How to choose the best collective intelligence software for organizations seeking rapid results We are in an uncertain economic climate, marked by the urgency of transformation. Companies can no longer be satisfied with major strategic initiatives spread over several years. Today, decision-makers are looking for tangible results in the short term, by relying on an often under-exploited lever: collective intelligence from the field.

There is no shortage of ideas in organizations. But without method, without structure, they scatter and fall into oblivion. This is where a good collective intelligence software makes all the difference. It transforms scattered contributions into real performance levers that can be activated quickly. But how do you choose a tool that's truly capable of capturing and transforming these ideas into concrete actions? What criteria should you look for?

Why structuring field ideas has become a strategic lever

Companies often talk about their desire for innovation, transformation, or even a successful CSR approach. But in reality, few take advantage of them. systematically the innovation potential of their field teams.

Traditional top-down innovation approaches too often ignore weak signals that emerge locally: dysfunctions, good practices, local initiatives. Yet these elements are a direct source of productivity, continuous improvement and employee engagement.

💡 Good practice : Involve local managers in the animation of feedback allows the participation rate to be tripled, while ensuring an initial operational filter of the ideas submitted.

To ignore these field ideas is to lose:

• Simple and rapid productivity gains
• Opportunities to engage your employees
• Concrete solutions for your innovation, transformation or CSR challenges

📊 According to a study by Harvard Business Review : 72% of managers who actively empower field teams say that productivity has increased at least moderately.

The 3 major obstacles to the promotion of ideas

1- Lack of method to prioritize relevant ideas

In many companies, we open idea boxes…But we don’t have no process, no clear criteria to distinguish usable ideas from those that are less relevant. This discredits the approach.

🎯 Board : Utilize a prioritization matrix (impact vs. feasibility) as soon as the idea is entered allows for an initial automatic and objective sorting.

2- Lack of a structuring tool to capitalize and industrialize

Without collective intelligence platform, initiatives are dispersingIdeas and best practices don't circulate. The same mistakes are repeated. And successful solutions cannot be replicated from one entity to another.

3- Discouragement of teams in the face of inaction

Collaborators who share ideas without return or concrete impact, end up falling silent. This is the worst-case scenario for a company that wants to improve its collective performance.

Choosing the best collective intelligence software to change the game

What your future tool absolutely must have

Good collective intelligence software doesn't just "collect." It structures, engages, and accelerates action.

A single channel to capture, filter and qualify ideas

Good collective intelligence software offers a simple space, accessible to all, to share ideas, irritants, good practices. It allows operational knowledge to be centralized.

[Read also: Top 3 European tools for sourcing and sharing best practices in business]

A collaborative interface for co-constructing solutions

The best platforms foster collaboration between departments or business lines. The idea doesn't exist alone: ​​it's enriched, debated, prototyped, and tested with stakeholders' best practices.

✅ Concrete example Würth France has opened Beeshake to all of its managers located throughout France. The goal? To propose ideas with a view to continuous improvement in order to improve productivity and maximize revenue.Discover the case in full).

A prioritization engine aligned with strategic issues

The best collective intelligence software allows to filter contributions according to their impact, feasibility, and alignment with strategic objectives.. And any other criteria relevant to the organization. You then accelerate, the transition from idea to action.

Traceability of results to manage ROI

With good software, you can track ideas from proposal to implementation, measure their impact, and capitalize on successes. This is what we call a structured continuous improvement approach.

[Read also – Evaluate the impact of your innovation projects: forecast ROI, an asset for measuring the savings made!]

The evaluation grid for choosing the best collective intelligence software

How can you be sure you're making the right choice among the many solutions on the market? Too often, software selection is based on attractive demonstrations or fads, without any real framework. The result: tools that are poorly adapted, underutilized, or out of step with business needs.

To avoid this, we offer you a simple, comprehensive, customizable evaluation grid, designed to help you make your choices more objective.

What you will find in the evaluation grid

The grid groups together the major functional pillars to compare between solutions:

• Interface : ergonomics, customization, user-friendliness for users and administrators.
• Idea management : collection, sorting, collaboration around ideas, running challenges.
• Monitoring of the experiment : management of projects resulting from ideas, documentation, integration with your business tools (e.g.: Teams).
• Gamification and engagement : rankings, badges, participation levels, individual and collective stimulation.
• Animation of dynamics : communication features (live, inspirational content, newsletters, etc.).
• Statistics : engagement measurement, actionable data, link with Google Analytics.
• Support from the publisher : support, advice, resources available.
• Technical aspects : security, GDPR compliance, hosting, SSO, multilingualism.

💡 Bonus: You can also add your own criteria specific to your organization.

A flexible and collaborative scoring system

• Prioritize the criteria according to your issues: very important, secondary or optional.
• Involve multiple evaluators (anonymous or identified) to compare points of view.
• Each person assigns a score from 0 to 10 by criterion, and can comment freely.
• The grid automatically calculates average scores per axis, as well as a overall score per solution.
• You can easily duplicate the grid for each software evaluated, and compare the results on a fair basis.

Case study: The best collective intelligence software for Worldline, which centralizes field ideas on a global scale

In 2021, Worldline, the world leader in payment solutions, wishes to better structure innovation by promoting ideas from the field from its 1300 customer relations agents, spread across several countries. The challenge? Centralize, prioritize and above all capitalize on local initiatives that generate value.

But then, how can we capture and disseminate ideas in an international context, while promoting local specificities and good practices on the ground?

💡 Solution : Worldline chooses the best collective intelligence software, renowned for its "One Day One Idea" approach. The multilingual and customizable platform allows you to:

• Continuously propose ideas of improvement and innovations
• Launch thematic challenges (e.g. CSR, customer satisfaction)
• Evaluate ideas locally according to their relevance and potential impact
• Share good practices between countries
• Engage agents thanks to gamification (badges, rewards)

📊 Results

• 160 ideas proposed in a few months
• 80 ideas validated and followed up
• 100 000 euros of potential savings identified
• A capitalization of good local practices on an international scale and sustainable innovation dynamics

Ready to turn your field ideas into concrete results with the best collective intelligence software?

Book your personalized Beeshake demo and discover how to generate rapid gains through collective intelligence. An expert will help you identify your priorities and activate the right levers.

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