5 Ways To Make Your Company More Innovative

With technology advancing at such a rapid pace, arguably there has never been a more important time for a company to innovate. Over the past decade there have been numerous examples of new and innovative companies both dominating and creating markets worth billions of pounds. This has certainly led to innovation being pushed higher up the agenda for thousands of companies, all looking for the next big breakthrough in their respective markets and industries. Despite ‘tech’ companies receiving the most publicity with regards to innovation, companies in many other industries are also innovating. Figures released by the Government earlier this year showed that UK-based companies in many different industries, including mining and agriculture, are undertaking innovative projects that qualify for R&D tax relief.

Below are five ways that you can make your company more innovative:

1.  Embed Innovation Into Your Company’s Culture

A report released by Accenture in May 2013 surveyed 500 Executives and found that approximately “one in five rate innovation as their top strategic priority”, although many were frustrated by the lack of progress being made in this area. This highlights the disconnect between those running the company and those who are responsible for innovation, likely meaning that employees at all levels in each of the companies with frustrated executives were unclear about the role innovation played.

There are many ways in which you can embed innovation into your company’s culture. First it is important to define innovation in relation to your company and your strategic business goals. Secondly this needs communicated to, and discussed with, employees at all levels in your company. Third you can set expectations – everyone will need to understand what role they play in the process and how they present ideas. For example, will all ideas be initially welcomed, regardless of whether they are right or wrong? Fourth, the right systems and process must be in place, which brings us onto the next point.

2.  Create The Appropriate Systems & Processes to Facilitate Innovation

As with any aspect of your business, the importance of having the right systems and processes in place to facilitate innovation cannot be underestimated. In the absence of processes, huge amounts of time, money and other resources can go to waste. First it is important to understand exactly how innovation in your company will take place. In very brief terms, this is about first figuring out what problem needs to be solved, how ideas will be generated, how they will be tested, and finally how they will be commercialised. That is just a short overview of the process; the exact process for your company may differ slightly and contain more detail and some additional steps.

To ensure company resources are utilised in the correct way, it is very important to measure progress. Innovation is naturally quite difficult to measure and quantify, but the main way to do this is to ensure that the team undertaking the research and development are focused on solving a particular problem. Finally it is worth having a process that clearly splits different R&D projects, both so that there is clear differentiation between each project and also so that resources are split to diversify risk. For example, if you have five projects in total, one project might use 50% of the budget, another one might use 20%, and the other three might use 10% each.

3.  Focus Innovation on Solving Problems

It is often said that every business in the world does one of two things: it either solves a problem or provides a pleasurable experience. Most businesses solve a problem at some level. For example, Facebook solves a problem by giving people a fast and convenient way to keep in touch with friends and family. The BlackBerry phone solved the problem of people not being able to check their emails unless they were in front of a computer. With regards to innovation, focusing on solving a particular problem helps to give everyone in your company a clear idea of what they are working towards and ultimately trying to achieve. This also helps to make the idea of innovation more realistic and tangible. This may need to be communicated to different teams in different ways, but ultimately if everybody understands that the aim is to improve a product, and once this happens it will benefit the whole company, your teams will be more likely to embrace the concept of innovation.

4.  Recruit The Right People

Recruiting the right people can be a very effective way to make your company more innovative. Depending on the needs of your business, this could quite easily be split into two areas. People who have helped facilitate innovation in other innovative organisations can instantly bring their experience and passion for innovation to your company. The other aspect of recruitment is to look at current staff who are in different roles, and also recruiting people that may have little or no prior experience with regards to innovation but are open-minded, forward-thinking, and also possess what is generally regarded as a very important trait for those engaging in innovation: the ability to think “differently”. There are ways that this can be tested in the recruitment process.

If you are trying to create an innovative culture within your company, and you want everyone in your team to feel that they are contributing to this culture, carefully consider the roles and responsibilities of each team member so that everyone feels that they are a part of the innovative process, and that innovation is not “someone else’s job”.

5.  Look Outside of Your Own Organisation & Industry

Ironically, many companies are very internally focused when it comes to innovation. Whilst this is often effective, it is also important to pay attention to other external sources, not just from your own industry. A classic example of this is the drive through system, which was first used by banks in the United States in the 1930’s, and is now used in many other industries (most-commonly in the fast-food industry). Occasionally innovations in other industries might, with tweaking, be applicable to your business. This may sound obvious, but many companies narrow their focus so much that they miss these potential opportunities. Additionally, you can survey and carry out focus groups with existing customers. Going back to an earlier point, if the questions are based on how you can better solve their problems, they may provide you with ideas to help you innovate your product. It is rarely a good idea to base innovation entirely on customer feedback, but the feedback may help you to shift your focus or look at the problem in a different way.