Challenge 9: Do your employees have the autonomy to innovate?

Diagnosis

Many companies encourage employees to innovate, but often that where the effort of management to foster innovation among their employees finishes and the innovation contributions are being limited by managerial approach to responding to direct request for delivering simple tasks or information to managers. Such approach can bring negative effect and discourage employees to innovate. It is because without autonomy to think for themselves, experiment and learn by doing they will face a challenge in which they are set to achieve exact result defined by management rather than something novel and fuelled by their specific vision, efforts and skills. Make sure that your company avoids this mistake and offers employees at least basic autonomy for their innovation efforts.

Positive aspects	Negative aspects
My employees are empowered to make decisions related to their work without constant approval from higher-ups.	Employees are not actively involved in giving and receiving feedback.
Employees have the freedom to manage their own schedules and may work remotely when their tasks allow to optimise their performance and adjust to realistic needs of their workloads.	Employees are not allowed to take risks and need to work within strict and highly detailed procedures.
Employees are given ownership of projects from idea conception to execution, allowing them to drive initiatives forward.	Employees have no say in setting their own goals and aligning them with the overall company objectives.
In our company we encourage open dialogue where employees can freely express ideas, concerns, and suggestions without fear of repercussions.	Managers do not work based on providing guidance and support but rather micro-manage tasks.
Our employees are given opportunity to work on a range of projects and initiatives, demonstrating trust in their abilities.	Managers are assessing outcomes and results achieved, rather than on the specific methods or processes used by employees to reach them.
Our SME supports employees' pursuit of new skills and encourages them to take on roles that expand their capabilities.	Employees lack clear understanding of their roles, responsibilities, and the goals they need to achieve.
Employees who proactively propose and implement innovative ideas are recognized and celebrated.	Employees do not have possibilities to explore and experiment with new ideas.
Employees are encouraged to think creatively and suggest alternative solutions to problems.	Employees need to report every action to managers and need their approval to act in any way not fully in line with strict company procedures.
SME invests in training programs that empower employees to make informed decisions and manage their responsibilities effectively.
Employees have some flexibility in allocating resources, such as time and budget, to their projects.

Actions for implementation

Innovation requires risk-taking and experimentation. Involving employees in the process is related with granting them certain level of autonomy. In this challenge we will look on how SME management can offer autonomy without letting go of control over resources and projects.

Balancing employee autonomy with maintaining control over resources and projects is essential for effective innovation within an SME. It is also a common concern among managers often preventing them from realistically introducing and fostering innovation culture. To balance those conflicting objectives before you request your employees to innovate develop the required tools and approaches:

1. Define a clear innovation strategy that aligns with the company's overall goals. This helps guide employee autonomy toward targeted innovation efforts.
2. Set clear guidelines and boundaries for innovation projects, specifying the scope, budget, and expected outcomes.
3. Implement a well-defined project approval process that requires employees to present their innovative ideas, ensuring alignment with company priorities.
4. Allocate specific budgets for innovation projects and ensure that employees have a clear understanding of the financial, as well as time constraints.
5. Maintain regular check-ins with teams working on innovation projects to provide guidance, track progress, address any resource-related issues and ensure the innovation efforts remain aligned with company goals.
6. Foster collaboration across departments to ensure that innovation projects benefit from diverse perspectives and resources.
7. Create an innovation roadmap that outlines the sequence of projects, helping manage resource allocation over time.
8. Provide some flexibility in resource allocation to allow for adjustments based on changing project needs and priorities.
9. Ensure that leadership is involved in strategic decisions regarding innovation projects, providing checks and balances.
10. Evaluate the potential risks of innovation projects and have contingency plans in place to mitigate them.
11. Encourage employees to share resources, knowledge, and expertise across teams to optimize resource utilization.
12. Invest in training programs to enhance employees' skills, making them better equipped to manage resources efficiently.
13. Allow employees to experiment within set by you resource constraints.
14. Set proper channels through which employees can reach out for support when in doubt or are getting stuck within their innovation activities.
15. Use insights gained from completed innovation projects to refine resource allocation strategies for future initiatives and underline how the balance between autonomy and control works in practice.