Where Did the Suggestion Box Come From?
And what’s changed along the way?
Online ideation and collaboration might be a fairly recent business practice, but the suggestion box concept has been around at least since the 18th century.
The Essential Skills to Teach Intrapreneurs
At JR Simplot, a new cross-functional innovation initiative recently formed looking for ideas that would help optimize company efficiency, improve training programs, and more. And when they built this team, they realized that a big part of launching an innovation initiative was education. Learn more in this podcast.
How Remote Working Jumped the Queue in the Future of Work
The COVID-19 situation isn’t just affecting the way businesses work, it’s shaping discussions about how they will in future, too. Recent global events have affected businesses in unimaginable ways, testing them in a manner not seen in several generations. However, present circumstances have also fast-forwarded several conversations surrounding the future of work.
How Frontline Employees Drive the Change Management Process
Organizational change can be met with resistance, especially if it excludes employee input.
Five Innovation Practices for Building & Managing an Innovation Program
There is no “one size fits all” formula for innovation management success. Demystifying innovation takes experiments and practices. In this article, we'll explore five tactics to use in order to develop and manage a successful innovation program.
What Innovation Funnel Should I Use?
After a decade working in innovation, I think many of us are sick and tired of seeing a funnel on another slide at an innovation conference. Lots of ideas at the top, just a few implemented ideas at the bottom… we get the idea.
Positive Ways to Handle Employee Resignations
All good things come to an end. As an employer, this can ring true when your favorite employee springs up without warning, and tables a resignation letter. No matter the work environment you provide, there are things beyond your control that can see your employee of the year want to leave.
Innovative Ways for Your Employees to “Always Be Learning”
One of the most significant investments any business can make is in its staff. This goes beyond the simple fact of paying for salaries and benefits, however — in order to be a truly valuable element of a company, employees must be genuinely nurtured.
What’s the Best Idea Criteria for Innovation Programs?
One of the most popular webinars that IdeaScale has ever hosted is our webinar on how to select the best ideas. We are constantly being asked by our customers and prospects, “how do I know a good idea when I see one?” Some people are looking for financial predictions, some people want to know how an idea measures up to their organizational objectives, but everyone is looking for the perfect set of criteria so that they can evaluate ideas at some point during the innovation process and validate them.
Spotless: An Innovation Roadmap
Bridie Scott is an Innovation Manager at Spotless and she’s taken the business on a journey from a large-scale company with big goals to a company that is listening to and empowering all of their frontline employees in the innovation process.
How Idea Management can Help Advance Workplace Neurodiversity
Awareness of neurodiversity has certainly increased over the past few years and workplaces are gradually becoming more accommodating and accepting of neurodiverse employees. But after years of neglect and of neurodiverse candidates being overlooked for roles for which they are inherently suited, there is still a lot of progress that needs to be made.
Psychology Tips to Get Honest Feedback from Your Employees
Learn four essential tips that employers and HR departments should consider when trying to get honest input from their employees.
Why Every Business Needs Female Marketers to Steer an Inclusive Strategy
Decision-makers can create a more equitable – and profitable – work environment by promoting gender equality – starting with the marketing business unit.
Tips for Established Businesses to Survive the Startup Surge
So much has already been said about what smaller, fresh companies need to do in order to gain a competitive edge in a well-developed market, but how often do you think about what those well-established businesses should do to achieve the same?
7 Modern Trends That Are Innovating Traditional Workplaces
The workplace of today little resembles the cubicles of yesteryear. More people telecommute and enjoy flextime options. Rather than a traditional top-down structure, many companies embrace a more democratic arrangement.
Why Coworking Is A Solution For Increased Productivity
Coworking is the newest trend in both freelance and mainstream working. It is a form of office setting that allows people to work together within a common space, but not necessarily on the same project. The workers are primarily independent of each other, but they can always consult, inspire, and motivate each other when the need arises. But does this have any positive impact on productivity?
A New Way to Collaborate: How Co-working Spaces Are Changing the Landscape for Remote Workers
If you’ve been looking to boost career satisfaction among your remote team members, co-working spaces may prove up to the task. Today, busy remote professionals around the world increasingly benefit from a changing office environment with the rapid proliferation of co-working spaces.
Strategies for Innovative Resource & Liability Management
Organizations maintain and manage many different kinds of resources. Managing them can get complicated, considering all of their components and the potential risks that they bring. Not only do they have to be allocated properly, but there need to be safety nets set in place for potential mistakes and legal consequences.
Drive Innovation by Disrupting the Existing Management Norms
Before being acquired by Facebook for US$1 billion, Instagram was just another photo-sharing app operating with insignificant infrastructure and a dozen employees. With the ever-increasing potential of modern technology, the next billion-dollar business could start from the comfort of someone’s home. To stay on top, established organisations need to stimulate innovation... and that’s our topic today.
Want to Improve Employee Productivity? Rethink Your Company Culture
The workplace isn't just about work. Sure, reaching productivity quotas or snagging reputable clients matter, but so does the way your business operates.
3 Ways Businesses Are Improving Their Employee Value Proposition
Companies have to attract and retain top talent to remain competitive in a globalized world. Without a motivated workforce, they'll fail to meet their goals and achieve growth, year after year.
Technology for Better Innovative Management
In today’s workplace, you’re expected to do as much as you can with a variable amount of resources. How can you keep an in-office, remote, or combination workforce engaged using technology? We recommend four steps: educate, collaborate, monitor, and secure.
How Businesses Can Better Support the Mental Health of Their Employees
To be successful, you must be the first one in and last one out. You must work extra hours, you must think about work, answer phone calls, reply to emails, even when you’re off the clock. You must put your personal life on hold to impress the boss. You must show your commitment to the company to ensure your place.
3 Innovative Recruitment Techniques
It is likely that sooner or later (or even perhaps now) your business is going to be trying to fill an opening for a great job with an even greater candidate. For better or worse, there are a lot of great jobs out there, and it can be challenging for potential employees to find and apply to everything. This is exactly where human resources recruitment professionals can make a huge difference.
How to Encourage Employees to Have a Healthy Work-Life Balance
Having the right work-life balance is integral to maintaining one's health. A poor work-life balance can have serious ramifications, including chronic stress and burnout.
How to Use Innovation Metrics
Last year, one of the most popular topics at the annual Open Nation innovation conference was metrics. How do you measure your innovation capabilities? How do you track your results from established programs?
Innovation Leaders Are Good at These Three Things
IdeaScale has honored innovation leaders in their annual Innovation Management Awards for six years now. Award recipients have come from almost every industry with a variety of goals (from eradicating cancer to identifying new university technology best practices), but this year’s winners share a few key characteristics that all innovation leaders need to embody.
How to Improve Your Company’s Productivity
Maintaining productivity and positivity in the workplace is an ongoing struggle for many businesses and employees. The grind of 9-to-5 life weighs on people and makes it hard to find excitement and motivation throughout the day.
Kaizen and Innovation
During this week, the Gang of Seven will be exploring the topic of kaizen – continuous improvement – and how it can be applied to project settings, where teams of people may only be working together for the duration of a project. Today's topic is "the case for kaizen on projects." As a first step, I’d like to clarify what the similarities and differences are between kaizen and innovation.