshop brings people who need fresh ideas into a structured process, and what comes out the other end are concrete, actionable solutions. We facilitate this process using proven methods from 2,000+ international innovation projects. No grey theory, just practical work on your real challenges.
The difference from an ordinary meeting lies in the structure: a professionally facilitated innovation workshop follows a clear sequence, from understanding the starting situation, through targeted ideation, to prioritization and planning of concrete next steps. Every phase is supported with matching methods that have proven track records. We draw on our own pool of more than 1,000 proven tools, which we make freely available on innovation.wiki.
What sets a verrocchio innovation workshop apart is the combination of depth and practical relevance. We don’t work with off-the-shelf standard programs. Every workshop is tailored to your specific situation, your industry, and your participants. This can be a half day as a compact kickoff, a full-day working workshop, or a two-day innovation sprint. The result isn’t a flipchart full of post-its that disappears into a drawer afterward, but a prioritized pool of ideas with clear responsibilities and next steps.
Our workshop work is built on 500 years of documented innovation knowledge, from the principles of Renaissance innovators to the most current agile methods. This combination of historical depth and modern practice is the foundation of the verrocchio Institute, and the reason companies from 26 countries work with us.
Who Is It For?
An innovation workshop brings people who need fresh ideas into a structured process, and what comes out the other end are concrete, actionable solutions. We facilitate this process using proven methods from 2,000+ international innovation projects. No grey theory, just practical work on your real challenges.
The difference from an ordinary meeting lies in the structure: a professionally facilitated innovation workshop follows a clear sequence, from understanding the starting situation, through targeted ideation, to prioritization and planning of concrete next steps. Every phase is supported with matching methods that have proven track records, drawn from our pool of more than 1,000 proven tools, which we make freely available on innovation.wiki.
What sets a verrocchio innovation workshop apart is the combination of depth and practical relevance. We don’t work with off-the-shelf standard programs. Every workshop is tailored to your specific situation, your industry, and your participants, whether as a half-day compact kickoff, a full-day working workshop, or a two-day innovation sprint. The result isn’t a flipchart full of post-its that disappears into a drawer afterward, but a prioritized pool of ideas with clear responsibilities and next steps.
Our workshop work is built on 500 years of documented innovation knowledge, from the principles of Renaissance innovators to the most current agile methods. This combination of historical depth and modern practice is the foundation of the verrocchio Institute, and the reason companies from 26 countries work with us.
Our Workshop Formats
No company is like any other, so we don’t believe in a one-size-fits-all format. We always adapt length, depth, and methodology to your specific situation.
Half-Day Workshop (4 hours)
The compact kickoff for teams of up to 15 people. Focused on one concrete topic, with immediately usable results. Ideal as an entry point or as a complement to an existing event.
Full-Day Workshop (8 hours)
Our most-booked format. Enough time for a complete ideation round: problem understanding, creative phase, evaluation, prioritization, next steps. For teams of up to 25 people.
Two-Day Innovation Sprint
The complete innovation cycle. From problem analysis through ideation and first prototypes to validation and a concrete implementation plan. For complex challenges and ambitious teams.
In-house, hybrid, or online: We run all formats at your premises, at an external location of your choice, or fully remote. The quality of facilitation and results stays the same either way.
Our Methods
With more than 1,000 proven innovation methods, documented on innovation.wiki, the world’s largest methods database, we have the right tool for every starting situation. Depending on the workshop’s goal, we draw on, among others:
- For problem definition, we work with Jobs-to-be-Done, Empathy Mapping, or the Innovationsbild by Christina Westing, which makes complexity visible and brings teams into shared understanding right away.
- For ideation, we use proven creative techniques such as SCAMPER, brainwriting, the analogy technique, or synectics, depending on whether the team needs fast quantity or deep quality in ideation.
- For evaluation and prioritization, we work with structured assessment grids, the Idea Canvas, and impact-effort matrices, which ensure that in the end it’s not the loudest voice that wins, but the best idea.
- For the transfer into implementation, clear responsibilities, concrete next steps, and, on request, follow-up coaching ensure that the workshop results actually land in the company.
Why verrocchio?
The verrocchio Institute for Innovation Competence was founded by Christian Buchholz and Benno van Aerssen, two of the most experienced innovation coaches in the German-speaking world. Together they have accompanied more than 2,000 international innovation projects, inspired more than 25,000 people, and written six books, including the standard reference “Das große Handbuch Innovation.” Today the team is complemented by experienced innovation facilitator Christina Westing and a network of verrocchio experts.
What sets us apart from other providers isn’t the methodology alone, it’s the attitude. We work in the engine room of companies, where things get practical and where the new actually emerges. We don’t deliver presentations that end up on a shelf afterward. We work with you until the ideas are running.
Our name says it all: Andrea del Verrocchio was the teacher of Leonardo da Vinci, a master who didn’t put himself at the center but brought out the best in his students. That’s exactly our role in your innovation workshop.
Innovation workshops throughout Germany
We’ll come to you—in Düsseldorf, Berlin, Munich, Hamburg, Frankfurt, Cologne, Stuttgart, and over 50 other cities in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. We offer all our workshop formats in-person, online, and in a hybrid format.
→ Innovation Workshop Düsseldorf → Innovation Workshop Berlin → Innovation Workshop Munich → Innovation Workshop Hamburg → Innovation Workshop Frankfurt → Innovation Workshop Cologne → Innovation Workshop Stuttgart
Related Formats
Alongside the classic innovation workshop, we offer other specialized formats that may fit better depending on your starting situation:
→ Design Thinking Workshop — for user-centered problem solving with prototyping → Creativity Workshop — for teams who want to build creative thinking as a competency → Sustainability Workshop — for innovation with ecological and social ambition → AI Workshop — for a strategic and practical entry into AI-driven innovation → Future Workshop — for companies who want to actively shape future scenarios
→ Team Workshop — when collaboration and innovation capability should be strengthened together
Get in Touch Now
Talk to us about your project, free of charge and with no obligation. In a 30-minute initial conversation, we’ll clarify where you currently stand, which format fits your situation, what a realistic scope looks like, and how we can move forward together.
Christina Westing will answer your inquiry personally and quickly.
