bhupinder
Par 100 posts (V.I.P)
IBM
Goal:
Collaboration among many employees
Technique:
Online platform that acts as a chat room for ideas
IBMTo help connect its more than 350,000 employees around the world, IBM uses software called ThinkPlace, a sort of internal chat board and wiki. Anyone can originate an idea by posting it on ThinkPlace, and others can join in with comments, questions, or suggestions at any time. Managers can also pose questions in hopes of generating creative solutions. For example, Mary Sue Rogers, an executive in IBM’s Human Capital Management division, recently asked how the company might support an increasingly aging workforce.
In the past, new ideas were threaded through multiple layers of IBM management. Now, says Gina Poole, vice president of innovation, “There’s a focus on community-driven efforts: people connecting around the world. An idea starts in Australia and gets picked up by someone in Finland.” Today about 100,000 IBM employees use ThinkPlace to discuss ideas at varying stages of development.
ThinkPlace is also invigorated by a volunteer community of “innovation catalysts” — “IBMers with regular day jobs who are looking for ideas to champion,” as Poole puts it. “They help further ideas and get them adopted.” To select which ThinkPlace ideas and initiatives to implement, IBM has created a consortium of executives called the Ideas to Reality board. Apart from deciding which ideas to pursue, the board’s meetings (be they in person or in the virtual world) are also an opportunity to assign responsibility for new initiatives and prevent inter-departmental confusion.
For ideas that get the go-ahead, the company has a unit called Biztech which distributes the budget and expertise needed to create prototypes. Teams of five to ten employees — most of whom have other day-to-day responsibilities within the company — can spend up to 20 percent of their time working on Biztech-backed initiatives.
Goal:
Collaboration among many employees
Technique:
Online platform that acts as a chat room for ideas
IBMTo help connect its more than 350,000 employees around the world, IBM uses software called ThinkPlace, a sort of internal chat board and wiki. Anyone can originate an idea by posting it on ThinkPlace, and others can join in with comments, questions, or suggestions at any time. Managers can also pose questions in hopes of generating creative solutions. For example, Mary Sue Rogers, an executive in IBM’s Human Capital Management division, recently asked how the company might support an increasingly aging workforce.
In the past, new ideas were threaded through multiple layers of IBM management. Now, says Gina Poole, vice president of innovation, “There’s a focus on community-driven efforts: people connecting around the world. An idea starts in Australia and gets picked up by someone in Finland.” Today about 100,000 IBM employees use ThinkPlace to discuss ideas at varying stages of development.
ThinkPlace is also invigorated by a volunteer community of “innovation catalysts” — “IBMers with regular day jobs who are looking for ideas to champion,” as Poole puts it. “They help further ideas and get them adopted.” To select which ThinkPlace ideas and initiatives to implement, IBM has created a consortium of executives called the Ideas to Reality board. Apart from deciding which ideas to pursue, the board’s meetings (be they in person or in the virtual world) are also an opportunity to assign responsibility for new initiatives and prevent inter-departmental confusion.
For ideas that get the go-ahead, the company has a unit called Biztech which distributes the budget and expertise needed to create prototypes. Teams of five to ten employees — most of whom have other day-to-day responsibilities within the company — can spend up to 20 percent of their time working on Biztech-backed initiatives.