Programme overview
Technical depth: Practitioner · Practical mode: Case study
Introduction
Most organisations collect more ideas than they can handle. Suggestion schemes and online portals fill up, evaluation stalls, contributors hear nothing back and the few ideas that are approved rarely reach implementation. The result is lost value and disengaged employees. This Core Concept course gives managers a complete method for managing ideas from proposal to implementation, based on ISO 56007 guidance for managing opportunities and ideas. Working through cross-sector cases, participants build an Idea-to-Implementation Playbook covering campaigns, evaluation, piloting, recognition and benefit tracking.
Course Objectives
- Diagnose why an existing suggestion scheme or idea platform is failing to convert ideas into results
- Design an idea management process aligned to ISO 56007, from opportunity framing to implementation
- Run targeted idea campaigns with clear challenge statements, eligibility rules and timelines
- Evaluate and select ideas with transparent scoring criteria and calibrated panel decisions
- Convert selected ideas into business cases, pilots and implementation plans with named owners
- Track benefits and recognise contributors in ways that sustain participation
Target Audience
- Managers responsible for suggestion schemes, idea platforms or innovation programmes
- Excellence, quality and continuous improvement managers handling employee proposals
- Department managers who review, sponsor and implement ideas from their teams
- Strategy and planning managers who link ideas to organisational priorities
- HR and engagement managers designing recognition and reward schemes
- Project and portfolio managers turning approved ideas into funded work
Course Outline
Day 1: The Idea Management Landscape and Current Performance
- Idea Types: Suggestions, Improvements, Opportunities and Breakthrough Concepts
- Bottom-Up and Top-Down Idea Generation: Kaizen Teian and Strategic Challenges
- Idea Funnel Performance Audit: Submission, Conversion and Cycle-Time Data
- Contributor Experience Review: Feedback Gaps and Participation Drop-Off
- Idea Management Maturity Self-Assessment Grid
Day 2: Standards and Process Models
- ISO 56007 Guidance for Managing Opportunities and Ideas
- ISO 56001 Operational Requirements Linking Ideas to Innovation Initiatives
- Idea Lifecycle Workflow: Capture, Enrich, Evaluate, Select and Implement
- RACI Matrix for Idea Owners, Reviewers and Sponsors
- Idea Management Platform Requirements and Workflow Configuration
Day 3: Campaigns, Evaluation and Selection
- Challenge Statement Writing for Targeted Idea Campaigns
- Idea Enrichment Through Collaborative Commenting and Co-Development
- Weighted Evaluation Scorecard Design: Value, Feasibility and Strategic Fit
- ICE and RICE Prioritisation Scoring
- Evaluation Panel Calibration and Decision Communication Templates
Day 4: From Selection to Implementation and Sustainment
- One-Page Business Case Using the Lean Canvas
- Pilot Design Using the PDCA Cycle and Minimum Viable Product Principles
- Idea Ownership and Intellectual Property Rules Under ISO 56005
- Benefits Realisation Tracking and Post-Implementation Review
- Recognition and Reward Scheme Design: Monetary and Non-Monetary Options
Day 5: Case Work and the Idea-to-Implementation Playbook
- Manufacturing Suggestion Scheme Case Study: Clearing a Stalled Backlog
- Public Service Idea Challenge Case Study: Selection and Pilot Decisions
- Campaign Charter and Evaluation Scorecard Build for an Own Challenge
- Idea-to-Implementation Playbook Drafting
- Sponsor Review Panel and Playbook Defence
Skills You Will Gain
- Idea Campaign Design
- Challenge Framing
- Idea Evaluation and Selection
- Pilot Planning
- Benefits Tracking
- Contributor Engagement
- Idea Pipeline Analytics
Why Attend This Course
- Return with an Idea-to-Implementation Playbook ready to apply to the next idea campaign
- Give contributors timely, credible decisions so participation grows rather than fades
- Stop approved ideas stalling between selection and delivery by assigning owners, pilots and funding routes
- Compare idea schemes with managers from other sectors and countries
Conclusion
Ideas create value only when an organisation can judge them fairly and carry the best ones through to results. This course moves from auditing current idea performance, through ISO 56007 and a clear lifecycle workflow, to campaign design, evaluation, piloting and benefit tracking. The final day applies these tools to cross-sector cases and produces an Idea-to-Implementation Playbook that participants take back to their organisation to relaunch or strengthen the way ideas are handled.