Acting on Innovation S01E05 — Innovation Portfolio and Management
Benefits of an innovation portfolio
Having an innovation portfolio has many advantages, including the following:
What is an innovation portfolio?
A company manages an innovation portfolio, which is a collection of initiatives, programs, and concepts, to lower the potential risks associated with innovation. The objective is to achieve successful outcomes by concentrating the majority of efforts on an original action plan and strategy. The portfolio, which coordinates project management, estimated benefits, and risk investments, is a crucial component of an innovation process. By assisting them in securing new opportunities for organizational development, this strategy helps businesses get ready for future expansion. In the end, each program and project serves to aid the business in achieving its long-term objectives and financial success.
Companies that innovate frequently create ongoing iterations of concepts and tactics because innovation is a process of constant change. The innovation process is a composite of these distinctive actions:
How to manage an innovation portfolio
Here are three steps to managing your portfolio of innovations:
1. Frequently evaluate and prioritize your portfolio
You must regularly evaluate your portfolio so that you can decide which projects to give top priority. Search through the ideas after each evaluation, and if necessary, reorder your projects according to priority. You can eliminate concepts using this process if they don’t satisfy your fundamental innovation requirements. Your workflow can be maintained as the initial priorities and evaluation criteria change over time thanks to the assessment process. Regular reviews also help you stay on track for your objectives and develop more reform-ready behavior.
2. Allocate your resources accordingly
You assign your resources to those projects following an evaluation of your portfolio and selection of the ideas to prioritize. To ensure that the concepts you choose will be successful, make sure your portfolio prioritization and resource allocation processes are in line. Setting availability restraints, which are self-imposed constraints that prevent resource abuse or overuse, is another aspect of strategically managing your resources. You can avoid delays by having enough resources to complete a project.
3. Determine when to continue or end an innovation proposal
Setting realistic expectations for your chosen proposals is crucial, as is remaining adaptable in your approach. Unexpected events or factors may change the project’s course and produce different results than you had anticipated. Consider carefully how much you invested in your innovations under these circumstances before deciding whether to keep them going or stop them. Successfully extending a proposal allows you to reap additional benefits and returns on your investments, and finishing it on time can allow you to conserve resources.
Tips for building an innovation portfolio
The following advice will assist you in creating an innovation portfolio:
FAQ
What is a balanced innovation portfolio?
What most are looking for is balance: i. e. delivering the right number of projects and ideas to achieve the following goals: minor adjustments to maintain momentum; quick returns; and funding additional strategic innovation investments. Regular strategic innovations to help grow the business.
What are the three levels of innovation?
An innovation matrix is a visual representation of how you can quickly identify various innovation types based on the objectives required from a particular viewpoint. Understanding how to manage innovation, where to innovate, and how to accelerate innovation, for instance