Innovation and creativity are essential to the success of great organizations. As an innovation manager, it is your responsibility to create an environment in which these elements can flourish. To get you started, here are five strategies, complete with concrete actions to add to your to-do list.
1. Encourage diversity and inclusion
Diversity within teams allows for a wide range of perspectives and creative ideas, which is essential for innovation.
To-Do's:
- Organize workshops and trainings aimed at promoting inclusiveness and diversity in thinking.
- Implement a mentoring program that connects employees from different backgrounds and positions.
- Review the hiring process to ensure that you attract and hire a diverse pool of candidates.
2. Facilitate open communication and collaboration
Innovation and creativity often arise from collaboration and the exchange of ideas.
To-Do's:
- Create a digital platform for idea exchange, such as an internal innovation wiki or Slack channel specifically for brainstorms.
- Organize monthly "innovation cafes" where employees from different departments can meet informally and discuss ideas.
- Introduce an "open door" policy for all levels of management so that employees always have access to their supervisors to discuss ideas.
3. Implement Design Thinking
Design Thinking helps solve complex problems by putting the user first.
To-Do's:
- Organize a series Design Thinking workshops To train employees in this methodology.
- Start a pilot project where a team solves a problem using Design Thinking and share the results organization-wide.
- Create a Design Thinking toolkit that teams can use to organize innovation sessions independently.
4. Reward risks and celebrate mistakes
A culture where risk-taking is encouraged leads to more innovation.
To-Do's:
- Introduce a Fail Forward award that recognizes employees for their courage to try something new, regardless of the outcome.
- Implement a learning cycle in which teams are required to document and share mistakes and lessons learned.
- Organize a "lessons learned" meeting where mistakes and success stories are shared, focusing on the learning experience.
5. Create space for innovation
Innovation requires time and space outside of daily operational tasks.
To-Do's:
- Reserve 10-20% of work time for employees to work on personal innovation projects.
- Plan an annual innovation event such as a hackathon or innovation challenge, where teams can develop and present ideas.
- Introduce an innovation budget that teams can apply for to conduct small experiments without red tape.
Put these actions on your to-do list and start today to shape a culture where innovation is not an option, but a given.
Good luck.