Ideas crowdsourcing is one of the most powerful practices giving companies access to innovative ideas, and one with the greatest development potential for the future.
This assertion is supported by two recent studies by the Boston Consulting Group and Gartner, compiling the most effective resources to drive forward innovation in large organizations.
The Boston Consulting Group cited ideas forums with employees when, in its 2016 global survey, it asked managers from different countries and large companies about the most efficient practices to obtain innovative projects and ideas.
As well as this resource, co-creation with clients-another example of ideas crowdsourcing-was another of the answers mentioned most by managers participating in the survey.
For its part, in a Forbes article Gartner included ideas crowdsourcing among its five “innovation hacks” with the greatest ability to influence and potential for the future.
In its report from last year, Gartner also claims that, surprisingly, and despite being one of the five digital practices with the greatest return on investment, it is still one of the least used by companies to develop their innovative potential.
But, what are some of the specific effects that ideas crowdsourcing has on an organization?
 We can begin by citing the ubiquity of this technique within a culture of digital and peer-to-peer work based on sharing and being connected.
Also, its congruence with the urgent need for transformation in large companies today, especially if we consider that this process can only succeed when all members of the organization are connected and embark on the journey together.
Therefore, increasingly, innovation is not simply limited to ‘closed boxes’, like traditional departments that are isolated within an organization, or to mere investment in R+D+I accompanied by uncertainty regarding its return.
On the other hand, ideas crowdsourcing allows for the effective implication, with increased profit margins, of the entire organization in the process of innovation, in a way that is asynchronous, transparent and democratic.
This statement assumes that innovation itself and good ideas are not the exclusive property of a reduced number of people or a specific department, but can be produced in any area of the organization, particularly if we consider the growing interest of companies in incorporating talent to their structure.
This being the case, why hinder the capacity for innovation within a fixed element, especially when flexibility, agility and diversity are concepts that can only make current organizations stronger? As Gartner rightly argues, ideas crowdsourcing “will give an organization more bang for its innovative buck”.
Ideas crowdsourcing also helps to establish an element of collective intelligence, through the contribution of diverse intelligences and talents, something that multiplies ideas and knowledge within an organization.
Finally, its impact can also be measured within people, as it promotes the creation of a common culture in the organization, based on innovation and entrepreneurship, and articulated through listening to ideas (and executing them). In this sense, it is undoubtedly a powerful ally for the creation of an innovative corporate DNA.
This last step promotes the link between employees and the company, as well as their commitment, all under the logic that their ideas are listened to and that they themselves are entrepreneurs, since they lead projects and are a part of the company’s transformation.
The use of ideas crowdsourcing solutions as transversal tools for digital transformation processes is bringing visibility to such processes and their strategic axes throughout the organization, as well as being a great help when prioritizing projects and unblocking budgets, due to its ability to make the innovation funnel tangible and to stimulate the estimated ROI from the implementation of the different ideas obtained.
 

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