What’s All the Buzz about Innovation?
Our society today has at its disposal, the most advanced technologies in medicine, science, communications, and business than at any other time in our history.
These achievements have contributed to a highly competitive global business environment that no longer embraces the “business as usual” way of thinking, thereby forcing companies to continually improve upon their products and services in order to meet customer expectations and remain competitive among their peers.
Innovation is the spark that ignites this process of change!
Providing the Spark
The greatest opportunities are often found right under our noses – procedures that don’t make sense, recurring customer complaints, costly mistakes, or interruptions to daily workflow, to name just a few.
Encouraging employees to question their everyday work environments opens the door to creativity. Empowering them with the opportunity to find solutions sparks the fire of innovation.
Ask any employee what they would change about their job if given the opportunity, and they will certainly come up with a few suggestions!
Since innovation is about finding solutions or making improvements and not simply pointing out problems, employees must be willing to further develop their idea and provide supporting information in order to bring about the desired changes.
Promote the Sharing of Ideas
An employee has a great new idea that will save your company thousands of dollars, now what?
Challenging employees to think creatively and then providing them with tools and resources to help them share and develop their ideas can produce some very exciting results!
Establishing an idea network within your organization helps to ensure that great ideas get their moment in the spotlight. Make sure to keep submission and review processes simple to encourage employee participation.
Keep innovation fresh in the minds of employees by encouraging, promoting, and soliciting their participation with regular frequency.
Make it Fun and Rewarding!
Who said work has to be serious all the time? Let’s face it, all work and no play makes for a stale environment, one that’s certainly not conducive to creativity!
Plan activities that allow employees to think creatively and interact with one another away from the daily demands of their jobs. Try coordinating office meetings, working lunches, or “think” breaks outdoors, and see how energized and creative your group can be!
Establish a budget for providing rewards and incentives. These could be monetary in nature, such as a cash award, but there are creative alternatives that can be just as effective, such as a paid day off or a gift card to the employee’s favorite restaurant or merchant.
Are you ready to spark innovation in your organization? Please contact us for more information on how we can help you get started building your successful idea network!
