What Is Innovation Management: Process & 4 Key Elements
If you plan to keep your business thriving in the market, you need to be innovative. You must learn how to pace up with technological evolution, or else your business won’t just slow down, it will eventually stop.
What does that mean? Your organization should develop new features, design changes, or improvements depending on user preferences. This process is called innovation, and creating an environment that fosters innovation is “innovation management.”
Let’s dive into the detailed innovation management process and its key elements.
Innovation Management in Businesses
There’s not one single definition of innovation management; it has several layers. It begins with the creation of an environment where new ideas are welcomed and people are encouraged to speak their minds.
Some cite it as a process where businesses grow in science and technology, while others view it as a way to gain a competitive advantage and be future-ready.
However, one thing is certain: innovation management shapes your business and processes to encourage employees to bring new ideas to the table.
Although the key innovation ideas come from the managers and executives, all employees are encouraged and often required to participate.
Hence, Innovation management is the complete process of taking the ideas from their inception all the way to final implementation.
Innovation Management Process
Innovation management cannot be completed in a single step. It involves a series of steps or stages.
1. Topic Ideation and Generation
The first stage is the most important one to create an innovation ecosystem.
An organization where the employees can think creatively and collaborate with others in the workplace is likely to have a competitive advantage over others.
It’s about giving people the space to share their ideas without fear of rejection. The more ideas your team can come up with, the higher your chances of finding the next big opportunity.
2. Recording and Sharing
Innovation is easily lost when we don't keep the ideas safe or record them somewhere. The record may be in the form of a shared document or a monthly reporting meeting.
Sharing ideas also opens up new conversations. When the team sits together to brainstorm, they bring new ideas that are out-of-the-box and, at times, groundbreaking. These, in turn, lead to business growth and profitability.
When ideas are documented, they stay alive and are easy to access for future projects.
3. Innovation Evaluation
Next, we move on to evaluating the options through discussion and analysis. The more ideas the team comes up with, the better the chances of finding something valuable.
At this stage, the business acts like a research lab. You sit and break ideas apart to see which ones actually work and which ones aren't practically workable. It’s about asking tough questions, exploring risks, and assessing real-world potential.
You need to have a strong innovation evaluation. This way, you can ensure that time and resources go into the right ideas that will make an impact. It also helps the team learn what doesn’t work for your business. So, future ideas are bound to get better.
4. Organizing and Implementation
No matter how big the company or successful the venture, we still can’t have all the resources and tools to practically implement each and every idea brought forward. Organizations need to prioritize which ideas to store for the future, which ones to discard, and which ones to work on for implementation.
Why is Innovation Management important?
Innovation management helps businesses turn ideas into results. It's the complete process of coming up with something new and creative. It finds, evaluates, and implements the best of the best ideas for the benefit of the customers as well as the business.
When done timely, it keeps you ahead of the competition and also helps resolve problems before they become major barriers to your growth and, at times, even viability. Also, it builds a culture where employees are empowered to think creatively and also be open about their ideas. They know they are being heard and their voices won't be lost in the crowd.
So while on the one hand it gives the company a structure, it facilitates growth and the introduction of new offerings and solutions.
4 Key Elements of Innovation Management
There are four key elements making up innovation management.
Capabilities
How capable is the business when it comes to creating innovative products? Do you have the right talent? Can you afford it?
You’ll need to do a thorough analysis of the business and workforce you have for innovation management to work. Look into their strengths and weaknesses.
Then find ways to build their strengths via training and active brainstorming sessions. Give them specific tasks to improve their aptitude and keep the entire team involved so they’re able to give you the best of their abilities.
Finances
The financial condition of a company also affects its ability to come up with new offerings. If a business wants to innovate and lead by incorporating innovative strategies, it should be able to afford it.
But on the other hand, if the finances aren’t likely to improve, take it as a constraint. Turn it into a challenge and let your team get creative and find affordable, workable solutions for the business.
Structure
A company must have an infrastructure, procedures, and policies in place to work on innovation. The communication must flow freely, and decision-making must be transparent.
The idea is to have a structure so employees feel at ease and act as intrapreneurs. You can also give the employees a direction where you need the innovation or ideas for improvement. At the same time, give them the flexibility to make decisions and steer the way as they see fit in their line of work.
Such an atmosphere is conducive to new ideas, where everyone feels comfortable sharing what’s in their heads.
Culture
Create a conducive and rewarding culture. Encourage people to be open with their ideas without fear of rejection. The more you put them at ease, the more they’d share information and ideas, and will likely stay with you in the long run.
Secondly, although leaders set the tone in the workplace, employees also play a major role. If an employee sees a flaw in the company’s operations where they feel some improvements can be made with their ideas, it can be a valuable input for the entire company.
But to hear them out, we need to have an atmosphere or culture of active listening and innovation. Reward and encourage them to speak. Don’t let them fear failure or rejection, and only then will the innovation management process flourish.
Innovation Management and Strategic Planning
Innovation management and strategic planning often go hand in hand. When you’re creating the company’s long-term vision, you should look for opportunities or ways to innovate. It should be part of the strategic plan.
When the two are aligned, you can work on your USP or come up with a way to gain a competitive advantage in the market. Given the highly competitive sphere, continuous innovation can be the key to sustaining your market position.
Wrap Up
As businesses continue to grow, innovation management becomes the lifeline. We need continuous adaptation of new technology, trends, and customers' needs.
Without it, you risk falling behind. Innovation management gives you a head start in finding opportunities for growth and expansion. It keeps your business future focused, not reactive.
For more insights, check out Sheri Jacobs’ talks on innovation management and change leadership.
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