Phase 1 Guide: Set-up
This short guide provides some advice on implementing the Innovation Process. It focuses on the first phase of the process, the ‘Set-up’ phase. It is part of a broader toolkit, which provides advice, with tools and worked examples, on a full process that has been developed, tested and refined in partnership with a number of local authorities and is firmly rooted in innovation practice as well as theory.
The key aims and objectives of this phase are to establish a clear rationale for implementing the innovation process, achieve senior buy-in, develop the overall approach to the process and initiate the project.
At the start of the phase you will have: |
At the end of this phase you will have: |
- a clear need or driver for change | - a clear rationale for proceeding |
- a broad understanding of issue or priority |
- senior buy-in to the innovation process |
- a need to generate ideas and solutions | - an approach to implement the process |
- resources to implement the process | |
- governance to monitor progress | |
- an external support contract (if needed) |
Key activities are outlined below, with additional detail later in this guide:
Establish Rationale |
Timescales and effort
The length of this phase is dependent on the approach to the overall project. For an ‘in-sourced’ innovation process, requiring no external support and resource commitments, the decision to proceed could be minimal. For a more significant ‘out-sourced’ process, which requires engaging external support, this stage will take longer. Crucial results of the effort at this stage will be in gaining buy-in from a senior stakeholder and deciding which approach to adopt.
Overview |
Guides |
Tools |
Examples |
A fundamental question is ‘why implement an innovation process?’ Essentially, there will be a recognised problem or need with no satisfactory solution in sight. Then there are many potential reasons to adopt a structured innovation process, but the key ones are:
This stage of the process is about determining exactly why an innovation process makes sense for your organisation. There are many local reasons and potential triggers, including:
Action Planning Process: the need to plan effective actions against local targets and objectives |
Service Transformation Process: the need to improve services for a specific vulnerable segment or disadvantaged community |
Improvement: the need to improve performance or efficiency. |
Partnership Working: the need to develop effective actions and joined up working with partners |
Area Public Spending: the need for overall cost reduction in local public services. |
Equality Impact; the need to develop mitigating actions around equality impact assessments. |
Empowerment and Engagement: the need to develop strategies to increase community engagement and participation. |
Policy Delivery: the need to develop effective and efficient actions to deliver new local policies. |
Once the rationale has been established it is good practice to ensure a senior stakeholder for example a service director, deputy chief executive, lead councillor, or senior public service partner is engaged in the process. This is important for a number of reasons:
This stage of the process involves presenting the rationale for the project, and the process it will involve, to the identified stakeholder, resulting in their agreement to proceed and to participate at critical milestones. A presentation template is available within this tool kit.
Once the agreement to proceed has been established there are a variety of options to implement the innovation process which are of varying time-frames and resource requirements. These are detailed in the table below.
The approach adopted will depend on the availability of staff and money within the organisation. Clearly the process is scalable; at one end of the spectrum it can be run internally as a creative problem-solving meeting with a range of stakeholders, while at the other end of the spectrum an external organisation can be engaged to plan and run the event and to deliver some business cased propositions. Either way some clear proposals should emerge that can be taken forward to implementation. If the decision is made to outsource aspects of the work then there are two tools in this toolkit to assist this process:
Back to activity map
The innovation process will clearly need to be driven by a project manager who will need to dedicate sufficient time to move it forward regardless of whether the work is outsourced or delivered in-house. This project manager should be in a good position to engage stakeholders from across the organisation and partners. For small, in-sourced processes the project manager should be able to manage the process end to end with little need for formal governance, with the exception of periodic updates and meetings with the senior stakeholder established at the start of this phase. For larger processes it might be worth establishing:
Do justify the innovation process on problem solving and achieving desired social and business objectives NOT on searching for innovative social applications of technology. Technology is just a lens through which to look at social problems/ challenges in a new way, and an enabler to delivering solutions. Good ideas and solutions that do not involve technology will undoubtedly arise through this process as well. |
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Do highlight that sustainable and partnership based solutions are key goals of the process. The process incorporates partner support at the outset by engaging them in the problem solving process. |
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Do try to align to process outputs with key business timescales within your organisation – for example the production of a business plan, or bid milestones for external funding streams. |
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Don’t avoid getting a senior stakeholder engaged in the process – this is a critical step in ensuring the process is expected to deliver into mainstream corporate plans, process and strategies. |
© City of London 2010