How do you get innovation insights from external partners?

2 Establish trust and communication

Once you have identified your potential partners, you need to build trust and communication with them. This means sharing your vision, objectives, and expectations for the collaboration, as well as listening to their feedback, concerns, and suggestions. You also need to agree on the roles, responsibilities, and contributions of each partner, as well as the rules and boundaries for sharing and using the innovation insights. You should also set up regular meetings, updates, and reports to monitor the progress and outcomes of the partnership.

4 Adapt and improve

The innovation insights you get from external partners are not static. They are dynamic and evolving, as the context, needs, and expectations of your customers, markets, and stakeholders change. Therefore, you need to be flexible and responsive to adapt and improve your innovation projects based on the insights you receive. You also need to solicit and provide feedback to your partners on how the insights are used and what impact they have. This way, you can ensure that your innovation projects are relevant, effective, and sustainable.

5 Celebrate and acknowledge

Finally, you need to celebrate and acknowledge the achievements and contributions of your external partners. This means recognizing and rewarding their efforts, inputs, and outputs, as well as sharing the results and benefits of the collaboration. You also need to maintain and nurture the relationships with your partners, as they can be valuable assets for your future innovation endeavors. You can celebrate and acknowledge your partners by sending thank-you notes, testimonials, certificates, or gifts, as well as inviting them to events, webinars, or podcasts.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?