Collect, rate, comment and develop ideas using the innovative QuestionPro idea board

You want your employees to actively participate in generating ideas? That's a very good idea! Because ideas are omnipresent in the workplace. And as quickly as they can come as a flash of inspiration, ideas can also disappear again. That's why it's very important for companies that value employee participation and see themselves as drivers of innovation to have a place where ideas can be recorded in a structured and simple way. 

What is an idea board?

An idea board is a place where the entire staff can write down their ideas centrally and for all to see. In the past, there were huge cork boards, pin boards or drop boxes for this. Today, of course, this is all done digitally. For example, within the framework of an employee community. Technologically mature employee communities not only offer a place where ideas can be recorded. Innovative idea boards also offer the possibility to evaluate, comment on, prioritise and ultimately develop ideas in a structured way. And this in clearly defined process steps.

By using an idea board, no idea will be lost

In the hustle and bustle of everyday business life, it can happen that an excellent idea is not taken into account because it is simply thrown away, or because some managers who receive ideas evaluate them for themselves and do not consider it necessary to push them. And because it might involve extra work. Therefore, it makes sense for employees to place their ideas in a place where they are visible to everyone from the beginning.

An idea board makes ideas and idea providers visible

An idea board also has the great advantage that everyone can see who submitted an idea. Because it is not uncommon for it to remain unknown whose outstanding idea was implemented. And this ensures that employees are less committed to submitting ideas. This is a great disadvantage for companies that consider themselves innovators, while in other companies ideas just bubble out of employees' heads. So it is important to live an innovation culture! And involving the entire workforce is simply part of it!

→ Create and establish a culture of innovation

An idea board creates a sense of community

Many people have great ideas. However, these ideas either remain unspoken or they are not developed further. This is because someone who has an idea cannot push it forward and implement it alone, but needs comrades-in-arms who can enrich an idea with further ideas and suggestions. Where many different skills and abilities come together in a motivated way, there is also greater innovative power! And an idea board, for example within an employee community, offers the necessary space for this.

An idea board increases engagement

If ideas are implemented successfully, or at least followed up honestly, sincerely and appreciatively, then your workforce will continue to generate valuable ideas. And those who do not submit ideas themselves, but actively participate in their development, comment on them and evaluate them, will find attention within the idea board. A good and innovative idea board makes commitment visible, for example through a leaderboard and gamification elements. Those who regularly participate actively in the development of ideas collect points. And those who collect many points receive badges, a kind of award for outstanding commitment. And if an idea receives special attention or is even implemented, the idea provider can automatically be rewarded with a voucher.

Example of an idea board within the QuestionPro employee community

How to get the most out of an idea board

If you want to use an idea board to sustainably develop outstanding ideas, then take the following tips and best practices from our community experts to heart.

Define clear procedures for submitting ideas

The first step before implementing an idea board is to define very clearly the procedures in which ideas are to be filed. Provide a clear structure for this. Even the input mask for formulating ideas should correspond to this structure. It should be easy to submit ideas without much effort. Also offer your employees the possibility to add pictures and graphics to the submitted ideas.

Define responsibilities and accountabilities

To ensure that the idea board does not simply become a virtual repository for submitted ideas, you should define what happens next with the submitted idea. A first step is to automatically send a notification to all community participants that a new idea has been submitted. Appoint responsible persons who have to sift through these ideas and invite the team to actively participate in the development of this idea, evaluate these ideas and comment on them.

Encourage your team to submit ideas

An idea board is ideal for capturing flashes of inspiration. Someone has an idea out of the blue and writes it down ad hoc on the idea board. You can also hold regular idea competitions, i.e. stimulate the generation of ideas. Give a topic and let your teams brainstorm on it. Make sure that your teams enjoy developing ideas.

Give your teams time and space to generate new ideas

Make sure there is enough time and space for your teams to develop new ideas. Often employees are so deeply immersed in their daily work that there is hardly any room for creativity. If you call an idea competition, then make it clear that on a certain day within a certain period of time there is the necessary time to be able to deal with the chosen topic. For example, teams can get together and put their heads together within this period. This should be a protected period where nothing else should be more important than hatching new ideas.

→ Encourage creativity in the workplace

Involve all employees without exception, regardless of departments and hierarchies

Creative silos are a thing of the past. In every company there are people with great creative potential, regardless of whether they are responsible for cleaning the office space or for product development. Often an unbiased look at something is very valuable and opens up completely new perspectives. Give every employee, without exception, the opportunity to participate in generating ideas.

→ Employee engagement and innovation

Use a technologically advanced idea board

It is no use if you want to drive ideas forward but the available technology does not allow for a truly sustainable development of ideas and limits you in the idea process. Also, an idea board should not be an isolated island solution, but should be located in a place that your employees have to visit regularly anyway, such as an employee community. The idea board should be accessible at the click of a mouse, so that it can be accessed quickly. An idea board should enable collaborative work in real time and be conducive to dialogue, and also offer the possibility of allowing creative techniques such as brainstorming or mind mapping.

Reward special commitment

Last but not least, you should offer your teams incentives to actively participate in the acquisition and development of ideas and also reward those employees whose ideas are actually implemented in the end. This is done through incentive models, which a technologically innovative idea board should definitely include.

Example view for gamification tools within QuestionPro's employee community idea board

Analyze idea processes

It is also very important to regularly analyse the idea process in order to constantly improve it. This is not just about knowing how many ideas were submitted and over what period of time. It is also about measuring the commitment and participation of your teams. And it's about finding out what you can do better to encourage participation. For example, using the innovative idea board, you can initiate surveys and live polls that tell you how smooth the idea process is and why teams do or do not participate.

1:1 live online presentation:
QuestionPro's employee community idea board: All features and functions

We would be happy to show you in a 1:1 live demo how you can use QuestionPro's employee community and the integrated ideas board to create great ideas and innovations and significantly increase the commitment of your workforce! Make an individual appointment now.

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Do you have questions about the idea board, idea management and employee community? Simply contact us via contact form. We look forward to a dialogue with you! You too can test QuestionPro for 10 days free of charge and without risk in depth!

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KEYWORDS OF THIS BLOG POST

Idea board | Idea | Idea management