Internal concept competitions and startup challenges have replaced the company proposal method. Whatever you call it, the end effect is usually the same: campaigns, seminars, and incentives are all geared to encourage staff to come up with ideas that will boost sales or save time and money.
Employees also have a tendency to abandon their ideas prematurely if they notice that they are not taken seriously. Frustration rises, while innovation and motivation fall. However, it is not only up to businesses to establish the necessary institutions; individuals can also chart the road for turning an Idea Challenge into an Idea Execution.
The seven variables listed below ensure that ideas are not thrown away but are actually executed.
Have the courage to give every idea a shot
Coming up with ideas takes a lot of confidence, especially if they appear to be completely different from anything else that has been done before. Nonetheless, the willingness to take risks is always a prerequisite for success. Even a seemingly insane notion is frequently worth putting to the test on a modest scale. Who knows, maybe it isn’t so insane after all.
Empathy
Directly ask individual target groups where their pain areas are and generate appropriate solutions based on their responses. It is necessary to be able to put oneself in the shoes of others if you want to be successful. New ideas should be developed with those who will be affected by the change in mind. What does the consumer require in order to improve their utilization of our product? What would happen to our coworkers’ daily lives if we changed our practices in the future? How does working more efficiently or quickly assist the company? These types of questions aid in assessing the situation of persons who have been impacted.
Apply the Four-Category Method
The Four Categories Method splits concepts into four categories based on how abstract they are, resulting in a range of options ranging from the most sensible to the most adventurous. Most rational, most delightful, sweetheart, and long-shot are the four categories. You can give one to two concepts to each area, ensuring that you’ve covered a wide range of outcomes, from the most practical to the most imaginative. You can choose the best option for your needs once this range of options has been laid out on a scale.
Make a business plan
Making a company plan is crucial — the concept, financials, requirements, and tactics must all be detailed. It’s critical not to lose focus and stray from the plan while working on getting the business up and operating. Having the strategy in front of you will make it easier to stick to the fundamentals.
Agility
Good ideas are formed in the actual world, not on paper. Digital transformation necessitates agility, speed, and flexibility on the part of businesses. Large annual plans and development based on requirement specifications have long since become obsolete, as consumers’ needs change more frequently and dramatically than in the past. As a result, ideas must be put to the test as soon as feasible in practice, and then continually altered. This is the only way to determine whether an idea is viable early on.
Feedback
Inquire about criticism and learn from your mistakes. Why hasn’t my suggestion been implemented? Was it too outrageous, too expensive, or too difficult to pull off? Should I have put it somewhere else? It’s a well-known fact that suggestions for improvement are given to the supervisor or the idea management department, just to vanish into Nirvana. The inventor of the idea almost never knows how well they went over, whether they were discussed at all, or why they never came to completion. However, if you want to be assertive, you must first understand what the decision-makers value.
To reach out to customers, use free web resources
Using internet resources to promote your jobs, such as free listings, online directories, and social media can help you save money and time when it comes to acquiring your initial few consumers. Smaller projects that require specific expertise, such as product or company photo shoots, developing, marketing, and branding material using different design software, might be outsourced to relatives and friends at first. This is not only cost-effective, but it also allows you to have a creative input and the freedom to change things as needed, which could cost you more if you outsourced to a professional firm.
