Innovation Teams

90% of firms approach innovation through the creation of Innovation Teams.  Cross functional teams usually contain representatives of the key departments in the organisation. These are people of some level of influence who can make things happen.  Individuals in the team take responsibility for innovation for their department; for their region or for their brand.  They act as champions of innovation and idea ambassadors.

Experience shows a curvilinear relationship between the number of people on the team and their effectiveness.   A figure of around 6-8 menbers is ideal.  More, and you find decisions are hard to take and some people will coast and not contribute adequately.

A number of structural and process factors have been found to contribute to the success of these teams.  To find out more about how your organization can add accelerate innovation through teams – contact the Innovation Foundation.

Peter Robbins has been working on a PhD thesis around how Innovation teams should be structured and led.  Below is an easy-reference model you might like to think about for the innovation teams in your company.  It relates particularly to the role of the leader and should be given to leaders of innovation projects.

'To read more about how teams are managed, download this article from the London Strategy Review based on the Spark Network in GSK written by London Business School's Prof Julian Birkinshaw and Peter Robbins.

Please read the following - Case Study