How can you build an innovation team with the right skills?

1 Define the problem

Before you recruit or assign anyone to your innovation team, you need to have a clear understanding of the problem you want to solve, the goals you want to achieve, and the scope and constraints of your project. This will help you identify the skills and roles you need in your team, as well as the criteria and methods you will use to evaluate your ideas and solutions. A well-defined problem will also help you communicate your vision and expectations to your potential team members, and align them with your strategy and purpose.

2 Seek diversity

One of the key factors for innovation is diversity. Diversity of skills, experiences, backgrounds, cultures, personalities, and perspectives. Diversity brings fresh insights, new perspectives, and creative solutions to complex problems. It also fosters a culture of inclusion, collaboration, and learning, where different opinions and feedback are valued and respected. To build a diverse innovation team, you need to look beyond the usual suspects, and seek out people who can bring different kinds of expertise, knowledge, and perspectives to your project. You also need to create a safe and supportive environment, where everyone feels welcome, heard, and empowered to contribute.

3 Balance hard and soft skills

Another important factor for innovation is the balance of hard and soft skills in your team. Hard skills are the technical and functional skills that are specific to your domain, industry, or project. They include things like coding, design, engineering, research, analysis, and so on. Soft skills are the interpersonal and emotional skills that enable you to work effectively with others, such as communication, collaboration, creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. Both hard and soft skills are essential for innovation, as they allow you to generate, test, and implement ideas, as well as to communicate, collaborate, and learn from your team and stakeholders. To build an innovation team with the right skills, you need to assess the hard and soft skills of your potential team members, and ensure that you have a balanced mix of both in your team.

4 Foster a growth mindset

A growth mindset is a belief that you can improve your abilities and skills through effort, feedback, and learning. It is a key ingredient for innovation, as it encourages you to embrace challenges, learn from failures, seek feedback, and experiment with new ideas. A growth mindset also helps you to cope with uncertainty, ambiguity, and change, which are inevitable in any innovation project. To build an innovation team with a growth mindset, you need to model and promote a positive attitude towards learning and improvement, and provide your team with opportunities and resources to develop their skills and knowledge. You also need to celebrate successes and failures as learning opportunities, and provide constructive and supportive feedback to your team.

5 Cultivate a culture of innovation

A culture of innovation is a set of values, norms, and behaviors that support and encourage innovation in your team and organization. It includes things like trust, openness, curiosity, experimentation, collaboration, and feedback. A culture of innovation enables your team to generate, share, and test ideas, without fear of judgment, criticism, or failure. It also helps your team to adapt, learn, and improve, as they face new challenges and opportunities. To build an innovation team with a culture of innovation, you need to establish and communicate clear and shared values and goals, and involve your team in decision-making and problem-solving. You also need to provide your team with autonomy, flexibility, and resources, and reward and recognize their efforts and achievements.

6 Review and refine

Building an innovation team with the right skills is not a one-time event. It is an ongoing process that requires constant review and refinement. As your project evolves, you may need to adjust your team composition, roles, and responsibilities, to match the changing needs and demands of your project. You may also need to provide your team with additional training, coaching, or mentoring, to help them develop new or existing skills. Moreover, you may need to solicit and incorporate feedback from your team, stakeholders, and customers, to evaluate your progress and performance, and identify areas for improvement. By reviewing and refining your innovation team regularly, you can ensure that you have the right skills and capabilities to deliver innovative solutions.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?