October 7, 2009

Making Work "Work": Resources for Busy Professionals

Whether you’re the CEO or a front-line employee, you can’t afford to take innovation for granted. Take an active role in inspiring new products and services with these strategies:

• Start close to home. You don’t have to design a brand-new product or come up with a revolutionary idea that’s never been seen before. Improve on what already works, or apply it to a different problem. Can you add features, make it faster or deliver more value?
• Stimulate the right people. Recruit your malcontents - employees who are talented, but frustrated with the status quo. Their energy will produce some outside-the-box thinking that will spark new ideas.
• Cross-pollinate. Get as many people and departments actively involved as you can manage. Bringing in different experiences and perspectives will open up possibilities.
• Set the clock ticking. A deadline creates urgency. While innovation in general should be an ongoing endeavor, set a firm timeline for results when employees are working on specific projects. Don’t expect solutions to be perfect, as long as they’re workable and you’re able to implement them while they’re still fresh.