Do you know how to develop or create an innovation campaign within your business? This is an important issue, as it helps in the innovative processes of the company. Through innovation, organizations will be able to develop unique solutions and, thus, gain a competitive advantage in the market and stay resilient with the ever-changing business landscape.
Those who develop an effective campaign are more likely to develop innovative products and services. This increases the chances of companies reaching more customers and, consequently, increasing the number of sales. Considering the importance of this subject, in this post we will inform you what an idea database is, what are the advantages for organizations, highlight the importance of keeping it updated and explain step-by-step how to help you set up a good innovation campaign.
What is an Idea Database?
An Idea Database references a predefined storage space, where suggestions from employees from different departments of the company are stored. With a large number of ideas and people with different points of view, it is easier to develop innovative projects if an organization fosters a culture of innovation. One of the best practices for doing so is through brainstorming. During a brainstorming session, a great number of ideas can be brought together and generate valuable insights into company projects and challenges.
What are the Benefits for your Business?
An idea campaign has different benefits for companies. First, it will be possible to have immediate access to different points of view. This is because people from different sectors of the company will be able to contribute to the development of the company’s projects, each contributing from their area of expertise. As there is no judgment on what are the best ideas, at least in the initial stage, employees tend to feel more comfortable to share their ideas. This is very important as it should be the focus to develop an environment favorable to innovation. Innovative processes are one of the main secrets of companies that stand out in the market today and are required for those who want to stay relevant and viable.
The Importance of Keeping Your Idea Database Updated
It doesn’t matter the type of your company; it is important to keep your idea database updated. This is even more important in large businesses because in these organizations, several people contribute with suggestions and for this reason, it is necessary to constantly update the database so that managers are informed as soon as possible about the best solutions. They can also gain valuable insights that can develop business differentiators.
Why Ensure the Participation of Several People?
As mentioned earlier, the more people who participate in the campaign, the better. This is because they will have different points of view that will grant them contact with a wide range of ideas and, later, it will be possible to make the selection of viable projects or those that will most contribute to the growth of the business as a whole.
What is the Step-by-Step Guide to Set Up the Idea Database?
We highlighted earlier about the importance of creating an innovation campaign. Now, you may be asking yourself: how do I put this in practice within my own organization? There are not many secrets about this so keep reading and discover the steps to optimize the process inside your business.
Store Ideas in a Centralized Location
First, after gathering several ideas, your company should store them in a centralized location. That way, it will be easier to refer to them when necessary and when it comes time, your task of putting them into practice will also be made easier.
Empower and Involve People
News ideas come from people. Training is one of the fundamental elements, as it will make employees more prepared to propose innovative solutions to their organization. Involvement is also essential in this process because, if people are motivated, they will be willing to do their best for the company and, do their best to develop new ideas.
Decentralize the Idea Approval Process
Centralization of approval is not always a positive thing, as it becomes a bottleneck in the ideation process. This happens for different reasons. The first is that employees send an idea and it takes a long time to receive feedback or be approved, which discourages anyone. The second is that, with centralization, the company loses the opportunity to count on different visions in the preparation of suggestions aimed at optimizing the company’s performance. Decentralization, on the other hand, makes the innovation process more agile, thus, the best solutions tend to be implemented with agility in the organization.
Implement an Employee Recognition Program
We noted earlier that innovative ideas come from people and for this reason, it is essential to encourage the engagement of your team. One of the best ways to do this is through employee recognition. Every month, your company can reward the most innovative professionals who are contributing viable ideas for the betterment of the organization.
There are different ideas that can help you with this process. You can use, for example, the murals or televisions on the office’s common areas for recognizing colleagues. This practice is very simple, but it will encourage people’s participation in innovative processes. There are also companies that give employees part of the profits obtained with the proposed innovations. Other organizations reward employees through the implementation of a scoring and redemption system for prizes (trips, appliances, etc.). There is no exact rule on what is the best way to recognize professionals; you have to choose those that are financially viable and, at the same time, bring satisfaction to employees.
Use a Management Software
As the company’s innovation culture develops, it is essential to have a management tool that will help in the control of ideas-in-progress and, consequently, it will facilitate the work needed to implement them in the future. In addition, organizations will have immediate access to valuable insights that can help the business to grow and become sustainable to market changes. Do you have any questions about how to create an innovation campaign in your business or want to learn more about a free Ideation Management software? Feel free to comment here and we will reply back!