Qu’est devenue la boite à idées en entreprise ? Dans cette boite, les collaborateurs glissaient leurs suggestions pour participer, si ce n’est à l’innovation, au moins l’amélioration continue de leur entreprise. Mais le digital a tout chamboulé. Il a rendu cette boite obsolète, et a instauré de nouveaux codes. Alors, qu’est devenue la boite à idées en entreprise ? Comment mettre en place une boite à idées efficace ?

From traditional idea box to digital version

Has digital killed the physical suggestion box?

At the very least, it can be said that it has made it obsolete. Indeed, the physical version had some disadvantages. First, it made it difficult to manage ideas. Indeed, a single box was not always sufficient for an entire company. So several boxes were needed. Sometimes at several different sites. To collect and process the ideas, you had to gather all the ballots from all the boxes. But some of them got lost on the way! For the others, they had to be read, sorted and filed. In short, it was difficult, faced with hundreds of small papers, to have an overall view of things. And then, all this was not really ecological...

Digital has not killed the idea box in companies : it has increased it. Indeed, digital allows everyone to participate, and it facilitates the processing of ideas.

The advantages of the digital suggestion box

• It is accessible: wherever they are, any employee can access it as long as they have an internet connection. Even in organisations where not all employees have a professional e-mail address, it is easy to set up an identification system (with a personnel number, a code, etc.). Moreover, a digital suggestion box is available on any device: computer, tablet or smartphone.
• Ideas are easy to process: the idea selection committee can find all the proposed projects in a single space. The committee members do not have to be physically together to consult, sort and select the ideas. And at a glance, they have a global view of all the proposals. With this "dashboard" effect,collaborative innovation is easier to manage.
• It is collaborative: it allows all employees to consult the ideas proposed by their peers, to support them and to follow them. The digital suggestion box brings transparency and opens the way to participation and employee commitment.

The benefits of a digital suggestion box in the company

La boite à idées digitale permet aux collaborateurs de donner leur feedback et d’apporter de nouvelles idées au service de l’amélioration continue de l’entreprise. Voici une liste de quelques grands avantages qu’elle apporte :

• Employees become the actors of the company: even those who are less confident can feel free to participate
• New ways of thinking are encouraged
• Efficiency is boosted, as employees are invited to transform or eliminate irritants or unnecessary processes
• Productivity is better because employees feel listened to and valued
• Performance is also better, because employees often come up with new ways of doing business
• It allows for better retention of talent by increasing the pride of belonging of employees
• It is easier to meet customer expectations, as field staff are best placed to relay customer expectations

Does your company need a digital suggestion box?

Before setting up a digital suggestion box in your organization, pay close attention to your corporate culture. So, the question you need to ask yourself is not "Should you set up an idea box?" but "How do you set it up to ensure success?".

If you find that feedback or new ideas are already commonplace in your company, your idea box should be taken up fairly quickly by your employees. If, on the other hand, the freeing up of speech has not yet taken place, you will have to support this new culture of innovation. Think about setting up communication and animation actions, both online and in person. For example, you can plan the following actions:

• Regular messages to animate your digital tool
• Actions to enhance the value of employees who participate
• The organisation ofideation workshops or brainstorming sessions

Remember to involve managers in this process!

ALSO READ: [TRIBUNE] Survival guide for innovators in hierarchical companies

Steps to success

Do you want to set up a digital suggestion box in your organisation? Remember to check that you have the following elements in place:

• Prepare instructions to give to your staff: they need to know what they have to do and how they are going to do it.
• Determine the topics on which you expect new ideas. Do you want to give your employees the freedom to come up with ideas on any topic? Tell them too!
• Identify the actors of thecollaborative innovationincluding the members of the selection committee.
• Communicate about the idea selection process. There is nothing worse than taking the time to propose a project, and not knowing what happens to it.
• Don't forget to ask your staff the "why" and "how" of their ideas. This will make it easier for you to select the most important and/or easiest to implement projects.
• Decide on the question of awards. Depending on your corporate culture, choose whether to reward participants symbolically or financially.
• Choose the right communication tone. Your employees should want to participate, so don't hesitate to adopt a cheerful tone!
• Base it on voluntary participation. That way you can easily identify the innovation ambassadors, i.e. the people most involved. And you can't force new ideas to emerge. Don't forget to reward the volunteers!

ALSO READ: Checklist before launching a collaborative innovation

3 good examples of idea boxes

An article on the Vetters website refers to some very good examples of effective idea gathering. Enough to make you want to get started!

Deutsche Post has saved millions

An employee at a Deutsche Post distribution centre noticed that the company was paying a lot of money for petrol for its distribution trucks. The drivers were refuelling at a station where petrol was more expensive. The employee recommended buying in bulk to save 25% of the price of petrol. As the company has hundreds of trucks, it saved millions!

British Airways saved £600,000

In 2011, a British Airways employee simply suggested descaling the pipes in aircraft toilets. A procedure that made the planes lighter, saving £600,000.

Siemens saved £60,000 by changing a component

Emma Akerman, a Siemens employee, suggested making a component from galvanised steel rather than stainless steel, saving her company more than £60,000 a year in one of the UK factories.

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