A great way to building innovation into your business is to be looking for problems to solve and opportunities for improvement in your industry. That’s not to say that inventions haven’t succeeded by accidentally creating an invention and then looking to see what can be solved by that invention (case in point – post-it notes). However, that is not the topic of this article – today’s topic is about actively seeking to build innovation into your business. Create a culture for innovation to flourish First and foremost, if you want to embed innovation into your organisation, create a culture for innovation to flourish. If you forced me to come up with a formula, I would say: Make sure you hire people that are not only smart, they think creatively and are not afraid of change Relinquish control to your managers within a framework Encourage multi-disciplinary teams and internal networking between your sales, marketing and R&D team Make sure your employees understand … [Read more...]
Innovation the key to business transformation
If you say the word ‘ Innovation’ to anyone their first reaction is likely to be ‘expensive.’ Talk to small businesses about innovation and their reaction is likely to be expensive R & D. Many people equate innovation with inventing a new product and usually equate it to unique product developments such as iPhone or iPad which would naturally cost hundreds and thousands of pounds. However true innovation when applied to business need not be expensive and can be applied to almost any part of the business. Innovation can mean a new business process or a different way of engaging with customers . Reducing the number of processes in handling orders for instance is innovation. Going from paper invoices to electronic invoices is innovation. Many business have gone from a bricks and mortar type business to largely on line. This too is innovation. Businesses that innovate tend to experience better growth, more profitability and by involving staff members in the process will have a happier … [Read more...]
