It is no surprise that creating innovation initiative programs is an excellent way for companies that want to conquer their innovative space. Whether out of curiosity, knowledge about the importance of these actions or even necessity.
According to authors Alan Robinson and Dean Schroeder, in the book Idea-Driven Organization , 80% of an organization’s potential for improvement lies in front-line ideas. That is, those who deal directly with the operation of the product or service, or have direct contact with the customer.
The development of innovative initiatives can occur in different ways. One way is in partnership with companies like DIWE, which helps other organizations discover innovation ideas that best fit with them, considering the individual issues of each company.
However, it is essential to to the developments of the process so that the initial objectives are not along the way. Although it is a task that requires dedication, it is possible to make innovation initiatives successful and efficient.
1 – Don’t copy ready-innovation ideas from another company
Although acting like a “herd effect” is upon in the special database world. The reality is that many companies only decide to act when they see peers or competitors following the same path. The well-known herd effect ends up being common in innovation. Companies act because everyone else is doing it, without knowing exactly why they are doing it.
In this race without a practical objective, companies end up copying the measures adopted by other companies, without study, analysis and knowledge. The consequence of this is always the same: the failure of innovation initiatives.
Treating innovation initiatives as a bank of ideas from which the “most attractive” one is chosen, without the appropriate selection criteria, is not safe, correct and can result in an incalculable waste of time and money.
Obviously, knowing good practices and disseminating internal knowledge is positive for fostering innovation within the organization. However, when implementing an initiative, consider a careful evaluation and seek partners who can help your company at this stage.
2 – Involve governance
If governance is not involved, innovation when you are always ready will not come to fruition. There are several reasons for this, such as:
- It is governance that ensures the strategic alignment of the company’s objectives with innovation initiatives;
- Governance helps communicate ongoing initiatives and ensures the entire company speaks the same language;
- Governance disseminates the culture of innovation;
- Innovation involves costs. It could be an investment in purchasing software or training employees. Governance will be the major investor in innovation. It must be convinced that the initiatives are essential in the short, medium or long term;
- If properly communicated by governance, leaders at different levels of the company begin to prioritize innovation actions within their team.
3 – Involve people and invest in training
One of the characteristics of an innovation b2b reviews is that it is multidisciplinary, understanding that people’s skills can complete a team and make it high-performance. While one person may be creative and suggest new ideas, another may be excellent at testing and validating them.
Diversity provides benefits for the company. However, for this exchange of experiences to happen productively, employee training is essential. They must understand the importance of teamwork, know how to work with a combination of skills and understand the role that each person has in delivering value.
Furthermore, keeping up with innovation trends, technological advances and market movements is not an easy task. Offering training, workshops and participation in events on topics related to the company’s operations are great options for expanding individual knowledge.
4 – Communicate innovation
As much as new technologies have facilitated organizational communication, providing relevant content to everyone within the organization has still been an obstacle.
Follow the reasoning, imagine that senior management is committed to implementing innovation initiatives. In addition to hiring DIWE as a partner to find initiatives that fit the company’s profile, the company offers various training courses for employees who want to improve their skills. But without being informed about internal changes, which employee will feel motivated to get trained or understand the value of training?
Without being informed about the company’s culture of innovation, which employee will realize the importance of prioritizing innovative ideas? Which employee will realize that the company is truly committed to keeping up with the digital transformation that is driving the market? How will each person feel safe suggesting ideas without feeling that their job will be put at risk?
Making sure that the flow of information passes through the different levels of the organization is not a simple task, but it is essential. Creating official channels for communication prevents information from being distorted along the way. Proper communication provides motivation, security in the actions of employees and ensures that the entire company speaks the same language.
5 – Provide a budget
It is impossible to talk about innovation without talking about budget. The budget is also a deciding factor in determining whether an innovation initiative is viable or not.
One of the reasons why innovation initiatives fail is that executives only make budgets available for generating new ideas and ignore the fact that putting them into practice generates new costs.
Even incremental ideas, in processes, within the H1 innovation horizon require a dedicated budget.
Unfortunately, executives stuck in a vision on current spending, preventing them from looking at future profits.
6 – Consider adjusting the route
The world is very volatile and you must agree. Perhaps the sad pandemic period was a school for companies to learn how to adapt quickly to new situations. But what many people forget is that before and after the pandemic, learning to change course was and continues to be an alternative.
Learning from mistakes is a good practice in innovation. You don’t focus on the problem but on the solution, and take that experience as a learning experience. However, persisting in making mistakes is a lack of discernment.
Does this mean that you can just randomly test and see which initiative will work? No! The journey of an innovation initiative must. But don’t consider it absurd to adjust the route during the project, as long as the initial objectives.