Step 2

Today, businesses are becoming increasingly competitive, efficient, creative and tech-savvy. This implies that adhering to traditional management methods in no longer sufficient to survive amidst such a fierce market. In this context, investing in innovation emerges as a crucial strategy to avoid lagging behind but also offer strategic direction where the organisation goes. The concept of innovation encompasses more than merely developing new technologies, services, products, processes. It entails novel approaches to fulfilling customer needs and transforming journeys. However, many companies that aim to carve out a niche in their markets, lack a clearly defined innovation strategy. The most forward-thinking industry leaders understand that breakthrough ideas don’t arise spontaneously; they are the result of carefully crafted environments and processes designed to foster growth.

 

 

But how can we achieve success and elevate customer experiences through an innovation strategy? The answer lies in effective planning. Goals around innovation should always be aligned with organisation’s general goals, ensuring that different departments do not diverge in their pursuits but work on common objectives despite their variations in their journeys. In essence, an innovation strategy incorporates the comprehensive array of the company’s resources, processes and frameworks geared towards short and long-term innovative actions, thereby ensuring the viability of corporate strategy and vision. In simple terms, it serves as a clear roadmap guiding the organisation toward its envisioned future. The innovation strategy integrates all the fundamental policies and values to achieve organisational growth, underpinned by a clear vision and mission statement. Its effectiveness lies in orchestrating the alignment of people’s efforts and resources to reach these goals.

Without clear and measurable objectives, initiatives can become aimless, leading to wasted energy, time and resources, missed opportunities, and ultimately, failure. According to Gartner, a major reason why innovation program fail is incomplete guidance. Many leaders often focus solely on objectives without clear goals, or vice versa. The same research emphasises that a comprehensive understanding of the organisation’s specific objectives, goals and strategies is crucial as the initial step in determining which innovation activities are most likely to yield optimal results among a vast pool of ideas. Well-defined goals increase the potential that our innovations have a high business value and impact while simultaneously mitigating the risks of veering off course.

Goals and objectives: Crafting a district differentiation to guide innovation process

A goal is concise statement of a desired outcome that will be attained over a significant period of time, typically set at around 3 to 5 years

 

An objective specifies an action to be implemented to accomplish the predefined goal. Unlike goals, objectives are measurable, quantifiable and time-bound. They are established and scheduled with a defined completion date.

 

As an example, goals might entail boosting employee retention and engagement, while objectives could include aiming to reduce employee turnover rate by 20% to achieve higher levels of employee retention and engagement.

Similarly, innovation goals can be classified into two categories:

 

(1) Macro innovation goals reflect the organisation’s primary aims and typically require a considerable amount of time to achieve. They are mostly related to the overarching role and purpose of an innovation and usually the starting point for discussions. These can include:

·       Boosting employee engagement

·       Increasing new ideas for products and services

·       Improving competitive advantage

·       Streamlining workflow procedures

 

(2) Micro innovation goals, on the other hand, are more specific, measurable with achievable outcomes for every step of any initiative. These include the following:

·       Implementing a flexible work schedule to boost employee autonomy

·       Streamlining communication processes for innovation

·       Enhancing product lines with advanced features

·       Investing in advanced technologies to streamline workflows

  Now that we understand the difference between goals and objectives, the next step is to turn goals into innovation objectives by actualising them, adding the necessary means and specifying the timeframe within these objectives should be attained:

 

Examples

·       Streamlining communication processes for innovation through innovation software

·       Enhancing product lines by improving ‘this feature’ of the product by the end of the quarter

·       Implementing a flexible work schedule by introducing rotational remote work policy, allowing employees work remotely on designated days each week  

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How to relate SMART goals model in your innovation management

 

SMART Criteria

S – Specific – What will you achieve with this innovation? What will you do?

 

M – Measurable – What data will you use to decide whether you have met the innovation’s goal?

 

A – Achievable – Are you sure you have the right skills, tools and resources to attain this goal?

 

R – Relevant – Does this goal align with your customer journey goals and organisational objectives?

