How do you streamline innovation in your operational plan?

1 Define your innovation objectives

Before you start brainstorming new ideas, you need to have a clear vision of what you want to achieve with innovation. What are the problems you want to solve, the opportunities you want to seize, or the value you want to create for your customers? How do you measure the impact and success of your innovation efforts? Having specific and realistic innovation objectives will help you align your team, prioritize your resources, and evaluate your progress.

2 Create a culture of innovation

Innovation is not something that happens once in a while, it is a mindset and a habit that you need to foster in your organization. You can do this by encouraging your employees to share their insights, feedback, and suggestions, and by rewarding them for their creativity and initiative. You can also create a culture of innovation by providing them with the tools, time, and space to experiment, learn, and collaborate. For example, you can use online platforms, workshops, hackathons, or innovation labs to facilitate idea generation and prototyping.

3 Integrate innovation into your operational plan

Once you have some promising ideas, you need to integrate them into your operational plan and execute them effectively. This means that you need to align your innovation projects with your strategic goals, assign roles and responsibilities, allocate resources and budgets, and set timelines and milestones. You also need to communicate your innovation plan to your stakeholders, such as your customers, partners, or investors, and get their feedback and support. Moreover, you need to monitor and evaluate your innovation performance and outcomes, and make adjustments as needed.

4 Learn from your failures and successes

Innovation is not a linear process, it is a cycle of trial and error, learning and improvement. You need to embrace failure as an opportunity to learn from your mistakes and find better solutions. You also need to celebrate your successes and share your best practices and lessons learned with your team and your organization. By learning from your failures and successes, you can streamline your innovation process, increase your efficiency and effectiveness, and foster a continuous improvement culture.

5 Collaborate with external partners

Innovation is not something that you can do alone, it requires collaboration and co-creation with external partners who can offer different perspectives, skills, and resources. You can collaborate with other businesses, customers, suppliers, research institutions, or social organizations to generate new ideas, access new markets, or solve complex challenges. You can also leverage external platforms, networks, or ecosystems to share your innovation vision, goals, and outcomes, and to learn from others' experiences and best practices.

6 Review and update your operational plan

Innovation is not a one-time event, it is an ongoing process that requires constant review and update of your operational plan. You need to keep track of the changes in your internal and external environment, such as customer needs, market trends, technological developments, or regulatory requirements, and adapt your innovation strategy and tactics accordingly. You also need to assess the impact and value of your innovation projects, and decide whether to scale, pivot, or terminate them. By reviewing and updating your operational plan, you can ensure that your innovation efforts are relevant, responsive, and sustainable.

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?