This creative method, called the Café Method, is more of a process method to be used in creative workshops or brainstorming. The method is based on the fact that by changing participants in groups, you can inject new energy into the groups while at the same time getting a reconciliation and collecting the ideas that have emerged so far in the process. However, it will also generate ideas.
The café method is more of a tool to keep the energy up in the creative process rather than a method for generating ideas. It should be used when you want to revive the energy in groups after intensive ideation with the same participants within the same group, or when a group is not functioning as it should.
The method works as follows:
1. Appoint a suitable person in each group to participate in the activity. Here you can be strategic and choose a person who gives energy or someone who has not contributed much.
2. Ask the selected people to switch groups with each other, for example clockwise between groups, so that each person ends up in a new group.
3. Let the people who remain in the group describe the ideas that have come up so far, while the newly arrived person to the group is silent, smiles and only asks questions if there is something he does not understand.
4. Continue the creative work with the new groups, alternatively continue to rotate the selected ones until the groups are restored
Here is an example of how the method can be applied
If the energy in the groups begins to wane, especially in a specific group, you can designate a person who is good at listening and ask him to switch groups. By introducing a new person to the group, the energy can be renewed and the ideas can flow again.
When using the Café model, you can also think about creating a café-like atmosphere by using attributes such as tablecloths and possibly adding this activity just in time for a coffee break, where participants first get coffee. This can reinforce the new way of working and give extra energy to the group.
