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Applying KEMs
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Innovation for societal transitions requires interdisciplinary collaboration. Designers, researchers, government officials, and entrepreneurs each bring their own perspectives, language, and working methods. Not everyone is equally familiar with KEMs. And the associated design approach can raise questions or generate resistance.
How do you then arrive at a suitable approach and optimal end result together? How do you create space for iteration and experimentation, without losing control of the process? And perhaps even more importantly: what should you be aware of when working with KEMs?
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A magazine for and by the practice
The KEM magazine is intended for project teams working on societal challenges but with limited experience with KEMs. The magazine offers insights, experiences from others who have worked with KEMs for a while, and tools for successfully applying KEMs.
How do you effectively apply KEMs in practice?
Ten handles for the selection and application of methods
On page 11 of the KEM magazine "From Paper to Practice," you'll find ten tools for selecting and applying methods for project teams working on innovation and transitions.
These guidelines will help your project team select the right KEMs and use them effectively in your project. The ten guidelines are divided into three sections: 1. project preparation, 2. KEM selection, and 3. project execution.
The ten handles are not necessarily sequential, especially in the preparation and selection phases: they can also be addressed simultaneously or iteratively ('back and forth').
A magazine for and by the practice
The KEM magazine is intended for project teams working on societal challenges but with limited experience with KEMs. The magazine offers insights, experiences from others who have worked with KEMs for a while, and tools for successfully applying KEMs.
How do you effectively apply KEMs in practice?
Ten handles for the selection and application of methods
On page 11 of the KEM magazine "From Paper to Practice," you'll find ten tools for selecting and applying methods for project teams working on innovation and transitions.
These guidelines will help your project team select the right KEMs and use them effectively in your project. The ten guidelines are divided into three sections: 1. project preparation, 2. KEM selection, and 3. project execution.
The ten handles are not necessarily sequential, especially in the preparation and selection phases: they can also be addressed simultaneously or iteratively ('back and forth').
How do you determine jointly?
the approach for your project?
A project approach often evolves gradually: driven by deadlines, funding requirements, and the expertise available within the team. This sometimes works well. But when it comes to complex societal challenges, it pays to consciously consider how the team approaches the project.
Determining your approach together:
- helps to get everyone on the same page,
- provides insight into everyone's wishes,
- expectations and assumptions,
- makes roles and responsibilities explicit,
- encourages the formulation of shared goals and next steps,
- invites you to go beyond your own expertise and frame of reference,
- and prevents misunderstandings and noise during project implementation.
To support this process, CLICKNL developed a discussion tool for project teams: the KEM compass.
The KEM compass
The KEM Compass supports project teams in collaboratively shaping their project approach. In five steps, you'll explore relevant methods, identify existing and missing methodological expertise within the team, and consciously align your working methods.
The compass is ideal for use at the start of a project, for example, when drafting a project proposal. But it also helps later in the process to reflect together, make adjustments, and set new directions. The ten tools (p. 11) in the KEM magazine provide additional insights.
What is the value and impact of an approach? And how do you discuss it with each other?
Anyone who works with KEMs will recognize the following questions:
- What is actually the impact of a particular method?
- To what extent would a different approach have led to a different outcome?
- And how does a method contribute to the goals of a project?
These are logical and relevant questions, especially for clients, funders, and partners. But the answer is rarely simple. Value and impact are multifaceted, often context-dependent, and cannot be captured by numbers alone. In practice, this sometimes makes it difficult to have a meaningful discussion about the value of methods within a project.
Therefore, the KEM program, together with the KEM network, investigated how value and impact are actually perceived in innovation projects. Six insights emerged from interviews and sessions:
- Trust and value perception are strongly linked
- Value is context dependent and can shift over time
- Value is multiple
- Expected value ≠ experienced value
- Value arises in relation to others
- Value is formed by the interests of stakeholders involved
These insights formed the basis for a practical framework that helps structure conversations about value and impact — not to measure impact, but to better discuss expectations, interests and experiences with each other.