Innovation is essential for any company that hopes to remain competitive. However, managing the process of innovation can be a complicated and time-consuming task. Between ideation, planning, governance, roadmapping and portfolio management, it can be challenging for companies to keep track of everything.
Fortunately, the right innovation software can simplify the process, freeing up time and resources for more important tasks. Let’s explore how the right technology can streamline innovation planning, governance, roadmapping and portfolio management.
Simplifying innovation planning
A common innovation management challenge is identifying the right metrics to measure success. A strategic innovation plan requires considering metrics such as customer satisfaction, employee engagement and market share to ensure best-laid plans come to fruition. These metrics provide a comprehensive picture of whether innovation initiatives are making a significant impact on the organization's overall performance.
Another challenge are organizational silos that obstruct collaboration and lead to duplicative efforts. Innovation managers need to establish clear communication channels and create cross-functional teams where different departments are involved in innovation planning.
How the right innovation software helps: Even when silos are eliminated, accessing and collating specific data points can be time-consuming and difficult. The right innovation management solution should provide a centralized platform for capturing, tracking and evaluating planning assets. Such a platform should also help identify the most promising ideas, prioritize them based on strategic objectives and assign teams to work on them.
Streamlining innovation governance
Governance often gets a bad rap because it conjures images of rules, regulations and restrictions. However those who consistently bring innovative products to market typically have the best governance systems because it makes innovation predictable and repeatable. Governance creates the necessary innovation infrastructure that creates conditions for repeatable innovation, especially for large companies.
To be fair, many organizations create governance rules that are hard and fast, with little room for flexibility or situational interpretation. As a result, it’s hard to get across-the-board governance, which leads to the increased risk of missed deadlines, delayed product launches, recalls and uncertain forecasting.
How the right innovation software helps: The technology you use should support effective innovation governance through three lenses:
- Subsidiarity: Allowing the creation and enforcement of governance rules by each department without imposing those rules on other teams.
- Accountable coordination: Groups within a product or project agree on a wide range of expectations (timelines, jobs, budgets, etc.) and those agreements are approved by mandate managers for full traceability.
- Full transparency: Centralized innovation data like agreements and progress should be easily updated and available to those approved to view it.
Strategic roadmapping made easy
Roadmapping involves developing a strategic plan for innovation initiatives that takes into account the organization's long-term goals. Innovation managers face several challenges in this area, including the lack of clarity on the organization's objectives and the difficulty in balancing competing priorities. Additionally, innovation managers may struggle to create a roadmap that is adaptable to changes in the business environment.
To address these challenges, innovation managers need to ensure that they have a clear understanding of the organization's overall objectives and priorities. They can then develop a roadmap that takes into account potential changes in the external environment. Additionally, having a flexible roadmap that allows for adjustments based on changing circumstances can help to ensure that innovation efforts remain relevant.
How the right innovation software helps: Technology should assist in creating roadmaps that outline the various projects, timelines and milestones involved in your innovation initiatives. But take it a step further. The right solution can help compare and contrast multiple roadmaps to offer context and serve as a single source of truth for everyone involved.
Portfolio management
Portfolio managers face the challenge of selecting the right projects to work on and ensuring that each project receives the required resources. One common challenge is balancing short-term and long-term objectives. Too much focus on the short term can result in missed opportunities for long-term growth, while too much focus on the long term can result in insufficient funding for immediate needs.
It’s critical to establish clear criteria for project selection, such as the project's potential return on investment, strategic fit and resource availability. By doing so, they can ensure that each project is aligned with the company's goals and has the necessary support. However, portfolio management projects are a complex task that can be daunting and time-consuming. As a result, time that could be spent focusing on portfolio considerations is pulled toward manual exercises.
How the right innovation software helps: The solution you choose should seamlessly streamline portfolio management by providing a single platform for tracking key metrics such as project status, budget and resource allocation. This platform can also help you identify potential risks and opportunities, allowing you to change the portfolio as needed.
Managing innovation can—and should be—less complicated and time-consuming. An innovation management solution can simplify the process and stay ahead of the competition and continue to deliver value to your customers. Learn how Sopheon Accolade can bolster your innovation efforts through redacted time-to-market, increased product success, optimized value and increased efficiency.
