Your sponsor should be involved deeply in this process; we recommend interviewing your sponsor to draw out the key business outcomes. To structure your interview, consider utilizing the following questions:
- In your own words, describe what your challenge is about.
- If you were the only one reviewing ideas, how would you choose the single best concept?
- Give an example of a good idea. What attributes does it have? What does a good idea look like?
- What’s the problem you’re trying to solve or the opportunity you’re trying to capitalize on?
- What effect does this business issue have on the company today?
- How can this problem/opportunity be quantified? How much does it cost the company? What’s the value of the solution?
- What is your end goal? How do you define a successful challenge? What results would you like to see?
- Have you already generated ideas on this topic? If so, do you want new ideas or to validate your existing ideas?
As you go through these clarifying questions, you’ll want to clarify until you feel you have clear outcomes, and you are able to explain those outcomes to others.
In addition to clarifying the outcomes, you’ll also want to align with the sponsor around timing, resources & results.
- What is the time frame for the challenge? Are there any conflicting activities, or any projects dependent upon the outcomes of your challenge?
- Does the Challenge Sponsor have specific teams or individuals who should be a part of the Challenge Audience?
- Does the Challenge Sponsor have any recommendations on collaboration methods?
- Who does the sponsor recommend be a part of the Review Team?
- Are there any other key stakeholders who need to be considered & included in communications?
- What type of communication to the Challenge Audience has already been planned?
- When the challenge is completed, what output does the Challenge Sponsor expect from the Innovation Central Consultant?
- When the challenge is completed, who will implement the ideas? Recommend to the sponsor that the ideas implemented are tracked and ideas not implemented are archived to the Warehouse.
To summarize, when you’ve completed your meeting with the Challenge Sponsor, you should have all of the information you need to configure the challenge within Innovation Central. To help you with this process, we’ve developed the following agenda and have a Sponsor Guide to download and share with your Sponsor.
Challenge Sponsor Meeting Agenda
- Challenge Process/Innovation Central overview: 10 min
- Effective Challenge Sponsorship: 10 min
- Defining the Challenge Business Outcomes: 15 min
- Aligning on Roles, Timing & Tactics: 15 min
- Next Steps: 10 min