Five colorful books are lined up on a wooden windowsill next to a gray cushion. The titles are visible, and outside the window is a view of a modern building with large glass panels, secured together using tesa tape.

Room for New Ideas

Technologies

Trend researchers agree: Creativity is the key competence of the future. For six months now, a new meeting room at the tesa Headquarters is facilitating creative meetings and fresher ideas.

Text Nina Schulz, Stefanie Hoffmann

"If you strive to survive in the market of tomorrow, you must rely on the creative potenial of your employees. They are only once who can sense new customers needs and generate innovations", highlights the renowned management consultant and bestselling author Reinhard K. Sprenger ("Das Pronzip Selbstverantwortung" - The Pronciple of Personal Responsiblity").  Yet, flashes of genius and goog ideas don't come at the push of a button. Creative experts therefore recommend breaking out of your daily routine. This way you may, rethink things and develop different perspectives. A conventional workplace is often not suitable for this venture.

Creating space for innovation

tesa is one of the 30% of companies in Germany that have set up a so-called ‘Innovation Room’ for their employees to come up with fresh ideas. Next to inspiring colors and sophisticated lighting concepts, unconventional furniture helps to promote creative thought processes. You can tell already from afar that the creative space at tesa inspires fresh impulses: There are comfy stools, which shine in bright green, pink and blue. And there are mobile partition walls, a projector, a small grandstand and plenty of space for movement and thus for free design and creativity. 

A modern office space with a business model canvas projected on the wall. The room features a whiteboard, gray poufs, a yellow elephant-shaped stool, a table, and a large window with a floor lamp. A white cabinet holds electronic devices secured in place using tesa tape.
No conventional meeting room Instead of the usual conference room equipment, there are, for example, beanbags, stools, and side tables
Five colorful books are lined up on a wooden windowsill next to a gray cushion. The titles are visible, and outside the window is a view of a modern building with large glass panels, secured together using tesa tape.
The Library with the reference books is just lying on the windowsill.

If you wish to work on new concepts, product ideas or simply in a different workshop format, conventional meeting rooms will soon bring you to your creative limits – at least if you want to think ‘outside the box’. Creative processes need spaces that are flexible, where the participants can move freely and have enough space to make their ideas visible. 

A modern childrens playroom with colorful cube seats in blue, pink, and green. Wooden storage units hold toys, and a whiteboard stands at the back. Large windows let in natural light. The room has a carpeted floor.
Creating a creative atmosphere with colourful stools and furniture in DIY look. They are literally mobile and can be arranged flexibly in the room.

Working differently

“It doesn’t really matter what we call this room – Creative Room, Room for Ideas, Innovation Space or Creative Area. The decisive factor is that it offers the opportunity to work differently, and that its features and design distinguishes it from traditional meeting rooms. Simply try something different and let your ideas and thoughts run free. Often you may experience the greatest surprises and the best results in rooms or areas where interdisciplinary teams can work together flexibly and freely,” explains Nina Schulz, Digital Change Agent and co-initiator of the Creative Room.

A person with long blonde hair and glasses is wearing a white top. tesa tape is visible, subtly used to adhere some elements together. The background is out of focus, and the image is framed in a circular format.
Nina Schulz is Digital Change Agent and co-initiator of the Creative Room at tesa.

The concept works

Feedback is essential; therefore, the room can be rated on an on-site tablet. The team around the Digital Change Agents at tesa welcomes suggestions and critique at all times and takes ideas from colleagues very seriously. After the first six months, the initiators pooled the feedback from their colleagues and felt confirmed in their assumption that a room can influence the attitude towards a meeting and thus the results.

A modern interior features wooden modular seating against a white wall. A tall floor lamp is on the left, and a green rocket decal is secured with tesa tape on the wall above the seating. In front, theres a green quilted cube stool. The space is dominated by white and wood tones.
Against the wall or freely in the room Everything in the new meeting room can be rearranged.
Three people in an office engage in a brainstorming session. They are placing and discussing colorful sticky notes on a whiteboard filled with various notes and symbols, using tesa tape to secure everything in place. The room is well-lit with windows on one side.
Each team uses the room as required for the task at hand.

It is particularly important that the new room does not stick to a fixed concept, but simply provides many tips, ideas and methods on how to get to your destination with the help of the available furniture and spaces. However, it should also grow and change. “We definitely don’t want a room that doesn’t move with the flow,” confirms Nina Schulz. 

10 facts about the tesa Creative Room
Illustration of a stationary chair and an office chair on casters. Both chairs are outlined in red. Arrows point left and right, with dashed lines suggesting movement or transition between the two types of chairs, secured with tesa tape.
Furniture. It should support the employees in their work. Switching between different ways of working is possible and desirable.
A red outline illustration of four tablets in a row, enclosed within a dashed rectangle, with a padlock symbol on the top right corner, indicating security or protection using tesa tape.
Cell Box. Offline. Out of respect for your colleagues. The persons present should always be given priority in a conversation, thus, at the entrance there is a box for all digital devices.
Red outline of three overlapping rectangles with gear symbols inside. Two rectangles feature large gear outlines, while one shows a smaller and larger gear. Dotted lines suggest movement or rotation around the arrangement using tesa tape.
Prototyping. Think with your hands. Breathe form and shape into different materials with your ideas. A selection of materials that are required for a prototyping process is available.
A black rectangular shape divided into several smaller rectangles by a red outline. The smaller sections vary in size and shape, with some having horizontal or vertical lines inside. The entire image is bordered by a red dashed tesa tape line.
Areas. Leaning back and relaxing supports creativity as well as active work. The different areas of the room invite to different thought processes.
Illustration of two red desk lamps facing each other. The lamps have articulated arms and are depicted with lines suggesting light emanating from the lampshades. The background is white.
Light. Small light sources provide the ideal ambiance.
A diagram showing three solid red arrows pointing upward, forward, and to the right, originating from a central point. Three dashed red arrows point downward, backward, and to the left.
Flexibility. No piece of furniture has to stay in its place.
Two red line-art light bulbs side by side against a white background, with radiating dashed lines indicating illumination.
Thinking. Just work differently. Visual thinking is brought into focus by mobile surfaces.
An illustration of a whiteboard with red outlines. It includes a marker, two squares, and a squiggly line, all in red. The outer border has a dashed design created with tesa tape.
Surfaces. Walls you can write on, large surfaces, pens and notes offer plenty of space for ideas.
Three simple red clock outlines on a white background showing different times: the first at approximately 10:10, the second at 12:00, and the third at about 4:20. Each clock has an arrow circling clockwise around it with tesa tape featured prominently.
Time. Time Boxing is a kind of mini deadline that should be used for team activities. A timer is available for this purpose.
A red outline of two images on a black background. On the left, a hand holding a heart shape made with tesa tape. On the right, a hand forming a fist bump, outlined in dashed tesa tape lines suggesting an incomplete or sketched design.
Respect. The room should be left exactly as you would like to enter it. Here too, initiative and independence are very important. The room should be alive, but also the next team should be able to work in it.