- Actively solicit feedback on products and processes from employees across all levels of the organization
- Have mechanisms in place to encourage employees to share ideas across functions
- Encourage creativity and tolerate failure, so employees know they won’t be fired for a bad idea
- Reward employee suggestions based on the value of each idea
- Survey customers regularly for new product
suggestions and ways to serve them better - Require senior leaders to be intimately involved
in shaping innovation strategy, not just reviewing ideas or projects - Commit human and financial resources to innovation, sending a strong signal that it’s a priority
- Create mechanisms for sorting and prioritizing ideas to avoid over load and, ultimately, paralysis
- Test new ideas rigorously, using a systematic approach
- Measure their innovation track record and analyze successes and failures
Originally appeared on PROFITguide.com
FILED UNDER: ProfitGuide small business
