Be Specific When Asking for Employees’ Ideas-HBR

When asking employees to speak up, be careful to not open the floodgates to a river of ideas that aren’t particularly thoughtful or useful. You want to encourage people to give input that is informed and constructive.

Ask employees to think about issues from your perspective, factoring in potential constraints, obstacles, and multiple stakeholders. One way to do this is by creating targeted campaigns where, for a limited period of time, you encourage people to come up with ideas that address a particular strategic imperative or challenge.

For example, if your organization wants customers to go to the website rather than call the toll-free number, you can clearly define the problem, along with any constraints or issues that need to be considered. Once employees understand the problem and the context, you can invite them to submit ideas, and then after three weeks let them vote on the best proposals.

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