Making more time for innovation in the company is tricky. Day to day operations and management and meetings can eat up most of your energy in a day. It can be quite a balancing act that is critical for a company’s success.
Brainstorming Sessions
You need to make room for brainstorming sessions. Don’t limit these sessions to key execs or the “usual suspects.” Bringing different departments together sparks innovation, as people rub elbows with others they don’t normally come in contact with. Some of the most innovative ideas may come from your frontline employees—after all, they’re the ones who engage with your customers, product or service every day.
Listen to Your Customers
Conduct customer surveys, focus groups and market research to find customer pain points and dissatisfactions. Listen to what customers are saying on social media to get insights into what they want. Figure out what gaps exist in their lives that your products or services could fill, or how you could innovate to serve customers better. Don’t feel you have to innovate. Use this data to determine whether your customer truly wants a different product or is happy with the current one.
Explore Possibilities and Assign Ownership
People get excited about new ideas, but without a champion to see them through, ideas often die on the vine after the initial glow of the brainstorming session fades. Make sure each innovation has someone responsible for planning next steps and following through on action items. Regularly assess your progress toward innovation goals and whether they’re worth pursuing or whether it’s time to stop and re-direct resources other areas.
Make sure each innovation has someone responsible for planning next steps and following through on action items. Regularly assess your progress toward innovation goals and whether they’re worth pursuing or whether it’s time to stop.
To read more about how to get clear on your business strategies to make certain that they include time to develop innovation, see get clarity on business strategies.
Also, learn more about how coaching services can be beneficial to your business.