As the old saying goes: two heads are better than one.
At a recent Planview IdeaPlace customer-only workshop in Washington D.C., several companies came together to share what has and hasn’t worked for their innovation programs, and focus on discussing best practices around idea implementation and measuring value.
This interactive workshop was led by Planview IdeaPlace strategists, each of whom have experience launching innovation programs at hundreds of well-known multinational Fortune 500 organizations.
Throughout the workshop, the group discussed the barriers they face when it comes to idea implementation and measuring value, and the solutions they could implement to get them over the hump.
Some of the barriers raised during the workshop came as no surprise. They’re barriers that most companies face when it comes to implementing ideas or measuring the value of their programs. These included:
- Asking the wrong challenge questions upfront leading to unusable ideas
- Lack of resources – people and money – to bring ideas to market
- Poor follow through on bringing ideas to market
- Not measuring the right things to show value
- Not setting expectations with leadership to align each stakeholder
A few examples of solutions that came out of the group discussion included: a focus on making innovation part of every employee’s day-to-day responsibilities, ensuring every stakeholder is aligned on the metrics that will be used to measure impact, and delivering value based on milestones – partial attainment of ultimate goal – to show that you’re moving towards larger goal.
Going through the exercise of identifying the barriers each innovation program manager faced and solutions that could be implemented was illuminating. It gave every attendee an opportunity to see the barriers their peers face, and have in-depth discussions about the underlying problems that are holding back their innovation programs.
Equally as illuminating were the solutions that surfaced during the discussions that gave attendees guidance on how they could overcome the barriers. As one attendee put it: “I found this small group setting quite helpful to be able to ask more in-depth questions and better understand how we can re-ignite our program. I plan to stay connected with all [in attendance] to continue the learning and sharing of ideas!”
Final thoughts
The Idea Implementation & Value Measurement Workshop is just one of the many opportunities for Planview IdeaPlace customers to connect with and learn from each other.
Workshops, the Ignite conference, and Innovation Forums that take place around the world. When you partner with Planview IdeaPlace you don’t just get the #1 full lifecycle idea management software on the market, you become part of a global innovation community consisting of some of brightest minds in innovation.
