Points to Make Innovation a Success
Ask any number of organizational leaders if they want to create a more innovative workplace, and you'll most certainly hear a resounding "Yes!" Companies try any number of ways to accomplish this from hiring top talent to offering sizeable bonuses. The truth is, there's more to innovation than talent and incentive. Organizations should strive to create workplaces where the exchange of ideas and innovation are not only encouraged, but developed using the resources the organization already has. If you want to bring about innovation in your organization, read these tips for making it happen.
Start with a Clear Management Vision
A project will go nowhere fast if the manager's vision is not made clear from the start. Too often, the manager does not clearly convey to employees the vision or goal that they've set out to accomplish. When the vision is understood, employees will come up with innovative solutions to move projects forward. Innovation often fails when the manager's vision is unclear or ambiguous. Even projects that start off on fire with enthusiasm and determination often fizzle out when difficult situations veer the project off-course due to lack of planning and opposition from naysayers within the organization. Start off with a clear vision because when expectations are transparent, innovation flourishes.
Foster Unity and Leverage the Strengths Around You
No matter how good you are, you can't be the best at everything. When individuals within a group fail to delegate based on strengths, innovation cannot take place. Project leaders should first lead by example to encourage good collective habits within the group. Once these habits are studied, the strengths of each member of the group can be determined and utilized to their full potential. By using the strengths of each member, knowledge is shared, collaboration is encouraged and innovation follows. A leader's ability to foster unity within groups, therefore, is an essential element of innovation.
Train Champions
Innovative companies often seek out the best talent to help them develop new technologies and products. They headhunt and bargain with external hires in order to bring the best and brightest to their doorsteps. Instead of looking outside the organization, though, it's also important to remember to cultivate champions internally. Companies should aim to create programs to encourage the training and development of their current employees to help them achieve their fullest potential. Not all champions are born; some can be made when given the right tools and opportunities.
Create an Agile Organization
Organizations should intentionally encourage and implement innovation, but must also foster an environment where innovation can emerge on its own accord. Organizations where innovation does not appear naturally tend to be bureaucratic, top-down organizations where both growth and potential are limited. Companies should strive for an agile structure that allows for flexible and fast decision making in order to help innovation emerge. The core concepts for building agility are "cross-organizational", "flat", "open", "maximum surface area" and "learning".
Reflect On and Transform Yourself
Innovation is a slow process for those who are unwilling to change their own ways. Innovation can only happen when you shake up the traditional way of doing things and venture into uncharted territory with a fresh perspective. Shed conventional habits and practices through the powers of self-insight and self-reflection. Recent innovation theories stress the importance of becoming open through reflection. This will allow you to see the changes you need to make in order to transform the way you work.
Promote On-Site Collaboration
Product developers tend to be cloistered in an organization, set apart from everyone else. In some ways, this is a disservice because they do not receive feedback from the most important people: the customers. When on-site information and development are not integrated, customer needs and expectations are not met. The research and development team should be in regular contact with those on the front lines of customer service. It is only here, when teams collaborate and share knowledge, that innovation becomes successful.
As you can see, we pride ourselves on managing our company with innovative practices. Which points rang true with you and your organization for encouraging innovation? How do you promote innovative thinking within your own workplace?
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