By GARY FRY
Caption: RDANI Snr Project Officer, Kim-Trieste Hastings, the New England North West NSW Business Chamber’s Digital Business and Development Executive Officer, Derek Tink and business innovation guru, Greg Alder. Photo: DANIELI STUDIOS.
BUSINESS brainstorming sessions, held throughout the Northern Inland region last week, have gotten a big thumbs-up from the broad range of participants. The ‘New IQ’ workshops were part of the lead-up to the 2013 Regional Development Australia Northern Inland (RDANI) Innovation Awards.
RDANI teamed up with the New England North West NSW Business Chamber to deliver the workshops which inspired business creativity, towards assisting the development and implementation of innovative practices or products.
Five free morning and evening ‘New IQ’ workshops were staged on consecutive days, from 27 to 31 May, in Narrabri, Tamworth, Quirindi, Glen Innes and Tenterfield, respectively.
Two days of workshops had already taken place in Inverell and Armidale on 8 and 9 April. They were presented by renowned business and innovation coach, Greg Alder. He will also be the guest speaker for this year’s Northern Inland Innovation Awards night in Tamworth in November.
“Our morning workshop focused on idea generation. In the evenings, we went through the implementation process,” Mr Alder said.
“What surprised people in these workshops was how easy it is to generate ideas. I was giving people 20 minutes to use a creative-thinking tool and they were generating 10-15 ideas for business in that time.
“If you’re not thinking about your business’ future and coming up with new ideas for it, you stagnate. It doesn’t matter what industry you are in, creative thinking is a behaviour that can be learnt,” Mr Alder said.
“It was great! You don’t get the chance to be around a lot of good creative thinkers every day,” said Tony Eden from Australian Bush Honey, Nemingha.
Owner of Travel World, Tamworth, Renetta Coutman, said the workshops were eye-opening.
“I now see the value in taking the time to think about my business and how it can improve,” she said.
Derek Tink from the New England North West NSW Business Chamber described the workshops as inspirational and timely.
“Across the region there are over 10,000 businesses, from one-man-bands to large institutions. Now is the time for them to innovate and collaborate,” he said. “Take on board an idea from an employee, implement it and recognise their contribution – that can mean more than remuneration.”
RDANI Snr Project Officer, Kim-Trieste Hastings encouraged local businesses and organisations to think about what sets them apart and put that in an entry for the Northern Inland Innovation awards.
For information and a downloadable entry form, go to: www.niia.com.au.
