6 best practices to involve your employees in the Open Innovation process

Involve internal teams: key to the success of the Open Innovation approach?

Most large Morrocan companies lead an Open Innovation approach. For this, they began by building teams of ecosystem experts startups to source promising startups, assess whether their solution could bring value to their business, and then set up a POC (“ Proof Of Concept “or pilot project), hoping to lead to industrialization.

This first step in the maturity of the Open Innovation approach (also called “push method”) has the merit of allowing a true mapping of the ecosystem and to be known to startups. On the other hand, almost none of the implemented POCs lead to industrialization! Blame it on a “funnel” vision: we source a number of startups, we meet some of them, we set up POCs with some, and we pray that these few POC meet the conditions to scale . In the end, a lot of effort and work for few tangible results!

This is often the fault of Open Innovation teams who want to “clutter” the least possible trades to be able to appear successful in the eyes of startups and the ecosystem (resounding communication, sourcing that is meant “exhaustive”, standardized qualification, strong promise of reactivity …). If the offer is attractive for startups, the return of stick at term is the low number of converted POC …

The most mature groups, or paradoxically those who have very few resources to devote to the Open Innovation approach, approach the approach from a totally different point of view: they start by meeting the employees “on the field “to identify their real operational issues. How to do better? Faster ? With fewer resources? It is only after rooting the search for an innovative partner in the reality of the company that sourcing begins (“pull method”)

In this way, Open Innovation is repositioned as a search strategy for competitiveness at the level of the company and as a search for solutions at the level of business employees. This logic is much closer to the traditional thinking of employees (and the logic of purchasing) and greatly encourages their adherence to the approach since everything starts from their needs and calls for their involvement.

The question that arises is the following: How to involve business employees in my approach of Open Innovation?

6 best practices to involve business employees

1: Answer (really) to their needs

The best way to involve your business is to implement an Open Innovation approach that meets their needs. A real process of feedback of the operational problems encountered in the field must be put in place. Going to meet the operational managers and discuss their issues and difficulties is the guarantee to avoid developing off-the-land subjects that lead to nothing.

2: Qualify startups with them

The Business teams must have a say in the selection of startups, they are the ones who will use the solution developed by the startup. What’s more, their technical knowledge and their proximity to the field is irreplaceable. They will be able to better assess the potential benefits of a collaboration. In parallel, you must help them to understand the specific aspects of startups. For them, it can be difficult to assess the strength of a startup, or choose the best startup among those they have met.

3: Get quick wins

Initially, it is better not to be too ambitious: focus on projects where you can quickly get results. By communicating on these successes internally, you will be able to convince the recalcitrant to join the Open Innovation approach, and to launch you into more ambitious projects with the convinced ones of the first hour!

4: Build an offer internally

To meet the needs of the Business employees, you must consider yourself a support function and build an offer that is understandable and known to all. All employees must know how they can tell you their needs and how you can support them: standard contracts, startup sourcing, evaluation assistance, POC coaching: the important thing is that this information is easily accessible. , for example, on a dedicated portal.

5: Valuing those who are involved

You have to value the business people who have committed themselves to Open Innovation. The aim is to encourage them to continue and above all to convince the rest of the group of the benefits of such an approach. For this, you can play on two levers: the simplest is to use the various channels of communication to highlight successes. The second axis is to get closer to HR so that Open Innovation initiatives can be valued, or even listed on the job description of some key managers.

6: Think about the budget

Last variable often neglected: the budget. Indeed, regarding the financing of the projects, various solutions are available to you: you can finance the POCs to facilitate the start of the process, but beware of the risk of a less rigorous profession in the conduct of the project. On the other hand, 100% financing by the business units can curb the desire to think outside the box. Between these two orientations, numerous solutions exist: 50/50 financing; Open Innovation funding only from the first POC to launch the machine; Open Innovation financing with a progressive release of funds according to the progress …

The involvement of your employees can not be decreed. It’s not just about soliciting them or giving them access to an innovation management tool. To promote it as much as possible, you must structure your entire Open Innovation approach around and for your employees. GreenFields, by supporting several companies in structuring their Open Innovation approach, has built real expertise on these topics. Do not hesitate to contact us on social networks to exchange and share your own feedback