ACCEPT MISSION

APRIL 2021

The ultimate
guide to idea
management

PREPARED AND PRESENTED BY

ACCEPT MISSION
 Table of contents
1. INTRODUCTION TO IDEA MANAGEMENT

2. WHY ARE IDEAS IMPORTANT AND WHAT IS THEIR VALUE?

3. HOW DO YOU MEASURE THE POTENTIAL VALUE OF IDEAS?

4. HOW DO YOU PROMOTE THE INNOVATION CULTURE IN YOUR

COMPANY?

SECTION: COLLECT
5. HOW TO SET UP A CAMPAIGN / MISSION?

6. WHAT TARGET GROUPS DO YOU INVITE?

ENGAGING EMPLOYEES
INVOLVING STAKEHOLDERS
ENGAGE CUSTOMERS AND PARTNER

SECTION: SELECT
7. HOW DO YOU SELECT THE BEST IDEAS FOR AN EFFICIENT AND
SUSTAINABLE PROCESS?

SECTION: EXECUTE
8. HOW TO TRANSFORM IDEAS INTO PROJECTS TO IMPLEMENT
INNOVATION SUCCESSFULLY

SECTION: REPORT
9. HOW TO REPORT IDEA MANAGEMENT RESULTS

SECTION: IMPLEMENTATION
10. HOW TO IMPLEMENT IDEA MANAGEMENT INTO YOUR ORGANIZATION
WITH IDEA MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE

11. CONCLUSION

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 1. Introduction to idea
management
For some people idea management is still
very unknown. This guide is designed to
teach you what this is and how you can
create more value with it. We’ll share how
you can use ideas for an efficient ideation
process and how you can promote an
innovation culture in your company.

What is idea
management?
As per Gartner, idea management is a
structured process of collecting
outstanding ideas, identifying the best,
sorting invaluable insights, and executing
them within the business processes of the
organization.

Ideas come in many forms such as

customer feedback, feature requests,
problems or product suggestions.
Managing these ideas requires maintaining
a backlog. With this backlog you can
identify your best ideas and work further
on it.

Effective idea management is the outcome

of simplifying for the entire team to
contribute to the future of the product.

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The difference between idea
management and innovation
management
Since both innovation management and idea management are central to the innovation
process, many people usually mix them up. The truth is that they are quite different from each
other.

The main goal of idea management is to generate the best ideaspossible to support the
innovation process and help the organization fulfill its business and innovation goals.
It may not be a challenge for most people to manage a couple of ideas. But we are talking
about thousands of good ones here, which would make management almost impossible if you
do it without the help of technology.

To put it simply, innovation management is the process of managing the overall innovation
process. It concerns portfolio management, innovation project management, innovation
dashboards, and reporting.

Yes, it also involves idea management. This is the root of the confusion. But when you look at
the bigger picture, idea management is only one of the processes involved in innovation
management.

The difference
The difference between innovation
management and idea management isn’t
really that hard to comprehend. Idea
management simply refers to the
management of all the processes related to
generating and implementing innovative
ideas.

On the other hand, innovation

management refers to the management of
all the processes related to innovation,
which also includes idea management.

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 2. Why are ideas
important and what
is their value?
INNOVATION IS ESSENTIAL. TO STAND
OUT, DEVELOP AND ADD VALUE IN
HIGHLY COMPETITIVE MARKETS.

Every company has many Idea management is

great ideas. Those ideas are essential to every
useless when they are organization because it’s the
scattered in emails, foundation of development
spreadsheets, and notes. Idea and growth. Every single
management makes it development in
possible for you to stay close organizations starts with an
to what customers want, idea. Using the right
keep that input organized, processes, many ideas will be
and focus your ideas created. The challenge is to
accordingly. choose the right projects to
execute. A common
There is nothing more misconception is that just
important for a product team one idea is enough.
than identifying innovation
opportunities. So, you want Hence, many ideas are
to share feedback to be easy needed to achieve the best
and inclusive. result alongside processes to
At first, empower internal prevent employees from
teams (sales, support) to returning to their old habits
share their own ideas or to instead of changing. By
share ideas on behalf of structuring the idea creation
customers. As second, process, more and better
identify common themes ideas are generated. This
that support your product saves your company a lot of
strategy and the overall time and money.
business goal. At last, Organizations that
evaluate and then promote understand this process grow
the best ideas to your a lot faster than traditional
marketing roadmap. organizations.

