A story from the Better Business Bureau Great West + Pacific’s Innovation Week 2021.
As a kick-off to the BBB GW+P’s second Innovation Academy, the Innovator’s Advantage hosted Innovation Week for the company’s 160 employees.
“The organization feels more receptive to innovation all around since we re-engaged,” Sam Fife, Director of Innovation, said. “We recently went through a merger and focusing on innovation helps us flip the script on post-merger challenges, turning them into opportunities for innovation.”
Read on to see if your company could benefit!
What is Innovation Week?
This event is a company-wide crash course on innovation, designed to introduce or continue the creation of an innovation culture throughout an organization. To kick off the week for BBB GW+P, Ron Price and Dr. Evans Baiya conducted several all-hands meetings (to accommodate teams in different time zones and departments). These sessions covered the principles of innovation including types of innovation, Innovation FitnessTM, and the innovation continuum.
Employees also took the Innovation FitnessTM Assessment and received reports showing where they best fit in the Six Stages of Innovation. Knowing which of the Six Stages of Innovation your skills, talents, and passions align with can truly help you develop the mindset of an innovator.
Throughout the week, companies also typically participate in creative brainstorming sessions, complete fun experiential teamwork exercises, review innovation infrastructure at the organization, and more. Departments often conduct follow-up meetings to discuss the topics covered during the all-hands sessions, and the executive team also holds goal-setting meetings.
The end result is an inspirational event that shifts culture and helps employees connect to innovation initiatives.
“It’s a great way to get the organization on the same page and lay a foundation for understanding the innovation framework,” Sam said. “It was a chance for those who have been more engaged in the past to review, and for those who hadn’t to be introduced to a way of thinking about and managing innovation. It levels the playing field and flattens the organization, making space for even the newest hires to be innovators.”
What are the Benefits?
The week introduces employees to both a mindset and a culture of innovation. Some people find the topic of innovation overwhelming or even believe that it’s not a part of their jobs. This event works to demystify innovation and show employees across departments how they can all be innovators—contributing to the collective improvement of the company, its offerings, and its processes. Each employee plays an important role in the innovation process; they simply need the tools and understanding to make innovation a part of their everyday work.
With their new understanding, even employees not participating directly in the BBB GW+P Innovator’s Advantage Academy sessions will be able to understand the innovation process. This will enable them to confidently contribute their talents when Academy participants reach out for help with new innovation projects throughout the year.
The BBB used Innovation Week 2021 to launch the company’s new Idea Bank and encourage contributions. Now, any employee can contribute and log their ideas, and the hundreds of ideas generated daily by employees aren’t overlooked or missed. Once launched, the BBB saw a significant uptick in idea submissions.
“We’ve averaged 120 ideas a month so far this year,” Sam said. “The best two months of ideas we’ve had since we started tracking were the month of and after Innovation Week.”
How Do We Help Our Clients with Innovation Week?
The IA team starts by working with your executive team to lay out the goals and inspiration. Then we help organize, schedule, and structure the weeklong event, alongside your HR or leadership teams. We deliver content and participate in follow-up meetings, as well as give tools to use in small-group follow-ups and executive talks. This even can bring a significant boost in developing or inspiring a creative culture.
Do you think your company would benefit from an Innovation Week? Are you looking to foster a mindset of innovation among your employees? Contact us to discuss your company needs at info@theinnovatorsadvantage.com and follow along with the BBB’s Innovation Journey on our blog and social media.
Header Photo by Negative Space on Pexels.
