Use a Contest to Encourage Innovative Thinking

Holding an internal competition can be a good way to drive innovation in your company. It can teach employees new skills, connect them across multiple departments, and amplify the company’s overall creative ambience. If you want to create a contest to crowdsource ideas, follow these tips:

• Frame the competition around a specific need.Create a challenge statement or question that focuses on an issue your company would benefit from solving. “Design the next big thing” is not a good challenge statement.
• Lay out a step-by-step process for how to participate.Instead of asking for a 50-page business plan, have participants first submit a one-page pitch. Once you narrow the candidate pool, finalists can work on full-fledged proposals for judges to review.
• Provide resources.Give people access to the data and assets they need to explore their ideas. Incorporate classes, workshops, and mentoring into the competition program.

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