How can you manage innovation projects and processes in teams?

Innovation is the key to staying competitive and relevant in today's fast-changing world. But how can you manage innovation projects and processes in teams effectively and efficiently? In this article, you will learn some practical tips and strategies to foster a culture of innovation, facilitate collaboration and communication, and overcome common challenges and barriers in innovation teams.

1 Define the innovation goal and scope

The first step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to define the innovation goal and scope clearly and realistically. What problem are you trying to solve? What value are you trying to create? What are the expected outcomes and impacts? How will you measure success? These questions will help you set the direction, scope, and boundaries of your innovation project and process, and align your team members on a common vision and purpose.

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Anupam Bhaskar

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1. Clearly define the objectives and goals of the innovation project. Ensure that every team member understands the purpose and expected outcomes. 2.Having a culture that encourages creativity, risk-taking, and open communication. Make it safe for team members to share ideas without fear of criticism. 3.Break down the project into manageable milestones with clear timelines. This helps in tracking progress and ensures that the team is moving toward the larger goal. 4.Facilitate open communication and collaboration among team members. Create opportunities for brainstorming sessions, workshops, and idea-sharing platforms.

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2 Choose the right team members and roles

The second step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to choose the right team members and roles. You want to have a diverse and balanced team that can bring different perspectives, skills, and experiences to the table, and that can complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. You also want to assign clear and specific roles and responsibilities to each team member, such as project leader, facilitator, researcher, designer, developer, tester, or communicator. This will help you distribute the workload, avoid role ambiguity or conflict, and ensure accountability and ownership.

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Patrick Pacheco, ATFA

Former President, Cadence Asset Management & Trust (EVP Cadence Bank)
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All of the above are great and should get you from point A to point B in a fairly safe and fairly efficient manner. And for many that’s what they can and will do. If, however, you’ve put together a rock star team and you want to see them shine then let them OWN the project and get out of their way. Sure you stay aware of whats happening but end of the day the team you put together cumulatively knows more than you do and is closer to the problem than you are—so let them put that to work in a collaborative manner. Don’t constrain great teams by trying to be the boss. Leading by staying out of the way at times, while subtlety keeping everyone rowing in the same general direction can be scary, but the upside can be amazing.

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3 Use a structured innovation process and tools

The third step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to use a structured innovation process and tools. A structured innovation process is a series of steps or stages that guide you from identifying opportunities and generating ideas to prototyping and testing solutions and implementing and scaling them. A structured innovation process can help you organize your thoughts, actions, and resources, and ensure that you follow a systematic and rigorous approach to innovation. Some examples of structured innovation processes are design thinking, agile, lean startup, or stage-gate. You can also use various tools and techniques to support each stage of the innovation process, such as brainstorming, mind mapping, customer journey mapping, personas, empathy maps, prototyping, feedback loops, or experiments.

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4 Foster a culture of innovation

The fourth step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to foster a culture of innovation. A culture of innovation is a set of values, beliefs, and behaviors that encourage and support creativity, experimentation, learning, and improvement. A culture of innovation can help you motivate and inspire your team members, create a safe and supportive environment for them to share their ideas and opinions, and embrace failures and mistakes as opportunities to learn and grow. Some ways to foster a culture of innovation are to celebrate successes and failures, reward risk-taking and learning, provide feedback and recognition, promote collaboration and diversity, and challenge assumptions and norms.

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Christopher Lind

Bridging Business, Technology & Human Experience | Executive Advisor | Business & Product Transformation | Devoted Husband and Father of 8
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I would discourage people from thinking about innovation as a project or process to be managed and see it as a cultural environment or mindset. While you have to manage innovation, that's in response to the culture or mindset. You shouldn't start there. Innovation isn't something you sit down and "do" or tell your teams to do. You need to build a culture where people feel safe taking risks, experimenting with new ideas, and constantly looking for new and better ways to do things. Granted this won't happen overnight, but as a leader you have a great deal of influence on whether this does or doesn't happen in your teams. However, you have to put the time and effort into making it an ongoing thing, or it will never get off the ground.

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5 Facilitate collaboration and communication

The fifth step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to facilitate collaboration and communication. Collaboration and communication are essential for innovation, as they enable you to exchange information, insights, and feedback, leverage collective intelligence and creativity, and build trust and rapport among team members. Some ways to facilitate collaboration and communication are to use online platforms and tools that allow you to communicate and collaborate asynchronously and synchronously, such as chat, video conferencing, or project management software, to establish regular check-ins and meetings to monitor progress and resolve issues, to use visual aids and storytelling to convey your ideas and solutions, and to solicit and provide constructive and honest feedback.

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6 Overcome challenges and barriers

The sixth and final step in managing innovation projects and processes in teams is to overcome challenges and barriers. Innovation is not a smooth and easy process, and you will likely encounter various challenges and barriers along the way, such as resistance to change, lack of resources, conflicting priorities, unclear expectations, or ethical dilemmas. Some ways to overcome challenges and barriers are to anticipate and plan for potential risks and obstacles, to involve stakeholders and customers in the innovation process, to seek external support and guidance, to adapt and pivot when needed, and to maintain a positive and resilient attitude.

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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?

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Javier Benítez Campos

CEO Fundador Sé Feliz Academy. Director Embajadores de Apoyo a la Felicidad BNI Perú. Coach. Escritor 11 libros. Profesor UP, UTP, UPC, PBS, UContinental. Conferencista.
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o manage innovation processes in teams, I recommend the following: 1. Encourage people to come up with new ideas. 2. Do not judge ideas prematurely. 3. Combine ideas. 4. Reward ideas that prove to be viable. 5. Publicize innovative projects that bring about improvement in any process.

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How can you manage innovation projects and processes in teams?

1

2

3

4

5

6

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1 Define the innovation goal and scope

2 Choose the right team members and roles

3 Use a structured innovation process and tools

4 Foster a culture of innovation

5 Facilitate collaboration and communication

6 Overcome challenges and barriers

7 Here’s what else to consider

Staff Development

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How can you manage innovation projects and processes in teams?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Define the innovation goal and scope

2 Choose the right team members and roles

3 Use a structured innovation process and tools

4 Foster a culture of innovation

5 Facilitate collaboration and communication

6 Overcome challenges and barriers

7 Here’s what else to consider

Staff Development

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