Mastering Innovation Challenges: A Roadmap for Success

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 “Innovation challenges: Best practices for conducting successful crowd innovation”.

 

Innovation challenges are increasingly popular among organizations looking to harness collective intelligence and generate creative solutions to specific problems. These competitions invite a diverse range of participants—employees, customers, partners, and stakeholders—to offer their insights, resulting in a wealth of new ideas. However, the success of these challenges hinges on several factors. Below is a roadmap, drawing from the key insights shared during the Connect Deep Dive session, on how to run a successful innovation challenge.

 

What are Innovation Challenges?

Innovation challenges are structured competitions aimed at solving specific problems or seizing new opportunities. By offering a platform for idea submissions, organizations can crowdsource solutions from a wide range of perspectives. The process typically follows a structured funnel:

 

  1. Idea Submission: Participants submit their ideas, often in response to clearly defined prompts.
  2. Evaluation by experts: Experts will evaluate the ideas for their feasibility and their strategic fit. 
  3. Voting (Community and Expert): Ideas are reviewed and voted on either by the crowd, experts, or both.
  4. Winner Selection: The best ideas are chosen based on voting results, which can involve both community preferences and expert evaluations.

 

Examples of an idea funnel: 

Expert Evaluation and Community voting can be done in parallel, too!

 

Example of an idea funnel, with only one voting phase
Example of an idea funnel, with only one voting phase
Example of an idea funnel, with two voting phases. Expert and crowd voting happen in parallel.

 

Why Are Innovation Challenges Important?

These challenges offer organizations several benefits:

  1. Crowdsourcing Innovation: Access a wide range of ideas from people with diverse backgrounds and experiences.
  2. Focused Solutions: Tackle specific issues relevant to the organization by channeling creativity in a structured way.
  3. Fostering Engagement: Encourage participation from internal and external stakeholders, building a community around innovation.

 

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

While innovation challenges have significant potential, they can also fail due to missteps in planning or execution. From our session, we identified some of the least successful challenges and why they faltered:

 

    1. Lack of Clear Ownership: When there is no clear sponsor or ownership after the challenge, ideas fall through the cracks.
    2. Poor Communication: Without transparent, engaging and clear communication regarding the timeline, project goals, and expectations, participants are left unsure about how the challenge works, leading to confusion and disengagement.
    3. Undefined Target Group: When a challenge lacks a clear target audience, it becomes less attractive to potential participants. If users don’t feel directly involved or connected, their motivation to engage decreases, leading to lower participation and reduced quality and quantity of contributions.
    4. Irrelevant Ideas: Without a clear goal or properly defined challenge, submissions might miss the mark and fail to address top management’s needs.
    5. Rushed Testing Phase: If the testing phase before launching the challenge is rushed, critical parameters can be overlooked. A poorly prepared challenge can encounter unforeseen issues during its execution, leading to failure. Taking the time to thoroughly test all aspects of the challenge can prevent avoidable setbacks.

 

Best Practices for Running a Successful Innovation Challenge

To avoid these issues and maximize the potential of your innovation challenge, here are the top tips that emerged from our most successful challenges:

  1. Transparent Communication:
    • Explain the entire process upfront, including timelines, how winners will be selected, and what participants can expect.
    • Keep participants informed throughout the challenge via updates, blogs, and internal communication channels.
  1. Official Communications from Management:
    • Management, especially C-Level, should communicate on the challenges to motivate the community by showing trust and transparency, empowering them to contribute solutions. This involvement fosters a sense of ownership and shared purpose, boosting engagement, collaboration, and loyalty toward achieving common goals.
  1. Sponsorship & Ownership:
    • Ensure the challenge has clear ownership, with dedicated sponsors who are invested in driving results and following through on winning ideas.
  1. Hot Topics and Timing:
    • Choose a relevant and timely problem to solve. When participants see a direct connection between the challenge and a pressing issue, they’re more likely to engage and contribute meaningfully.
  1. Effective Use of the Idea Funnel:
    • Implement a two-phase selection process. First, have experts evaluate these ideas for feasibility and strategic fit. Then, allow community voting to identify popular ideas.
    • Gamify the experience by offering incentives, such as credits or prizes, for various actions (submitting, voting, commenting).
    • Most importantly, implement the ideas! It is usually very rewarding and motivating for employees to see their idea become reality! 
  1. Clear Definition of Goals and Target Groups:
    • Set clear and specific objectives for the challenge. Know what you are looking for in submissions and communicate this to participants.
    • Structure the challenge timeline to ensure enough time for submission, evaluation, and feedback, without losing momentum.
    • Define a precise Target Group before launching the challenge, to ensure that goals and communication are adapted to their interests
  1. Testing Phase
    • Take the time to properly test all critical parameters before launching the challenge to ensure that everything runs smoothly.
    • Don’t hesitate to run multiple test phases with different test groups. Remember, preparation is key! 

 

How to Present Your Challenge

The presentation of the challenge is just as important as its execution. Here are some tips for effectively communicating your innovation challenge:

  1. Appealing Media: Use engaging visuals—images, videos, and GIFs—to draw attention.
  2. Key Information: Make the purpose, timeline, and rewards clear from the start. Explain evaluation criteria and who the key sponsors are.
  3. Showcase Ideas: Feature the latest submitted ideas to inspire others and keep the momentum going.
  4. Guidance and Support: Provide a comprehensive FAQ, help center, and contact points for participants who may have questions.

 

Conclusion: Motivate Your Community

A successful innovation challenge doesn’t just happen—it requires thoughtful planning, clear communication, and active management. Keep your community motivated by sticking to your promises, offering rewards, implement the winner ideas and being transparent throughout the process. By following these guidelines, you can ensure your innovation challenge will yield high-quality, actionable ideas and foster greater collaboration within your organization.

 

Now is the time to start planning your next innovation challenge! With the right structure and approach, you can unlock a world of creative potential waiting to be tapped.