7 tips to speed time to innovation-2013

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innovationmanagement.se http://www.innovationmanagement.se/2013/04/19/7-tips-to-speed-time-to-innovation/

7 Tips to Speed Time to Innovation

7 Tips to Speed Time to Innovation

Jim Brown

I read recently that 81% of

CEOs f eel that speed to

market in product

development eff orts is a

critical business innovation

tactic. The only thing that

surprises me about t hat

number is that its so low. Ithink it should be closer

100%.

Hitting the market in a timely

manner supports pricing,

prof it margin, and market

share goals. And f or those

with f ixed market windows

like a toy maker facing the

winter holidays, f or example

time to market is t able

stakes. To quote one

consumer goods

manuf acturer, you cant

negotiate with Christmas.

I recently developed research that gets t o the heart o f accelerating

time to market, with goals any organizat ion should work toward to

boost product development perf ormance. Id like to delve into those

goals and discuss how they can work to t he advantage of a product

organization seeking to bring innovative products to market.

One fact we uncovered is that many product organizat ions are t rying to make do with technology that was

never intended to st retch as f ar as it is being forced to and the organizations are suf f ering. Many, if no t

mos t, are using spreadsheets and desktop project management tools to manage their product portf olios .

Balancing these complicated port f olios with their many-to- many relationships between products and launch

windows requires a lot of coordination. Optimizing plans is very dif f icult to do with f ragmented inf ormation

and inconsistent product data. Spreadsheets are wonderf ul to ols. But not f or this job.

What we and other experts recommend is product portf olio management (PPM) solutions, which can help

by providing cohesive information and visually communicating priorit ies and dependencies between

products. Leveraging a PPM solution and its attendant processes can help product teams get innovativeproducts to market f aster by s treamlining and automating development, eliminating wishf ul thinking and

brute force in f avor of discipline and strategy.

So how can Product Development leverage port f olio management as a f oundation f or innovation and to
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support time to market requirements?

They can use it to:

1. Get t he right ideas in the funnel.When ideas are generated and captured, product and port f olio

managers can vet ideas on the basis o f st rategic alignment, potent ial value, risk, and resource availability,

before adding them to the pipeline. This ensures that reso urces arent wasted on ideas t hat may in one

way be sound but in another way are not high enough value.

2. Diligent ly balance plans with available resource capacity.This is what it comes down to f or so many

of us: resources vs. demand. Those who lack visibility into both are essentially f lying blind. The right

so lution and processes help product managers know who can do what, when and whats headed their

way. This helps them create a portf olio correctly weighted f or innovation and other projects.

3. Ruthlessly prioritize investments and develop realistic, balanced plans.The squeaky wheel. The

latest craze. The VPs whim. Weve all been there, adding an enhancement o r a whole new product to the

lineup just because someone is yelling the loudest. We all know its no way to run a product line. With

port f olio management giving insight into the f ull line f ledgling ideas to cash cows po rtf olio managers

have a way to objectively assess which projects are a good use of their scarce resources, and which quite

simply are not .

4. Make plan priorities and launch windows highly visible, and openly communicate status and

issues.This sounds a more obvious f ix than it is and it of ten comes down to technology. Those desktop

to ols werent built to support enterprise-wide and/or multi-product launches, and so this vital

communication o f ten happens verbally, or via hallway-long printouts o f Gantt charts that are updated by

hand and Pos t- it notes. Key stakeholders are of ten unaware of critical changes, and the chaos o f the

ensuing catch-up is never a prett y picture.

5. Map development projects to commercialization ef fort s.This follows closely with the above.

Projects should be roadmapped with all of their dependencies clearly tracked and with appropriate launch

windows f or all commercialization programs. This ensures that any slips will give channels advanced notice

to update their commercializat ion plans.

6. Manage risk and uncertainty and plan to succeed (or fail) early.Risk is an inherent part o f any

product initiat ive, and the more innovative, the riskier it is. If the plan is roadmapped well, risks and issues

may be identif ied earlier and thus mitigated more easily. Additionally, when insurmountable risk is

encountered early, the decision can be made to kill a project bef ore too much is invested; the only caveat is

that management must be on board with the kill decision. In my experience, too f ew companies kill a

development project once its already underway.

