Encouraging Innovation Through 5 Key Conversations

Innovative leaders are not necessarily technical experts or inherently creative. Instead, they have the skill to encourage innovation in others, creating informal and formal systems that invite, support, and reward innovation. Managers can tap into their employees' creative processes and promote ownership of the innovation each step of the way.

Encouraging Innovation Through 5 Key Conversations helps answer how managers today address the paradox of building strong accountability while inspiring risk-taking and innovation. The impact of this real-time assessment is often unexpected and helps managers strive to create order in which their teams can operate and succeed.

How It Works

The Encouraging Innovation Through 5 Key Conversations assessment presents participants with 30 statements regarding current practices as a manager in developing high performing employees. In scoring the assessment, participants determine their overall performance management score.

In addition, participants create a self-profile showing a score for each of the five conversations. Feedback forms submitted by peers provide the data to create a second - or "feedback" - profile. Then to prepare for meeting with employees, participants complete worksheets on each of the five conversations.

Uses and Applications

Encouraging Innovation Through 5 Key Conversations may be used to:

• Establish a new approach to building innovation in an organization
• Provide basic skills training in developing creativity and innovation in individuals and teams
• Complement existing leadership development techniques being used in an organization

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this workshop, participants will:

• Understand the importance of encouraging innovation as a critical aspect of effective management
• Prepare for the 5 Key Conversations by anticipating the concerns employees will want to have addressed
• Practice the action steps necessary for meaningful conversations about innovation

Product Details

Product Type: Assessment and workshop. The Facilitator Guide serves as an in-depth workbook, designed to help trainers swiftly administrate the assessment.

Target Audience: Individuals with management responsibilities, including project leadership, in a wide variety of organizations.

Measures: How managers and team leaders identify their strengths in the area of encouraging innovation in others.

Dimensions: Leadership and assertiveness, as well as innovating and team-building skills.

Time Required: One hour.

What to Order

Facilitator Guide: Order One Guide Per Trainer.

The Facilitator Guide includes background information, administrative guidelines, step-by-step workshop outline, and sample participant materials. Facilitator materials will be available as a digital download link in your order confirmation.

Paper Assessment 5-Pack: Order One Pack for Up to Five Participants.

The Paper Assessment is ideal for facilitators who prefer to oversee scoring and administration of the assessment. It provides pressure-sensitive forms for manual scoring.

About the Authors

Jocelyn Kung is an organization development consultant who has worked with top executives across industries around the world throughout her 30-year career. Ms. Kung has been a faculty member of Management Centre Europe and served on the board of Girls for a Change. Ms. Kung has a B.S in business administration from the University of San Francisco and an MBA from Golden Gate University.

Marianne Minor is a licensed clinical social worker, management consultant, and author. For more than 30 years, she worked in human resources and management development for General Electric, PG&E, and IBM.