How enterprises can capture more value from their innovation ecosystem.

Managing an enterprise innovation team in a big company is akin to managing a supply chain

Start-ups, VCs, incubators and universities supply the components that business leaders need to keep pace with market demands and stay ahead of competitors. Getting an innovation supply chain to run smoothly requires tools, people and process.

In this 3-part blog series, we’ll share what we learned by hosting a workshop for over 60 innovation leaders representing a cross-section of companies in the Fortune 500, as part of the Innovation Leader Field Study held in San Francisco. We’ll highlight what the participants felt was working – and what wasn’t – and present a few successful practices in each of the three domains essential to a well-run innovation supply chain:


The internal network – how to align with the business to understand their needs and priorities to inform what types of companies and technologies are potentially a good fit.
The external network – how to build and grow a network of potential partners who have the ideas, technologies and people that are best aligned with the needs of the business.
The innovation team – how to establish effective collaboration and clear processes across teams, geographies and functions to eliminate redundancies and improve effectiveness.


KEY LEARNING AND INSIGHTS: INTERNAL NETWORK

The majority of participants agreed that a successful, strategy-driven innovation program depends upon developing relationships and a successful working style across internal teams. Where innovation teams seek to align closely with executive leadership and business units to understand where the gaps are in terms of what the company is going to build or buy, and where there is a need to form external partnerships. Being in lock-step with the business allows the innovation team to focus their scouting efforts on the most important strategic initiatives.


Top five practices

Find internal champions
Regular face-to-face team work
Internal brand awareness
Building consensus and alignment
Build a process


Finally, a customer-driven mindset enables innovation teams within the enterprise to develop a structured approach for understanding how the business is addressing end-customer needs, which informs how to source and commercialize ideas and new solutions outside the organization to best address those needs. But equally important is the ability to manage the innovation pipeline like a supply chain, with tools to power collaboration and communication across the entire process. Modern supply chain management tools would never rely on spreadsheets and email for tracking the flow of goods from suppliers through to the final product. Neither should an enterprise innovation function.

You can read more about these ideas in our recent Innovation Leader article.

Read more at -> https://corp.startgrid.com/building-an-innovation-supply-chain

Finding the right people to be part of your innovation teams makes all the difference.
What roles do you need on your innovation team?

Processes and frameworks alone can only take an innovation team so far. Finding the right people to be part of your innovation teams makes all the difference. Great innovation teams need to have individuals that possess high emotional intelligence and innovative qualities. These people often have eclectic or unorthodox ways of thinking and an entrepreneurial mindset biased toward action and iteration.

The most effective innovation teams are made up of people with technical acumen, solid communication skills and the ability to analyze and relay trends in the market to teams across their organization. By hiring for innovation, companies are looking for the best approach to source and develop new ideas and collaborate with external partners, which are often intrinsic to a company’s success.

Hiring an effective innovation team can help create a positive work culture that includes engaged employees. Sixty-six (66%) percent of respondents to a Deloitte Innovation Survey, said that innovation was key for growth. Employing an innovation team can also be a differentiator in a competitive market, allowing a company to stand out from competitors and attract the best talent.

So, who are these individuals and how can enterprise companies employ them on their innovation teams? They’re a diverse group of people with skills that may not seem like characteristics typical roles on innovation teams:
Technologist
Strategist
Program/Project Manager
Product Expert(s)
Advocates

Read more -> https://corp.startgrid.com/enterprise-innovation-roles-on-innovation-teams

Whether you have a robust network or are just starting to build one, there’s a lot of information to manage and share. Take control of your innovation efforts with Startgrid.


HOW IT WORKS

Purpose-built for ecosystem builders, Startgrid makes it easier to grow and manage your startup network to identify potential strategic partners before your competitors do.
Grow your network and don’t miss out

Access 3rd-party databases to discover the best available external technologies.
Create data-rich profiles to share across teams and geographies.
Know which scouting efforts yield the best results with source tracking


Create a structured flow of work to quickly act

Capture needs across teams to eliminate redundant efforts.
Track and share pipelines to effectively manage the flow of innovation.
Set permissions granting access to information based on role.


Know what’s working so you can make better decisions faster

Map your ecosystem to reveal gaps, identify trends and gather intelligence.
Get notifications when change happens so you can act quickly.
Export data and share with key stakeholders for more transparency.


Easy to get started

It’s fast and simple to get your team up and running:

Set up Startgrid the way you want to work

Import contacts to quickly build your network

Share with your team to find the best solutions

And our customer success team is here to help you every step of the way.

Explore more about Startup Collaboration Platform

https://corp.startgrid.com/platform

Startgrid makes it easy to find market-leading startups and connect them with internal teams to innovate at speed.

A network at your fingertips

Discover new technology and connect with entrepreneurs anywhere in the world to uncover potential solutions to meet your needs.

A pipeline effectively built and managed

Capture demand for innovation across teams, work with colleagues to identify solutions, and manage relationships all in one place.

A command center for ecosystem building

Map your network to gather insights, reveal gaps and spot market trends. Measure and share the impact of your innovation efforts.

Contact sales today! https://corp.startgrid.com