Laying the Foundation

Is communication effective, and does it work top-down, bottom-up, and across the organization?

Their are some questions you can ask your self to determine if your organization promotes innovation. Some of them are:

• Does the organizational structure facilitate innovation rather than stifling it?
• Do people work well together across departmental boundaries?
• Is there a strong commitment to training and development of people?
• Are our people involved in suggesting ideas for improvements to products or processes?
• Does our structure help us to make decisions rapidly?
• Is communication effective, and does it work top-down, bottom-up, and across the organization?
• Does our reward and recognition system support innovation?
• Do we have a supportive climate for new ideas, so that people do not have to leave the organization to make them happen?
• Do we work well in teams?

ACTION POINT: Make sure your staff receives necessary training to understand the innovation processes in which they are involved, since this will help them generate ideas and take on new processes easily.