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Ideas are usually mentioned multiple times 'INNOVATION CYCLES ARE SPEEDING UP,
or are copies of others. Low investment AND SECTORS ARE MERGING. THE
ideas are perceived as less meaningful BARRIERS ARE LOWERING; THE FUTURE
because people would much rather work IS APPROACHING RAPIDLY, AND NEARLY
on something more challenging than on EVERY COMPANY IS STRUGGLING WITH
something easy. THE IDEA OF CHANGE. THE DISRUPTORS
BORN IN THE MODERN AGE RECOGNIZE
Managing ideas in a structured way helps THE NEED TO CHANGE. IF YOU ALWAYS
to recognize the logical value of ideas. An LOOK FOR SOLUTIONS THAT ARE
example is the separation of idea creation IMPORTANT TO YOUR COMPANY OR
and selection. By dividing idea INDUSTRY, YOU WILL BE ABLE TO
management into idea creaction and PREDICT PROBLEMS FOR POTENTIAL
selection, better results will be achieved. DISRUPTION AND INCREASE YOUR
Important in this process is that it must be COMPANY ADVANTAGE’.
managed correctly.

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3. How to measure the
potential value of ideas?
It's best to approach innovation with a Your goals will assist you in setting targets
long-term mindset; it's not about instant and KPIs that are aligned with your overall
success. The CEO will normally set a goal, plan, allowing for more insightful
but the efforts to achieve it are typically reporting. Those responsible for achieving
delegated to senior and mid-management the goal, must ensure that they fully
personnel, such as the Head of Innovation, comprehend the goals to ensure results
the Head of a Business Unit and other and assess success.
organizational leaders. It is important to
seek suggestions in places where you are
willing to make improvements. Invest time
in putting the suggestions into action, if
they're consistent with your strategic
priorities and business needs.

Meaningful goals
Meaningful goals must be set. You should
concentrate on what is important to
measure rather than what is easy to
measure. Remember which market
problem you're trying to solve and what
measurement you'll use to see if you've
succeeded. The emphasis may be on
whether a solution saved money, improved
transparency, saved people multiple
working hours, increased employees
satisfaction, or whether the concept
created solved the issue. Performance
measures can be the ratio of number of
new ideas per 100 employees, for example,
or the percentage of new ideas selected for
funding.
.

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4. How to promote the
innovation culture in your
company?
Curiosity Creativity
Employees must be given the opportunity The foundation for innovation is set by
to follow their curiosity and discover new creative ideas. Creativity can be taught
ideas that surprise and inspire them. because everyone has creative capacities
Curiosity is seen by many companies as a that can be developed. When workers are
distraction from its productivity. On the asked to turn an idea in for something in
other hand, encourages workers to test return, their creativity shines trough. HR
ideas that spark their interest, which may should collaborate with leaders to
lead to new opportunities for the company. encourage workers to be more creative.
Allowing time for this discovery without They should allow them to try innovate
the fear of consequences is critical. approaches to problems. Tangible
Employees can discover new ways to interventions such as sketching or even
complete tasks more quickly, provide creating a model of their concept,
better customer service, or even optimize experimenting with role-playing, or
workflow inconsistencies. Many of these working with various teams can all assist in
ideas have the potential to become a the development of ideas.
game-changer.

