Posts Tagged ‘Tips’

RROI # 9: Observe and Measure

Monday, January 25th, 2010

Observation and measurement – in terms of the performance of the program implementation needs to be built-in as a recurring element :

  • What’s Measured, Is Treasured: And that’s just human nature, so be sure to check and recheck performance – monthly.  No exceptions, no excuses. What gets measured gets done.
  • What to Look For?: the key performance indicators and metrics include:
    • R&D spending as a percentage of sales
    • Total patents filed/pending/awarded/rejected
    • Total R&D head count
    • Current-year percentage of sales attributable to new products released in the past year/three years/five years
    • Number of new products released

For a recent survey on Innovation Measurements see:  http://www.innovationcoach.com/resources/survey/ “What do you measure?”

For more Tips see “Robert’s Rules of Innovation” by Wiley, March , 2010

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Training and Coaching Tips

Tuesday, January 5th, 2010

Effective training and coaching is one of the pillars of success to any sustainable Innovation program.  These tips will help the process go as smoothly as possible:

  • Share the Joy: As well as the frustrations – communicate what is working and not working.
  • Pick the Right Coaches: Not everyone has the psychological make up to be the coach.  Knowledge is key, obviously.  But the coach needs to be able to motivate, mediate, create camaraderie and a sense of selflessness.
  • The One-On-One Touch: Individual coaching provides the privacy and attention that breeds success.  I’ve found that discussions regarding areas for improvement are received and acting upon much better in a private session, away from peers, listening-in.  This can be especially critical with new employees and/or team members.
  • Basics First: Make certain project management basics are taught, applied, and re-taught.

For more Tips see the book

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