 

T – Time-bound – What is the deadline for accomplishing this goal?

 

 

How to be specific with the type of innovation you want to focus on

Selecting the correct type of innovation is crucial for a successful innovation strategy. There are multiple types of innovations to choose from and it is essential to narrow down and clearly define which type aligns best with the organisation’s/department’s goals and objectives

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Deconstructing the Innovation Process

 

 

To effectively manage innovation, it is essential to establish a clear framework that delineates every step of the innovation process, from ideation to the execution of new development solution, culminating in the evaluation of their implementation outcomes by the customer. Many teams typically begin by brainstorming new ideas and conclude with their introduction to the organisation. This is a common weakness in most innovation processes, as it is lacking the step to first define innovation goal and objectives before finding new ideas. A few questions to ask can be: What types of innovations are we pursuing? Where is the focus? How high does the level of innovation need to be? How many innovations are being pursued in which journey areas?

 

In addition, teams often prematurely conclude the innovation process upon its introduction to the organisation, overlooking the perfectioning stage. This phase allows for improvements, integrations and additional measures can be applied, testing the innovation’s impact on the customer journey. Gathering feedback from customers and users in this phase is critical to refine innovations. It’s important to remember that the delivery of an innovation when it is introduced to external actors, is the beginning of an Adjustment and Scaling stage that teams can leverage to enhance or expand their initiatives and make them more meaningful for their customers.

 

 

Taking into consideration these observations, the innovation process includes 7 distinct steps:

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1. Definition of strategic search areas

The innovation process always commences with the identification of improvement area, often derived from the shop floor or anywhere in a customer journey. It could be an unfulfilled customer request, customer problems, potential new market opportunities, a new technical solution, or internal operational challenges. These represent just a handful of possibilities for uncovering innovation prospects. As teams delve into these strategic areas, it is vital to establish clear goals and objectives, as mentioned earlier.

 

 

2. Idea generation

The inception of an idea signifies the emergence of innovation potential, a thought-like construct, such as a new product, a new solution or a narrative illustrating its relevance to customers’ life, organisational significance and usefulness. During this stage, teams can conduct further research, whether targeted or random, to collect more ideas or meet in creative workshops to brainstorm supplementary ideas. Upon evaluating the elements of an idea, teams end up with just one innovation with clear goals objectives, and eventually, given priority to move on to the next phase.

 

 

3. Concept phase

Now that the innovation has established clear goals and expectations, a thorough analysis ensues to gather as much information as possible for further processing. This type of information encompasses market penetration potential, competitive advantage, unique selling points, market and industry insights, regulatory framework, technical feasibility, and any other external factors that may influence the nature of innovation. Additionally, providing a detailed description of customer requirements and touchpoints is critical at this stage. This includes customer needs and desires in the journey, managing expectations in post-implementation phase, determining the ideal communication channels for delivery, crafting the message to be communicated, and developing additional touchpoints to enhance the relevance of the innovation to the overall customer experience.

 

Initial concepts are typically formulated concerning the solution, implementation and marketing aspects of the innovation. The solution aspect incorporates the necessary requirements before starting developing the innovation, including concept designs, sketches, models, maps, etc. The implementation concept addresses the essential procurement phases in terms of production and logistics. Finally, the marketing concept outlines how the innovation will be introduced and promoted to both the customer and the organisation. Teams should then proceed with concept evaluation through continuous feedback until they refine a coherent, top-tier concept to be implemented.

 

 

4. Development

Once an innovation takes root, teams mobilise much like the onset of a project. The execution of an innovation project involves specific actions, coupled with the active engagement of executive leaders. Despite the diverse nature of projects, processes and departmental structures, the development phase is universal for all units. It offers the planning, the framework and the necessary tools to translate innovative ideas into real-world projects, bringing positive changes to customers and the business itself. It starts with meticulous planning of milestones and tasks until reaching a mature stage for delivery. Throughout this process, utmost care is taken to ensure alignment with customer and organisational objectives.

