Although a startup begins with innovation and thrives on it as the company grows, entrepreneurs complain that innovation is no more than integral in their company as it used to be when the startups were small and in its initial stage. Entrepreneurs often miss the innovative environment and miss new ideas being discussed and applied in their business. These ideas are important for the processes of new product development, adding new services and for initiatives of value, addition to improving the functioning of the company.
The formal system of management that is introduced as the company grows, starts involving policies that help in controlling and coordinating work. These systems are not essentially meant to help ideas flow but are more of work policies that often act as a bottleneck inflow of new and innovative ideas.
A growing company takes the managers away from front lines and a lot of segmentation is created in the company in the form of departments. But an entrepreneur needs a system that allows for better flow of ideas as it used to be with a small company.
Here are some steps that may help bring the same old innovative culture with the companies:
1. Establish A Fast Track Arena For New Ideas: If the leader wants his growing organization to keep innovating then the foremost step to be taken is to establish an arena where the frontline employees can share their innovative ideas. There should also be a system to implement some of the most viable and innovative ideas. Thus this high-performance system to share ideas will help increase the participation of the front line employees.
In a growing organization, the managers tend to get distant from the front-line activities which are managed by the regular employees. Thus the regular employees are better acquainted with the problems and can also observe an opportunity. Thus the front line employees have much more potential to observe and thus have most of the innovative ideas.
2. Understand The Power Of Small Ideas: Once the organization starts growing, it becomes more and more complex. But it is the smallest of ideas that can help in the effective working of the organization. If all the frontline employees contribute with at least one idea then this large quantity of small ideas would help in a lot of improvement in the company. The biggest positive about these smaller ideas is that they are difficult to duplicate by the competition as they are hardly visible. But within the organization, all these ideas help in creating new capabilities for the organization to design innovative products and better services.
There have been many companies that have, through their amazing flexibility, implemented the ideas of their front line employees and these ideas have helped a lot in the companies to become more consumer-friendly. Such ideas help in achieving major breakthroughs through innovation. These small ideas would be able to open new opportunities for business and for better innovation.
3. Hire Innovators As Staff: Some of the most innovative companies are now hiring staff with the title of innovators or inventors. This now becomes a growing tradition in the companies that want to fast track innovation and to make it a part of every procedure and system in the company. As the company grows and matures, it needs to keep innovating to not become stale and some companies have made it to the list of the most innovative companies even in their maturity stage.
Almost all major CEOs would agree that their best ideas or improvement in product features has been achieved through the input of their front line staff.
Innovation should always be a part of your business as it helps breaking the monotony and delights the customers. Following all the above steps would help in better participating and better innovation in the company.
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