Looking Back at Innovation Week 2026 at the Department of Management

The Innovation Week of the winter semester 2026 is behind us, and the Department of Management contributed a varied programme of lectures, workshops, excursions and a podcast. Students had the chance to try out agile approaches, project management in crisis situations, decision-making in a real company and working with artificial intelligence. We would like to thank all our guests and partners who took the time to meet our students, and the students themselves for their interest and active participation.

Project and Crisis Management in Times of a Pandemic
We kicked off the week on Monday with a lecture and workshop led by Honza Slavík on how to manage projects when conditions change from one day to the next. In the workshop that followed the lecture, students put what they had learned into practice.

Excursion to ZIGILAB: From Idea to Finished Product
On Monday afternoon, we visited the creative 3D studio ZIGILAB, where students saw the journey a product takes from the very first idea to the finished item.

Agile Mindset – Agile Principles Beyond Frameworks
In Tuesday’s workshop with Veronika Moudrá from Symphera, students looked beneath the surface of specific agile methodologies. They focused on the principles and mindset that the agile approach is truly built on.

Everyone Is Working Hard, Yet the Company Stands Still
Zdeněk Polansky, CEO of GreenSocS, explored decision-making at the intersection of sales, operations and marketing. He showed why even great effort is not enough when the different parts of a company do not pull in the same direction.

Step into the World of Narcos: Build and Run Your Own Empire with the Help of Artificial Intelligence!
In a workshop with CETIN, students used artificial intelligence to build and run their own (fictional) empire.

When a Mistake Must Not Stop Performance – Game:Changers Podcast
Tuesday’s recording of the Game:Changers podcast featured Olympians Jiří Beran and Lukáš Rohan and Pavel Hrstka, CEO of CityZen. They talked about how to deal with mistakes when performance has to go on, and offered inspiration that translates easily from sport to management and vice versa.

Advanced Hybrid Project Management
On Thursday, students focused on hybrid approaches that combine traditional and agile project management, and on how to apply them in more complex projects.

Why Is WHY So Important? Or: A Finished Project Is Only the Beginning
We closed the week with a question we often ask far too late in our projects: what impact will the project have, what will it change and what difference will it make? Petr Mašek and Vladimír Ježek guided us through this important topic.

We look forward to seeing you again at the next Innovation Week!