7. Standardize execution processes, deliverables, and metrics.As the saying goes, you cant managewhat you cant measure. Its start ling that , in our bottom-line driven economy, 44% of companies have no

consist ent and transparent way to measure the value of projects. Port f olio management processes are a

proven way for development teams to standardize their work and by doing so s trip out time and ef f ort by

eliminating rework and duplication. Many PPM so lutions come with prebuilt metrics in the f orm of reports

and analytics that give insight at dif f erent levels of granularity on everything f rom time report ing to the

bot to m line. Todays product o rganizat ions simply must have a way to prove the value of what t hey

produce. Executives should demand that.

In summary

Whats at stake in the speed to market equation? The f irst mover advantage for some, basic survival f or

ot hers. Product organizations have the opportunity to make some fundamental changes in how they

approach development and bring the right, innovative of f erings to market in a timely manner.

Can product o rganizat ions af f ord not t o invest in a PPM so lution? Yes, although I believe that the pain of


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accelerating multiple, complex products through the pipe ef f iciently, as market pressures continue to grow,

will place companies without PPM solutions at a distinct disadvantage.

I would argue, however, that they cant af f ord not to implement a disciplined, end-t o- end portf olio

managementprocess, as it is this that will set the groundwork f or a well-prioritized, well-planned, and

innovative portf olio o f products that hit t heir markets on t ime.

Theres much more to the sto ry and you can download a copy of our free reportto read more. Please let

me know what you think of these t ips, and what goals your organizat ion is working towards.

By Jim Brown

About the author

Jim Brown Founder and President o f Tech-Clarity, Inc., is a recognized expert in

so f tware solutions f or manufacturers and has 20 years of experience in application

so f tware, management consulting and industry research focused on the

manuf acturing indust ries. Jim f ounded Tech-Clarity Inc. in 2002. Since that time, Jimhas served in a research and analyst ro le partnering with other analyst f irms

including, Technology Evaluation Centers (TEC), The PLM Evaluation Center and

AMR Research. Additionally, Jim established Aberdeen Groups Product Innovat ion &

Engineering Practice af ter t hey acquired Tech-Clarity in 2005 and subsequent ly

served as VP and Group Directo r f or Aberdeens PLM and Manufacturing Indust ry

Research Practices. In 2008, Jim established Tech-Clarity 2.0 to cont inue his

miss ion to make the value of techno logy clear to bus iness in the Web 2.0 era. Jim is an experienced author

and public speaker and enjoys t he opport unity to participate in conf erences about improving business

performance through so f tware technology.

Image: business mechanismfrom Shutterstock.com

References

Read the researchbehind these goals and how to put them into action in Tech-Claritys Issue in Focus:

Meeting Fixed Product Launch Windows Managing Portfolios when Time-to-Market is Non-Negotiable,

brought to you by Planview.

1. Forbes, Global CXO Outlook: Growth Strategies for 2012 and Beyond,

htt p://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Global_CXO_Outlook.pdf

2. Tech-Claritys Issue in Focus: Meeting Fixed Product Launch Windows,

http://www.planview.com/m1/pd/f ixed-product- launch-windows/?WT.mc_id=311WP03756

3.Planview, The 3rdProduct Portfolio Management Benchmark Study, http://www.planview.com/m1/pd/3rd-

product-portfolio-management-benchmark-study/?WT.mc_id=300RR00156

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http://www.innovationmanagement.se/mailchimpforms/subscribe-newsletters-im.htmlhttp://www.planview.com/m1/pd/3rd-product-portfolio-management-benchmark-study/?WT.mc_id=300RR00156http://www.planview.com/m1/pd/fixed-product-launch-windows/?WT.mc_id=311WP03756http://images.forbes.com/forbesinsights/StudyPDFs/Global_CXO_Outlook.pdfhttp://www.planview.com/m1/pd/fixed-product-launch-windows/?WT.mc_id=311WP03756http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-121263400/stock-photo-concept-of-business-mechanism-system.htmlhttp://www.planview.com/m1/pd/fixed-product-launch-windows/?WT.mc_id=311WP03756

7 tips to speed time to innovation-2013

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