Risk taking Collaboration

Leaders should encourage risk taking on Various talents, skill sets, and ideations are
the most promising ideas and enable for needed to succeed on innovation. To push
reasonable experimentation. By driving out organizational creativity, employees cannot
the fear of failure, risk-taking sparks new operate in isolation. Instead, they must
ideas when workers aren’t concerned about work with a team – and, most importantly,
the consequences of reaching a dead end. a diverse team – that can bring fresh ideas
Employees who learn to take risks help and quickly identify and fill any gaps.
their companies stay ahead of the market, Collaboration is an effective tool for
and if the risk pays off, this can lead to innovation as employees can pool their
meaningful innovation. When taking collective knowledge to execute on ideas.
chances doesn’t pay off, it’s an opportunity
to figure out why it didn’t succeed and try
again.

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 SECTION: COLLECT

5. why set up a
campaign/mission?
Idea g e n e ration or ideation is the cr e a t i v e p r o c e s s o f c o l l e c t i n g a n d
impr o v i n g ideas. With brainstorm ca m p a i g n s y o u c a n p r o a c t i v e l y
gene r a t e many ideas in a short peri o d o f t i m e . A s I n n o v a t i o n
Mana g e r you want to have your pipel i n e c o n s t a n t l y f i l l e d w i t h n e w
idea s , n o matter how good or bad th o s e i d e a s a r e . I n f a c t , t h e r e a r e
no b a d i d eas. Every idea can be (pa r t o f a b i g g e r ) s o l u t i o n , s o y o u
want t o h ave an open and objecti v e a p proach towards collecting,
anal y z i n g , reviewing and building on t h o s e i d e a s f o r p o t e n t i a l n e w
solu t i o n s , new products or strategy i m p r o v e m e n t s . R e g u l a r l y s e t t i n g
up b r a i n s torm campaigns is very val u a b l e f o r y o u r i d e a g e n e r a t i o n
proc e s s .

A go o d b r ainstorm campaign consists o f s e v e r a l a s p e c t s .

Defi n e a focus group: who is going t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n t h e
brai n s t o r m? Think about employees , m a n a g e m e n t , e x p e r t s o r
even c l i e nts & partners to involve in t h e b r a i n s t o r m . E v e r y s i n g l e
pers o n h a s potential valuable input.
An i n v i t a tion with clear description o f t h e g o a l o r o b j e c t i v e a b o u t
what y o u want to achieve, for instanc e : “ I n p u t f o r n e w p r o d u c t s ” ,
“how t o i ncrease customer satisfact i o n ” o r “ h o w t o o p t i m i z e t h e
curr e n t w orkflow in department XYZ”
Crea t e a sense of urgency based on c l e a r d e a d l i n e s ( a n d e v e n a d d
time l i m i ts for participation). This wa y t h e i n v i t e e s f e e l t h e u r g e
to p a r t i c ipate and share their ideas w i t h i n t h e t i m e l i m i t s .
Crea t e a community of innovators: P r o m o t e g o o d b e h a v i o u r a n d
reco g n i z e peoples participation. Repo r t o n b r a i n s t o r m o u t c o m e
(goo d , b e tter, best ideas) during boa r d s m e e t i n g s , t e a m m e e t i n g s
and w e e kly stand ups.

Bene f i t s of a successful brainstorm c a m p a i g n :

- he l p s y ou understand the differen t v i e w s , i s s u e s , n e e d s , r e q u e s t s
and s o l u t ions from different stakehol d e r s ( m a n a g e m e n t , e m p l o y e e s ,
clie n t s a nd partners)
- re s u l t s in a great amount of valida t e d i d e a s f o r y o u r i n n o v a t i o n
pipe l i n e
- cr e a t e s a culture of innovators
- cr e a t e s potential value specific bu s i n e s s / i n n o v a t i o n g o a l s

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6. What target groups do you
invite?

Because of the strength of the audience, Larger companies are starting to see the
an idea shared is a problem solved. You'll value of integration crowdsourcing into
gain an important understanding of their innovation strategy
operational efficiencies while increasing Crowdsourcing is used for:
transparency and information sharing by New product creation
engaging diverse and disparate groups Process and service innovation
and promoting collaboration on ideas Employee community and network
regardless of size. engagement
Businesses to keep up with their rivals
Crowdsourcing is seen by many start-ups and developing better management
as the special formula in their business techniques.
models. A big group of people may bring a
level of diversity, the scope of ideas, and
experience to the table that makes
collective knowledge much more valuable
than the advice of a few experts.

