EXPLORE APP // PLAYBOOKWith best practices and software recommendations, this easy-to-use guide is here to help Innovation Team Members run a successful Explore Challenge from start to finish.
KNOW YOUR PIPELINEHere is a quick rundown of the steps in your ‘Explore Challenge’ pipeline:
BACKGROUND FOR RUNNING AN ‘EXPLORE CHALLENGE’
INNOVATION TEAM MEMBER (YOU) Individual on the Innovation team that is responsible for communicating the value of an Explore Challenge, as well as helping coordinate it. SPONSOR A Product or Marketing lead who wants to crowdsource ideas tha will increase top-line growth by addressing a new market opportunity. EVALUATORS Individuals, usually from the Sponsor's business unit, who are chosen to help rate and evaluate ideas to move forward for implementation FINANCIAL ANALYST Individual with expertise in assessing an idea's financial impact on the business. This can be a borrowed resource from within the company.
EXECUTIVE STAKEHOLDERS Team of Executives that consult with the Sponsor to select the final ideas for implementation.
EMPLOYEES / PARTICIPANTS Individuals (employees) who submit and engage on ideas in the Explore Challenge.
KNOW YOUR ROLESHere are the individuals associated with a ‘Explore Challenge’
❶ RATE IDEAS As ideas are submitted to the Challenge, a 'Single Scale' action item is triggered to the Sponsoring team's Evaluators to quickly rate.
❷ EVALUATE IDEAS This step is meant to collect a deeper evaluation of the higher rated ideas. Any ideas added to this step will trigger a 'Scorecard' action item to Evaluators.
❸ PROJECT BUSINESS IMPACTA 'Development' action item is triggered to the Financial Analyst to project all financial impact on ideas moved forward to this step.
❹ PRIORITIZE SHORTLIST FOR HANDOFF In this step, the Sponsor (and any other Executive Stakeholders) shortlist the ideas to move forward (for implementation).
❺ MONITOR PROJECTS Over time, the Innovation Team Member (in partnership with the Sponsor's team) monitors all projects to ensure they are being attended to.
❻ TRACK BUSINESS IMPACT The Financial Analyst assesses all project(s)' actual impact on the business, and shares with the Sponsor and any other Stakeholders.
Cross these items off your list, prior to kicking off a new ‘Explore Challenge:
Find a SponsorThe Sponsor has a clear opportunity to explore. He/she should also have the budget and resources to implement the final selected project(s).
TIP! This sponsor typically comes from a Product or Marketing department. Select Relevant Evaluators Work with your Sponsor to recruit key ‘Evaluators’ from their organization, who will help with evaluating ideas that are submitted to the Challenge.
SET UP YOUR ‘EXPLORE CHALLENGE’Once all prerequisites are met, let’s set up the actual ‘Explore Challenge' site in Brightidea.
PLAN→ SET UP → RUN → CLOSE→ REPORT SUCCESS
REQUIRED TO-DOS
Create Your ‘Explore Challenge’ Site Select the Explore App in the Apps Pillar. The App Creation Wizard will guide you through all key components needed (title, description, Participants to invite, etc.)
TIP! Ask the Sponsor to add a few early access participants who may be able to seed some sample ideas.
Confirm Your ‘Call-to-Action’ Section On the Challenge home page, enable ‘Widget Edit Mode’ and edit the ‘ 'About this Initiative’ widget to communicate any further details regarding your ‘Explore Challenge’.
TIP! Confirm that your evaluation criteria is represented here.
Confirm Challenge Phases On the Challenge home page, edit the ‘Phase’ widget to accurately reflect the key dates for ideas submission and the decision making process. The ‘Explore App' will come with default dates.
Add 'Evaluators' in Two Steps Navigate to your pipeline, then under the 'Rate Ideas' step, select 'Configure Single Scale', and assign the chosen Evaluators. Assign Evaluators for the 'Evaluate Ideas' step by selecting 'Configure Scorecard'. The Evaluators for the "Rate Ideas" step (usually from the Sponsor's team) are meant to quickly screen the idea based on initial information. The Evaluators for the 'Evaluate Ideas' step are meant to assess long-term success of the idea, if it were to be implemented.
Add your Sponsor’s Action Items Under the ‘Prioritize Shortlist for Handoff’ step, select the 'Configure Stack Rank' menu item to assign your Sponsor (and any other Executive Stakeholders) to stack rank the ideas and move them forward to later become implemented projects.
