2. Capturing ideas
Capturing ideas is where an idea management system becomes a useful process. All ideas should be stored in a centralized place and in a similar format. On a small scale, this could be a spreadsheet with a few columns, including the topic, the idea, and the person who suggested it.
Large-scale idea management tools may require more fields to facilitate proper evaluation. Either way, the goal of idea capture is comprehensiveness ( all ideas are captured across the organization) and durability (ideas will remain stored as part of a knowledge bank going forward).
3. Evaluation
Decide on a regular cadence to evaluate the ideas you’ve canada phone directory been generating and storing. First, filter out the irrelevant ones without deleting them entirely. These might be ideas for an expensive office remodel that you don’t have the budget for yet or an idea you’ve already tested. Move these ideas into a separate folder and label the ones that fall under recurring themes, such as “already tested” or “possible at a later date.”
Next, evaluate what's left using a robust, replicable metric. Assign a score to each idea using fields like feasibility, cost, impact, and novelty. After brainstorming, for example, you might organize the suggestions into a matrix, where the X axis is feasibility and the Y axis is impact. Highly viable, high-impact initiatives might be fast-tracked for testing.
This evaluation step does not need to be the final, objective determining factor by which ideas advance to the roadmap for implementation, but an evaluative framework can help shape that conversation. Ultimately, the most important ideas are those that will meaningfully align with and advance the organization’s broader strategic priorities.
4. Implementation
Once you've evaluated the most innovative ideas, make plans for their implementation. This could mean many different things depending on the business and the department in question.
They could run an A/B test on subject lines, using more traditional ones as a control group versus more playful ones. On the other hand, a major product innovation, such as redesigning a handle for a case based on customer complaints, might require scoping, timelines, and resource analysis.
In general, it is wise to consult with someone from the idea management process throughout the implementation process. This helps ensure that the project design and scope that led to its approval in the first place are adhered to. Of course, ideas may evolve throughout the design and implementation process, but these evolutions should be tracked to facilitate better reporting.
5. Reports
Once the idea has been implemented, the idea management process continues. Monitor how the implemented idea affects any relevant key performance indicators (KPIs) by asking questions like: Did the new subject lines increase open rates? Did the new handle design decrease customer support tickets?
You can use any feedback you gather to iterate not only on the idea at hand, but also on the entire idea management process. Perhaps a glut of valuable ideas came from one department or workflow. Leverage these accomplishments as the idea management process continues.
It is crucial that transparency continues throughout the reporting process. Employees who generated the most promising ideas should be recognized and rewarded as appropriate to the company culture.
This has the knock-on effect of demonstrating to the wider business that employee input is taken seriously and can lead to real change within the organisation.