9
Target groups
Engaging employees Involving stakeholders
The success of a company is as much based It's important to include all stakeholders in
on loyal employees as it is on satisfied the organization's innovation strategy;
clients. Companies must ensure that they'll become stronger collaborators and
employees are engaged and happy with promoters, and you'll benefit from
their jobs, work environment, and overall longer partnerships. Partner networks have
business culture. However, as businesses always been relevant in business
expand and adapt to evolving markets, this development, and the network can be a
challenge becomes more difficult. Every gold mine of ideas. Partners can not only
company has its own group of potential share a large volume of information from
innovators at its fingertips, but many are so current and potential clients, but they may
driven by short-term outcomes and caught also provide brilliant ideas for
up in their systems and processes that they strengthening strategy, procedures,
struggle to recognize and unleash the messaging, and resolving some of the most
untapped talent found within their important customer issues.
workforce. However, someone, somewhere
in your organization, may have the ideal
solution to your company's most important
problem.

Engaging customers
By including customers in the conversation, you
might dig up opportunities that have been
slipping under the radar for years. Challenge
your customers and get ideas on how to
improve your Net Promotor Score (NPS) or
involve them in product creation and give them
what they want to fuel loyalty. Additionally,
collaborating with the product or service's end
users to share information and expertise can
improve customer experience. By involving
them directly in the company's value creation
and product development processes, you will
have a more personalized experience that is
consistent with your company's values. You will
strengthen your reputation as a company that
is redefining market norms by building
partnerships with exclusive audiences and
atypical stakeholders whose passions match
with yours. Sharing ideas with your customers
will assist you in determining which ones are
the best investments for the future of your
business.

10
 SECTION: SELECT

7. How to select the

best ideas for an
efficient and
sustainable
process?
Afte r t h e audience generated ideas f o r t h e c h a l l e n g e , i t ’ s i m p o r t a n t
to k n o w h ow you are going to captur e a n d e v a l u a t e t h e s e i d e a s .

It's e a s y to come up with ideas; it's m o r e d i f f i c u l t t o a n a l y z e a n d

furt h e r d evelop the right ones. Often , i n n o v a t i o n f a i l s n o t b e c a u s e o f
a la c k o f culture or desire to be cre a t i v e , b u t b e c a u s e o f a n i n a b i l i t y
to u n d e r s tand the process of innova t i o n . I f y o u d o n ' t d o i t , y o u r i s k
losi n g a lot of good ideas. If you th i n k o f i n n o v a t i o n a s a m e t h o d f o r
gene r a t i n g and capturing ideas that a r e s e parate from business
exec u t i o n , it will fail.

Thre e s i m ple things are required for e f f e c t i v e i d e a m a n a g e m e n t : a

spec i f i c process model, a focus on in n o v a t i o n , a n d t h e n e c e s s a r y
tool s t o manage it. It's not enough t o h a v e a b r a i n s t o r m i n g s e s s i o n
to b e i n n ovative. It should be a long - t e r m i n i t i a t i v e t h a t a l l o w s y o u
to t a p i n to everyone's potential, not j u s t s e p a r a t e g r o u p s o f
"inn o v a t i on teams" or board membe r s .

In t h e e n d, the innovation managers a r e k e p t r e s p o n s i b l e f o r n o t

only t h e prototype's success, but als o f o r t h e i r d e c i s i o n t o m o v e
thei r c o n cept or prototype forward. W h e n y o u a r e b e i n g c o n f r o n t e d
with t h e question why you did choos e f o r t h e p r o t o t y p e , y o u m u s t
have a n a rgument that goes beyond y o u r g u t i n s t i n c t . Y o u m u s t
expl a i n w hich criteria you used to ma k e y o u r d e c i s i o n . O n t h e n e x t
page y o u can find 7 criteria that you s h o u l d c o n s i d e r t o u s e .

