During the deep dive sessions of innosabi connect, our annual customer meeting, innosabi’s Customer Success Managers and customers work together on best practices for current topics. One of this year’s focus was on how to celebrate success of collaborative innovation.
In the dynamic landscape of collaborative platforms, collaborative gathering emerges as a beacon of success, celebrating achievements through a harmonious blend of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. In this exploration, we delve into the core elements that make collaborative innovation thrive, emphasizing the pivotal role of motivation, measurement, and meaningful engagement.
Before deep diving in the different steps, let’s quickly understand the different ways of motivating your users.
Intrinsic vs. Extrinsic Motivation
Understanding the diverse motivations that drive user participation is crucial for the success of collaborative innovation. Intrinsic motivation, fuelled by personal desires, sees users engaging for reasons such as co-creation, status elevation, appreciation, and entertainment. On the other hand, extrinsic motivation draws users with material incentives like prizes, monetary rewards, and awards.
Now that this is clear, let’s have a closer look at the different points to help ensure your collaborative platform will be a success. In the following paragraphs, we will discuss the following three measurements: integration on processes, transparency, and reward systems.
- Integration on Processes:
Collaborative innovation goes beyond mere participation; they integrate users into processes to enhance products, services, and internal operations. Facilitating exchange between user groups and seamlessly combining online and offline elements are paramount. Questions arise: How can participants be integrated into processes? How can the exchange between user groups be fostered?
Incorporating a range of integrated tools within the platform, such as voting mechanisms, amplifies the experience. The careful balance of online and offline integration is crucial, presenting diverse opportunities for engagement. Central to the success of collaborative innovation is the integration of users, fostering an environment where all participants feel empowered to share their perspectives freely. This not only contributes to the richness of collaborative endeavours but also has the potential to transform the organizational culture. It provides individuals, who might typically be too occupied or reserved to voice their opinions, with a platform to express themselves. Creating a culture that encourages open dialogue is paramount, emphasizing the importance of offering both online and offline events, including workshops, to facilitate meaningful interactions. These initiatives extend beyond the platform, providing additional channels for individuals to connect, share ideas, and collectively contribute to the success of your innovation platform.
Client Feedback:
“We initiated a challenge engaging 800 participants from 12 different departments. The challenge encompassed various stages, including submission, community interaction, and jury voting. Setting up this expansive initiative posed a challenge due to the necessity to manage diverse viewing rights. To address this, the organizers strategically created 25 sub-challenges, each tailored to specific viewing rights, streamlining the administration process. To enhance communication and participant engagement, the organizers introduced “multiplicators” in each department. Two months prior to the challenge commencement, these multiplicators were seamlessly integrated into the process, assuming responsibilities and tasks. This innovative approach proved highly successful, fostering strong connections between teams and their respective multiplicators, effectively reducing bottlenecks in the administrative workflow. Regular meetings, involving both the administrative team and multiplicators, were implemented to share insights, tips, tricks, and general support. The outcome was remarkable, with a 70% participation rate.”
- Transparency:
Key to fostering a collaborative environment is transparency. This entails informing participants about upcoming steps, making decisions visible, and celebrating achievements and milestones. But what information should be shared? How can you share results within your community?
Establishing trust within communities is paramount; thus, transparency in processes is key. Keep the community informed about the challenge setup, detailing what to expect and explaining the process. Regularly connect and update participants on results, news, and progress using internal tools such as the intranet, company updates, or leverage features like the innosabi blog on the platform. Summarize the outcomes of different phases and projects, disseminating this information across relevant spaces like the topic overview. Ensuring that every user comprehends the problem at hand, the mission, and the significance of their contribution is fundamental. Strive to simplify each process, maintaining a high level of transparency. Enhance engagement by seamlessly combining offline and online events through varied formats like webinars, especially for onboarding, and workshops to ensure accessibility and understanding. This comprehensive approach ensures transparency is upheld at its highest level throughout the innovation journey.
- Reward System:
A well-crafted reward system is a cornerstone of collaborative innovation. This involves offering appealing rewards tailored to user groups, recognizing and rewarding contributions, and ensuring the simplicity of the reward system. What incentives can you offer? How can you communicate on the reward system?
Recognition becomes visible through public appreciation; you can “earn” merchandise as a tangible acknowledgment of your contributions. Establish connections with leadership, opening avenues for new opportunities, chances, valuable input, and learning experiences. Career advancement, whether through promotions, progress recognition, or access to additional training, becomes a tangible reward. Tangible incentives like monetary rewards, vouchers, and coupons add a layer of appreciation. Consider incorporating a loyalty system, accumulating points that participants can trade in for various rewards, ensuring a comprehensive and personalized approach to acknowledging their efforts within your innovation programme.
In conclusion, the success of collaborative innovation lies in the delicate balance of motivation, measurement, and meaningful engagement. By incorporating these principles, platforms can not only celebrate achievements but also create a culture of continuous improvement, fostering an environment where every participant is empowered to contribute, connect, and drive innovation forward.