Ideation
Capturing ideas
Assessment
Implementation
Information
Depending on the size of your organization, the idea management process can take many forms. Even small businesses can benefit from following this process. No matter how big or small your company is, the process is essentially the same:
1. Ideation
Ideas can be generated on an ongoing basis or through a time-limited campaign. The classic brainstorming session, where a group of people gather in a room and spontaneously propose solutions to a problem, is an example of a time-limited campaign focused on a specific problem; but it is far from the only example of ideation.
Individuals or small groups can tackle idea challenges canada whatsapp code and then come together to present their best, most developed concepts to the wider team, developing them further.
If not, a suggestion box in the break room can be a continuous source of ideas. In a digital world, you could implement that classic ideation process through an anonymous digital suggestion box or employee engagement platform.
You can also implement creativity on a large scale. 3M, for example, allocates 15% of all employee time to projects that interest them. While projects must align with business objectives, this time provides a framework for continuous innovation.
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 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.
Perhaps a marketing department wants to try more fun subject lines for their emails.
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.