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7 CRITERIA YOU SHOULD CONSIDER

1. Clarity
Leaders can select the idea that makes the fewest assumptions. By
choosing an idea that has the fewest unknowns a leader can
safeguard against surprises and disasters.
Of course, the simplest solution may not be the most daring. A
leader who promotes innovation won't always take the well-
traveled road, but won't leave behind their map either.

2 . Usability
Does the idea fulfill a practical need? Does it answer some
particular problem or meet some particular market demand. If it
does, is it likely that the idea can find a market niche? The
practicality, usability, and marketability of an idea are crucial.

3. Stability
Is this a niche idea answering a one-time unique need or customer
demand? Does the idea have some market stability over time?
Ideas that become outdated before they even reach the market are
ideas that should be selected with extreme caution.

4. Scalability
Is the prototype capable of being scaled? Can it be duplicated with
consistency, meet continuous standards, and be replicated in such
a way that it can be produced and produced again without
constantly being reinvented or adjusted?

5. Stickiness
Can this idea become a habit or a trend? Often "stickiness" is used
from the utilitarian standpoint (that is, its usability) but stickiness
can also define its emotional appeal. Is the idea or prototype
capable of bringing to market a product that will be driven over
time by the customers' sense that it is a necessity?

6. Integration
Is this idea fully integrated with the organizational strategy? Often
ideas and prototypes are wonderful in their own right, but outliers
in the organizational strategy may not receive the organizational
support necessary to sustain the viability of the effort. Great ideas
must be integrated, or capable of being integrated with the overall
strategy of the organization.

7. Profitability
This is usually what everyone focuses on. Competing ideas are
always ranked by their perceived earning potential, but the answer
is not always clear. It's an innovation leader's unique job to keep
an eye not only on an idea's dissemination potential and revenue
opportunity, but also on the other factors discussed above.

12
 SECTION: EXECUTE

8. How to transform
ideas into projects to
implement innovation
succesfully
Idea t i o n is a very important step in t h e p r o c e s s o f i n n o v a t i o n .
Gene r a t i n g ideas is simplified thanks t o i d e a g e n e r a t i o n s o f t w a r e .
Empl o y e es can sub mit their ideas us i n g t h e i r c o m p u t e r s a n d p h o n e s ,
whic h m akes it mo re flexible than, fo r e x a m p l e , m e e t i n g s . T h e
gene r a t i o n of ideas is organized by o b j e c t i v e s w h e r e t h e y c a n
brai n s t o r m. To know which ideas are t h e b e s t , r e v i e w i n g r o u n d s a r e
impl e m e nted. The users rate the ide a s b a s e d o n , b y t h e i d e a t i o n
crea t o r ’ s chosen, variables to receiv e i n s t a n t f e e d b a c k o n t h e q u a l i t y
of e v e r y idea.

Firs t o f all, recognize that ideas are j u s t i d e a s . I n o r d e r t o t u r n y o u r

busi n e s s idea into reality, you need t o s t a r t e x e c u t i n g t h e m . O n c e
you s e t t l e on an idea to put in motio n , y o u m u s t t h e n c o n d u c t
mark e t r e search of your target mark e t , i m p l e m e n t a g o o d s t r a t e g y ,
writ e a s ound business plan, get the r i g h t s p a c e , a n d t h e r i g h t s t a f f .

If y o u w a nt to transform your idea in t o p r o j e c t s t h a t a r e f u n c t i o n a l

and s u s t a inable, here are some tips t o h e l p y o u g e t s t a r t e d .

1. Know w h at you wa nt to achieve.

At f i r s t , y our idea needs to solve a p r o b l e m o r m e e t a n e e d . W h a t
part i c u l a r issue are you hoping to so l v e ? P u t y o u r s e l f i n s o m e o n e
else ' s s h oes and try to be objective. W o u l d y o u p a y m o n e y f o r t h e
serv i c e t hat you offer?

