Idea Management Software – Help Your Business Thrive

Idea management software is helping organizations around the world to build a culture of innovation that drives bottom-line results. A new generation of digital tools is enabling companies to capture employee ideas, streamline project management, and improve the customer experience. In the past, innovation efforts have often relied solely on research and development teams, along with an element of pure chance. But the latest idea management platforms are transforming how businesses drive innovation and implement new ideas.

In this article, we explore how idea management software is creating innovation processes and the ways in which organizations can leverage this to their advantage.

What Is Idea Management?

Idea management is the linchpin of open innovation. It’s the process of capturing feedback and suggestions from employees to overcome a business challenge or generate a competitive advantage. When organizations have a structured format for collecting and implementing ideas, they are able to improve and grow at a rapid rate. It turns crowdsourced innovation into a streamlined, repeatable process. It removes the element of ‘luck’ from the equation so that your company has a proven formula for generating new, innovative ideas. This harnesses the creativity of your teams into a powerful competitive advantage that others will find hard to match.

Why Does It Matter?

Idea management is important for a number of reasons. It’s not just about creating an idea spotlight or collecting suggestions. It has several deeper benefits that contribute to the success of an organization.

• Drives innovation – proactive collection and implementation of new ideas creates a Kaizen culture of innovation where everything and everyone is constantly improving.
• Employee engagement – encouraging staff feedback shows that their opinions and efforts are valued, while giving them responsibility for execution creates greater engagement in their everyday work.
• Encourages creativity – idea management promotes new ways of thinking and out-of-the-box ideas that might not otherwise come about if things are done the same old way.
• Improves productivity – implementing small improvements on a consistent basis leads to an improvement in efficiency and productivity at every level of an organization.
• Produces bottom line results – productivity improvements mean greater output with less waste which results in more profitable operations overall.

How Does Software Help?

Idea management software streamlines the entire process so that innovation becomes effortless. It supports enterprise innovation at a holistic level as opposed to being limited to departmental initiatives.

• An innovation platform captures new ideas efficiently so there’s no need for old-fashioned suggestion boxes.
• It supports project management of the entire process, from the filtering of developed ideas to the testing, implementation, and measurement tracking.
• Collaborative software also acts as a knowledge management repository for both business intelligence and human resource expertise.
• Digital solutions facilitate cross-functional cooperation between teams so that ideas are implemented smoothly and to their maximum potential.
• Idea management software reduces the need for meetings since people can collaborate through the platform, regardless of their location, role, or shift timing.
• It promotes accountability by increasing visibility so that stakeholders can easily track progress and see who or what is holding up a project.
• End-to-end idea and innovation software allows leaders to track results against KPIs, measure return on investment, and provide a financial justification for different projects.

What to Look for In Idea Management Software Solutions

If you do decide to implement idea management in your business, then there are several software options available. However, when it comes to choosing the best one for your needs it’s important to do your research and look at several products to compare. Not all of them are created equal and some are missing vital features that are needed for idea development and execution to be successful. Here are five key elements to look for when selecting an idea management platform.

Accessible to Frontline Employees

Whichever idea management software you choose must be accessible to frontline employees. It’s often these people that generate the most innovative ideas because they’re dealing with issues first-hand. They face problems and generate solutions on a daily basis so it’s vital to seek their input in order to innovate. But not all software platforms make it easy for them to submit ideas which can be a big barrier to adoption in some companies.

Look for a cloud software solution that is easy to use and works on a variety of platforms such as mobile and tablet. For employees that don’t sit at a desk or have a laptop, this is the first step to ensuring that they use it. Choose innovation management software that is intuitive and user-friendly so that staff can document ideas quickly and easily. This will ensure that employees are on-board and make full use of the software which leads to a greater volume of ideas entering the innovation funnel.

Built-In Communication Tools

Innovation rarely happens in an isolated silo. It usually requires input from several different teams and a level of cross-functional collaboration. This can be a stumbling block for some companies where inter-departmental communication isn’t as open as it could be. Good idea management software will support these efforts by making it super-simple to send updates to those involved and create alerts for when it’s time for someone to take action. It should make the entire submission, review, and implementation process quick and efficient so that there aren’t any communication bottlenecks. This will boost collaboration between teams and help innovation projects to be executed more smoothly.

Supports Continuous Improvement

It’s not just the big ideas that contribute to step-change. Making small changes on a consistent basis can also lead to huge results over time. Creating a culture of continuous improvement is one way that companies can drive innovation without needing to overhaul entire systems and processes. It’s an easier way for businesses to improve efficiency and productivity since staff don’t have to radically change what they are doing already. This makes it one of the most effective tools for organizational transformation so it’s vital that your software supports it.

Shares Success Stories

Broadcasting case studies and success stories is another crucial piece of the innovation puzzle. When staff see that new collaborative ideas are being implemented and improvements are a success, it spurs them on to submit their own. This creates a snowball effect that gradually engages employees and results in even more ideas being shared by frontline staff. It’s a simple but effective way to drive adoption and generate even more innovation yet many companies struggle with it. Having a software platform that supports this element helps to promote idea generation and ensure its success long-term.

Tracks Progress and Measures Results

Effective idea management software won’t just be a repository for suggestions. It will enable you to track the progress of projects and measure their impact on the business. Having built-in monitoring features adds an extra layer of accountability to drive the success of improvement initiatives. It’s especially helpful for managers and stakeholders who are able to get real-time updates at a glance and run reports on the go. Instead of waiting for email updates or written reports, they can get an overview instantly to see where different projects are at. This makes it quicker and easier to make strategic decisions and identify where resources should be allocated.

Adopting an idea management tool can benefit every area of an organization, from product development to the supply chain. It supports collaborative innovation, project planning, and outcome measurements. Perfect for idea and innovation managers, it provides the management tools needed to drive creativity, ideation, and execution. If you’d like to learn more about Rever’s innovation management solution then get in touch with our friendly team.

Your Digital Innovation Tool

Rever’s innovative software is all about sharing and reusing, doing and tracking. Continuous improvement becomes a hundred times easier with our innovative digital platform. Using Rever’s dashboard, you can monitor the performances of your teams, the summary of their impact, and easily identify the people making the biggest difference at your company.

Rever Cycle is our version of the PDCA methodology and guides your teams on the exact steps to follow to execute their own ideas. It allows them to capture the entire process, from identifying a problem to experimenting and implementing a solution. They can use it to capture the before and after with pictures, notes and drawings, making their ideas a reality in no time. The time of your team is too valuable to be wasted in handmade drawings and complex explanations.

At Rever, we believe that anybody can be a knowledge worker and thrive. What makes us human is the capacity to grow our intellect and will, and to use them for good. We observe, especially at work, that most people are asked to stop thinking and do as they are told. We want to change that. We enable people to achieve their full creative potential.

Would you like to learn more about idea management software and how to utilize it in your company? Then get a demo today with one of our friendly innovation management experts.