Because innovation management adheres to a well-defined process, it is vital to standardise this workflow and collaboration frameworks. Many times, teams face constraints of time and resources to put aside their daily routine and invest in an innovation project. Therefore, it is critical to establish the innovation priorities in the previous phase, meaning innovations that have the most market opportunity and unparallel customer value for the business. Innovative projects and the way in which they unfold, reflect the maturity level of teams, indicative of a culture that fosters creativity, problem-solving and customer centricity. Furthermore, the outcomes of these projects serve as barometers of success, revealing the extent to which key performance indicators align with initial plans. To effectively gauge performance in managing innovation projects, companies must glean insights from both mistakes and success stories, leveraging this knowledge to improve metrics and pursue continuous improvement. Innovation project management is the cornerstone for driving sustainable growth and maintaining competitiveness in today’s dynamic business landscape, thereby ensuring relevance to the customer experience.

 

Unlike traditional project management, innovation project management assumes a dual role: that of a tactician, charged with executing the defined scope within the specific timeframe, and a strategist, tasked with aligning project activities with broader strategies and objectives. The tactician pays attention on the deliverables and deadlines, while the strategist’s focus is primarily on the achievement of a result. Scope, schedule, tasks, milestones are important, but subservient to the ‘big picture’ results the organisation is trying to achieve.

 

Let’s take an example. A customer service department is working on an innovative project that aims to improve the client retention rate by 10% in 18 months. In this case, the project manager must adept to many strategic responsibilities, such as interpreting business strategy, ensuring business objectives alignment, correlating project scope with customer outcome and journey goals, conducting root cause analysis to address the underlying issues driving innovation initiative. Therefore, innovation becomes more central to the team’s work, evolving into a core competency essential for organisational success in an ever-changing marketplace.

 

 

5. Construction / Implementation

Once the innovation is mature enough to be introduced as a solution, it takes its testing phase under real conditions to gain initial feedback from internal users. Prototyping and testing are crucial steps to validate the viability and effectiveness of the chosen idea, helping identifying potential challenges, uncover improvements and reduce risks associated with implementation.[3] They way teams respond to initial feedback is also critical to determine the final project refinements and make the innovation resonate with the customer needs or the organisational objectives. This is the first indication to define the success of an initiative. Outputs in this stage are necessary for technical calibration and know-how for application and production. That’s why guidelines, training tools or other navigation material is required to be offered alongside an innovation that entails the engagement of multiple people regarding a process, function or new software solution.

 

 

6. Market introduction

This stage revolves around the dissemination of innovation to external customers or users through appropriate communication channels and additional touchpoint interactions where necessary. All these activities can be summarised as ‘innovation marketing’, although it extends beyond the domain of traditional marketing teams. Every department within the organisation plays a role in marketing their ideas to external stakeholders, thereby exerting influence on the business landscape through transformative innovations. Hence, innovations intended for external use need to be properly marketed. While some innovations may be delivered through marketing communications channels, others may necessitate direct engagement with clients, but still both requiring tailored promotion strategies. Regardless of the approach, the way we sell an idea for a customer profoundly shapes the idea itself. The likelihood of the ideal gaining endorsement hinges significantly on its introduction to the intended audience.

 

 

7. Perfectioning

As previously noted, this phase tends to be overlooked by many teams eager to swiftly launch innovations without including this step to assess reactions of their customer base post-implementation. There is always room for enhancements, integrations and additional measures to gauge the effectiveness of innovations on the customer journey. It is imperative to acknowledge that soliciting and acting upon feedback enables innovations to resonate meaningfully with customers and yield impactful outcomes. By embracing a mindset of constant improvement, teams become more powerful to navigate with agility and proactivity, ultimately delivering value to customers and helping the organisation to stand out in the market place.

 

 

To bring your innovation into the real world, certain steps must to be followed. Between these steps, a decision is required to move to the next phase. Constant evaluation at every stage of this process is imperative to maintain optimal quality and improve experiences while also effectively managing changes occurring throughout this sequential flow.