2. W h o i s your target group?

You h a v e to under stand who your tar g e t g r o u p i s . W h a t i s t h e i s s u e
that y o u r product or service can solv e f o r t h e m ? W h a t w i l l t h e y d o
with y o u r product and where will th e u s e i t ? H o l d a f o c u s g r o u p a n d
writ e i t all down.

3. B u i l d i ng a concept
Buil d a c oncept or viable product fir s t . A p r o t o t y p e o r c o n c e p t c a n b e
a pr e s e n t ation or a preview of the pr o d u c t y o u w a n t t o o f f e r . T h e
idea i s t o build something that poten t i a l b u y e r s c a n h o l d o r
expe r i e n c e. It could cost you tens of t h o u s a n d s o f d o l l a r s i f y o u r
prod u c t f ails to meet the expectation s . I t ' s g o o d t o a s k f o r f e e d b a c k
or r e v i e w s from the customers, to m a k e i m p r o v e m e n t s t o y o u r
prod u c t b efore releasing it.

13
4. Is the product needed in the market?
REMEMBER, NOT EVERY
Consider if the product appeals to a wide
lare enough audience. Is your product IDEA HAS THE POTENTIAL
going to be needed or wanted by a large TO TURN INTO A PROJECT IN
amount of people to justify its existence?
You don't need something that everyone
YOUR BUSINESS. KNOW
on the planet will want, but you do need WHEN YOU'RE MAKING
enough of a customer base, or at least a
STEPS IN THE RIGHT
recurring customer base, to make it worth
your time. DIRECTION, AND ALSO IF
IT'S TIME TO CUT YOUR
5. Know how you can get funding or
investors.
LOSSES AND MOVE ONTO
It is possible that you need start-up THE NEXT PROJECT.
capital depending on the nature of your
company. Have you saved some money up
or do you know people that are willing to
invest in your company? Additionally, look
for funding or government grants that
assists young entrepreneurs and recent
graduates.

14
 SECTION: REPORT

9. How to report idea

management results
The g o a l is to structure the ideation p r o c e s s . T h i s i s w h e r e i d e a
mana g e m ent come s into play. Durin g t h e g e n e r a t i o n a n d r e v i e w i n g
of i d e a s , the results need to be mana g e d . R e s u l t s c a n b e v i e w e d i n
an o v e r v i ew that the innovation man a g e r c a n v i e w . I t a l s o s h o w s t h e
prog r e s s and points out if the innova t i o n g o e s a s p l a n n e d a n d i s o n
sche d u l e . When not enough employe e s h a v e p a r t i c i p a t e d i n t h e
miss i o n , this could require action. I t ' s p o s s i b l e t h a t t h e i n a c t i v i t y o f
the e m p l o yees would have gone unn o t i c e d i f t h e i d e a m a n a g e m e n t
tool w a s not used.

Mana g i n g the idea s aft e r t h e mission is equally importa n t t o

main t a i n an overview of the ideas. It i s e a s y t o g e t l o s t i n d a t a w h e n
hund r e d s of ideas are generated. Th e s o f t w a r e a u t o m a t i c a l l y s o r t s
the i d e a s based on review scores to a s s u r e t h e m o s t e n t i c i n g i d e a s
are m o s t noticeable and the lower s c o r i n g i d e a s a r e n o t i n t h e w a y .
Beca u s e o f this, there is no need to l o o k a t e v e r y i d e a , b u t j u s t a t
the o n e s that matter.

