As outlined above, innovation management is a broad systematic concept, which often incorporates idea management. As the name suggests, idea management is the process of ensuring new ideas are organized efficiently to meet corporate goals. Typically, this involves ideas moving through these stages:
Collaboration: Sharing the ideas that have been submitted with target audiences so they can be discussed and developed according to the comments they receive
Evaluation: Making sure ideas are assessed against specific criteria so that the best ones are selected for progression towards implementation
Implementation: Designating teams to implement a fully-formed idea efficiently
Monitoring: Tracking the ROI of ideas that have been implemented and making further refinements to ensure their ongoing viability
Although idea management can be a key ingredient for achieving groundbreaking innovation, it’s full effectiveness as a methodology can only be realized when it’s combined with the other areas of innovation management.