In our last blog, we talked about generating ideas. Good ideas can come from many sources, including observation, employee suggestions and brainstorming sessions. But what if you have more good ideas than time or resources to implement them? How do you make sure the best ideas don’t get overlooked? The answer is to systematically prioritize your ideas inline with your resources. Large organizations have formal “Stage-gate” processes to manage the flow of ideas and prioritize implementation of the best ones. But if you are part of a smaller team or organization, you may not have such a system set in place. Without a way to evaluate and rank the ideas, you or your organization can fall into opportunistic mode, trying to jump on every opportunity as it comes along or working on "pet" projects that don't leave resources free for ideas that have more potential. To help you sort through and prioritize multiple opportunities, check out the framework we've developed: The Broad Reach Marketing 5-Step Prioritizing Framework 1) List and describe the ideas you've generated. Some great ideas might require a bit of refinement or explanation. Look to see if any ideas are better when combined or built upon. Take the time to think through and define each one. 2) Filter
![]() 3) Rank Score each idea on the following aspects:
4) Plot on a chart so you can visually see where your ideas rank when you consider effort vs. return on that effort. ![]() 5) Test! Meet with potential customers. Don’t tell them the benefits of your idea; just show or illustrate what it does and ask the following questions:
This process can be done using whiteboards, flip charts or spreadsheets -- or a combination of all three. The key is to focus on the ideas that fit with the organization and will generate the best return on investment.
Have questions about generating ideas or implementing this process? Contact us! Leave a Reply. |
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