A cl e a r o verview of ideas makes sel e c t i n g t h e s o u g h t - a f t e r i d e a ( s ) a

lot e a s i e r. The target is to choose t h e b e s t o n e s o u t o f a l l i d e a s
gene r a t e d . There are three options a f t e r t h e o b j e c t i v e r o u n d ( s ) .
Firs t , i t i s a possib ility that a fitting i d e a h a s n o t b e e n f o u n d . I n t h i s
case , t h e ideation can start over. Se c o n d l y , a u s e f u l i d e a h a s b e e n
foun d . I f the organization has found a u s e f u l i d e a , i t c a n m o v e o n t o
the n e x t step in the innovation proce s s . H o w e v e r , i f m u l t i p l e g o o d
idea s h a v e been submitted that the o r g a n i z a t i o n c a n ’ t y e t c h o o s e
from , a s election round is possible. T h i r d , i n t h e s e l e c t i o n r o u n d , t h e
othe r u s e rs from the ideation mission c a n r e v i e w t h e s e l e c t e d i d e a s .
A se l e c t i on round is also possible if t h e i n n o v a t i o n c r e a t o r w a n t s t h e
idea ( s ) r eviewed by other users, no m a t t e r h o w m a n y g o o d i d e a s a r e
subm i t t e d .

Afte r t h e idea have been chosen, th e t e s t i n g p h a s e s t a r t s . I n t h i s

phas e , t h e idea is tested to see how w e l l i t p e r f o r m s .
Unde r s t a n dably, the idea will be exec u t e d w h e n t h e e v a l u a t i o n i s
posi t i v e . When the idea is negatively e v a l u a t e d , t h e d a t a b a s e o f
idea s c a n be opened again to search f o r o t h e r i d e a s t h a t h a v e n o t
been s e l e cted previously.

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 SECTION: IMPLEMENTATION

10. How to implement

idea management into
your organization
with idea management
software
Idea m a nagement software is a tool t h a t h e l p s o r g a n i z a t i o n s c o l l e c t
idea s f r o m their employees, evaluat e t h e m a n d d e p l o y t h e m t o t h e
mark e t quickly an d increase product i v i t y l e v e l s . I d e a m a n a g e m e n t
plat f o r m s come in various shapes an d f o r m s . C o m p a n i e s o f v a r i o u s
size s , a c ross all market sectors, can b e n e f i t a l o t f r o m t h e s e
plat f o r m s because innovation and im p r o v e m e n t s m a t t e r t o e v e r y o n e .
A si m p l e little box that we see in or g a n i z a t i o n s l a b e l e d a s a
‘sug g e s t i on box’ where employees ca n p u t t h e i r i d e a s a n d t h o u g h t s
in i s o r i ginally the idea managemen t t o o l . T h i s i s a s u i t a b l e t o o l f o r
any s m a ll organiza tion with no more t h a n h u n d r e d e m p l o y e e s .
Howe v e r , what if t he company has a t h o u s a n d e m p l o y e e s o r m a y b e
more ? W hat if the company has mul t i p l e o f f i c e s ? E v e n t u a l l y , a
sugg e s t i o n box will become a burden f o r t h e i n n o v a t i o n m a n a g e r s .
Soon , i t will lose its value and usab i l i t y i n t h e o r g a n i z a t i o n .

Adop t i n g a modern solution will be th e k e y . T h e r e a r e s o m a n y i d e a

mana g e m ent platf orms available like A c c e p t M i s s i o n t h a t c a n d o
much m o re than a nalog methods, pr o v i d i n g t r e m e n d o u s b e n e f i t s t o
the o r g a n ization.

If y o u r o rganization is actively seek i n g o u t i n n o v a t i o n o p p o r t u n i t i e s ,

then y o u need idea management sof t w a r e . F o r i n s t a n c e , l e t ’ s s a y
that o n e of the goals of your organiz a t i o n f o r t h e n e x t f i v e y e a r s i s
to p u s h o ut another line of products. T o a c h i e v e t h i s , y o u h a v e s e t
up a l o t of physical and/or digital bra i n s t o r m i n g s e s s i o n s t o t h i n k
thro u g h v arious product ideas. Even w i t h constricting your idea
gene r a t i o n activities in a small intern a l g r o u p , y o u m i g h t s t i l l g e t
hund r e d s of ideas.