Add your Financial Analyst’s Action Items Navigate to your pipeline, then under the 'Project Business Impact' step, select ‘Configure Development'. Once there, assign the Financial Analyst(s) that need to input this information.
Finalize Your Communication Strategy For an Explore Challenge to run smoothly, your communication strategy is critical. We recommend making sure the objectives are clear and well-articulated. Ensure you have scheduled touchpoints with Participants throughout your Challenge. It is helpful to deliver succinct updates before, during, and after your Challenge.
Solidify Your Scorecard There is a default scorecard or evaluation template ready to go, when you create a new Explore Challenge. If you choose to add, remove, or edit any questions or answers, feel free to update this form in pipeline setup.
Consider Additional Development Form Questions Every organization requires different information for an idea to be considered. The Explore App includes a development checkpoint for providing business impact, but feel free to add any additional development form questions to better suit your needs.
Announce the Challenge! (on behalf of your Sponsor) Make sure Participants are aware of this new Explore Challenge that is launching. Send a newsletter or use internal channels (e.g intranet announcement or weekly email). Be sure to prompt Participants to register and submit ideas.
Keep Your Scheduler Settings in Mind To help keep your event on track, the Scheduler automates the enabling and disabling of submitting, commenting and voting in accordance with the event start and end dates. Also note the Scheduler defaults to UTC time standard. TIP! If you prefer, you can disable the Scheduler.
Ensure Action Item Completeness Action items will be triggered automatically as ideas come in. If the Evaluators or Analysts are delayed in completing their action items, it could also delay the final project selection. Tap the Action Item Reminders feature within the ‘Manage Step’ view and select ‘Send Reminder’.
RUN YOUR ‘EXPLORE CHALLENGE’Congratulations! You are now ready to launch the Explore Challenge to your Participants! Follow these steps:
Select the Chosen Project(s) Meet with your internal stakeholders to review the short list of ideas. To select your chosen projects, drag the top ideas from your ‘Prioritize Shortlist for Handoff’ step to the ‘Monitor Projects’ step.
CLOSING THE CHALLENGE
The Challenge is Over! When reaching your end date, your Challenge will automatically switch to ‘Closed’ status.
Announce the Winning Project(s) & Thank Participants! Hooray! Accolades are in order for the person(s) who submitted the winning ideas! Take the time to show appreciation for everyone’s contributions. Leverage the Newsletter or Blog Post to send communications to the Participants.
Track Business ImpactTo complete the ‘Track Business Impact’ step, the Innovation Manager should circle back with the Financial Analyst and Sponsor over the next 3-6 months to record further projected and actual business impact. Don't forget to schedule future check-ins in advance.
TIP! If it is too early for financial assessment, focus on tracking non- financial business impact types (i.e. Employee Engagement, Customer Satisfaction, etc.) too.
CLOSE YOUR ‘EXPLORE CHALLENGE’You have successfully ended your 'Explore Challenge'.
PLAN → SET UP → RUN → CLOSE → REPORT SUCCESS
TIP! Ensure the chosen projects' or submitters are recognized!
REPORT SUCCESS TO YOUR STAKEHOLDER(S)We recommend a follow up with your stakeholders after the 'Explore Challenge’ has ended. Here are some suggestions for recapping the event:
PLAN → SET UP → RUN → CLOSE → REPORT SUCCESS
Share Project(s) Business Impact In addition to the total Pipeline value, share the top ideas that are generating the highest projected and actual value. Leverage the Business Impact Dashboard to generate these statistics.
Share the Top Rated Ideas + Selection Show the selected ideas/projects and other highly rated ideas. Refer to the Idea Boards view, or Steps View, to export a handy reference for the Sponsor.
Reflect the Challenge Engagement KPI As part of the Explore App's intention of driving deeper engagement, Innovation leaders should aim to showcase the Challenge’s engagement statistics. Share the number of ideas and Participants that checked in. Utilize the Pipeline overall dashboard and Engagement dashboard to generate these statistics.
We’d be more than happy to schedule a conversation to get you started with the Explore App.
Bonus Points Add any positive quotes from any Participants or Evaluators. Share any declared or confirmed interest from other Sponsors who are interested in running a similar initiative.
