Encouraging Innovation in Your Business
Posted on Fri 3rd Mar 2017 at 10:34
We today’s changing times innovation is often the key to maintaining and growing your business. Although it's true that innovation isn't enough on its own, there is plenty of evidence to suggest that it is nonetheless important - just look at Tiffany's, Nikon and Avon, three huge global companies that started out selling entirely different products to the ones they're now famous for. (Stationery, paper and books, in case you're interested).
Success often comes from encouraging a culture of change innovation within your firm as required, and making it clear that employees that bring forth ideas will be rewarded. I actively encourage ideas from all my staff, and give them the freedom to proceed with the good ones. As well as boosting morale, it also gives me a chance to help my staff develop their skills: new business development requires expert research, planning and implementation, and by educating employees accordingly I am helping their growth as well as that of my business.
To get the most from ideas you get from your employees, you need to ensure that innovation is part of their everyday work. Ask them to always assess the situation and research the market: what are your competitors doing, or have clients made any useful suggestions? You should also keep them fully up to speed on your company’s mission, vision and any key changes - they more they feel involved, the more they will try to take the company to new levels.
As well as giving their day-to-day work a sense of the importance of innovation and change, you can also develop specific workshops where you discuss your company goals and do exercises that plan out different ways to achieve them. Free association techniques can be useful here, but remember to draw things back to a practical level at the end of the session to ensure participants feel that they've achieved something.
Once you have a great idea, ensure that employees feel involved at all levels - including the task of assessing the risk of taking an idea forward. This
works best if you have a flat management structure, one in which employees can easily communicate with all levels of the chain. If employees feel like they have to jump through hoops just to speak to you, they'll rapidly lose interest.
Even if the job of designing and creating an idea is outside their particular skill set, ensure that the employee who came up with the idea is involved in the planning stage. This will be everything from researching the size of the opportunity to building a financial model and a plan of action. The latter is particularly important
as it will give them a tangible idea of how and when the project will take shape, keeping them enthused in the whole process.
One other great way to make employees feel motivated and rewarded is, if they're willing to take on further work, to assign them a mentor for the duration of the implementation stage. This means that the employee can take part in the growth of the project and develop their skills as a reward for their idea, while also being under useful supervision that ensures the project stays on track. As the staff member will undoubtedly be the person with the most passion to see the project through to the end, their presence on the project is a very useful tool, as it will provide inspiration for everyone else to make it happen.
A careful choice of mentor will ensure that the project stays on track, and they can make quick decisions that are often the difference between the life and death of a project. You should schedule regular reviews with the mentor and the staff member, which will give you the chance to discuss whether or not the growing idea is still meeting your company’s objectives. These are crucial when you are testing your idea on a small segment of the market: you need everyone's input to assess the data and make decisions on what can be refined and improved.
Perhaps the most important aspect of encouraging an innovation culture in your company is making it clear that failure is ok. Even the best ideas can come at the wrong time, and it's essential that you make your employees feel that it is ok to keep trying, and keep innovating. As the boss, it's entirely your responsibility to make this message clear to your staff, and to keep smiling even when things have gone wrong. It's not always easy, but you'll be rewarded by a more loyal, enthusiastic set of staff members who are eager to try again, produce more great ideas, and do their best for your company.