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The problem with manually going through all these ideas is that you’d waste a vast amount
of time. With idea management software, you will be able to easily collect all those ideas and
do a selection later. That was one example. Other instances for when using an idea
management solution is a good idea include:

Managing a large number of ideas

Digitally collecting and storing ideas
Working together with other members
Doing a keyword analysis on the ideas
Seeing and managing statuses of ideas
Searching through all the ideas collected
Backtracking and audit trailing of the ideation
Integrating the ideation process with other tools
Engaging with a lot of people as part of the ideation
Managing the overall ideation process from one place

To implement idea management into your organization it is important to know which features
are included in the platform. The features can be grouped in three categories:
Idea campaigns (challenges)
Idea collection (reactive)
Idea management

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brainstorm campaign

Idea management tools only work if there are ideas. That is why it is important that the
software also has campaign features that will allow the user to create campaigns meant to
challenge members into contributing ideas around a specific theme (or problem).

To spice it up, great tools have gamification features to help increase the engagement and
creativity levels of the members. Some gamification features may include:
Leaderboards
Undercover mode
Experience points
Mission countdown timer

Accept Mission has an undercover mode that you can use like your own avatar (you can be
James Bond). You will then be able to lay down your ideas without the others knowing who
“James Bond” really is. This also helps others see the ideas submitted and rate them
accordingly without biases. If you are a manager, your employees do not have to put a
“thumbs up” on your ideas just because those came from their “boss”.

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IDEA collection

Some great ideas come when you least expect them. A good example of this is when you are
in the shower. According to a psychologist, this can be attributed to the “relaxing, solitary,
and non-judgmental shower environment that may afford creative thinking.” That is why it
helps if the idea management software has some sort of way to collect ideas even without
campaigning or having an active challenge to the members.

For example, by using Accept Mission, you can create “inboxes” about certain themes,
questions, and problems, and your members can drop their ideas any time they think of one,
whenever (and wherever) inspiration strikes.

Naturally, gamification features should still apply (like being able to drop ideas while
undercover and gain experience points from doing so). It also helps if there is a way for
members to interact on the ideas from other undercover agents by means of liking or even
commenting.

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IDEA management

This is where most of the action takes place after ideas are collected. It will not be called
idea management software without capabilities and features to do so and thus separate this
kind of tool from other ideation platforms like brainstorming and mind mapping software.

Some notable idea management features include:

Having a backtrail
Storing ideas for later
Qualifying and scoring ideas
Helping decision-makers choose the best ideas
Accept Mission even makes this easier by integrating idea management features with idea
campaign and collection capabilities.

To give you an example, you know that there is an inbox feature where members can drop
an idea whenever they think of one. After doing so, moderators and managers can then
move those ideas into various columns, Kanban-style.

As you can see from the image above, the ideas submitted in the inbox start from the left-
most column. As you review the ideas, you can drag and drop the ideas into the column the
best describes them.

The bottom line is that using idea management software can make a whole lot of difference
in your organization’s innovation process. Aside from saving a lot of time from managing
numerous ideas, you will also have an easy way of storing all of them for future use.

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11. Conclusion
You can significantly improve quality while lowering costs by empowering your employees
to unleash their inner imagination, creating the right environment for them to do so, and
implementing innovations as strategic or breakthrough improvements. In a sustainable
and repeatable manner, the right idea management culture and strategy will drive
positive results, boost growth, and build a real competitive advantage. Companies that
use these factors are the companies that will be at the top of their various markets. We
hope that this guide aids you in the development of your idea management and
understanding how you can implement it in your business.

About accept mission

We love to help organizations to build their efficient and result driven innovation engine.
Engage people and collecting and transforming ideas into value innovation projects and
developing successful results that grows companies. We believe innovation is a
structured process to develop ideas into business value continuously. Structure will result
in more creativity, better decision making and higher business value. Interested in our
vision and methods? Please contact us anytime. Innovation is our passion.

STEVEN KOP DAAN OUDEJANS PETER SCHEFFERS

DIRECTOR INNOVATION CONSULTANT PRODUCT OWNER

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