How to Innovate in Big Companies Using Small Teams

Debunking the Myth of Large Innovation Teams in Big Organizations

The prevailing view is that for a large organization, correspondingly large teams must be maintained to manage innovation efforts, often fostering over-specialization in siloed teams. Silos result in slower decision-making, more narrow points of view, and duplicated effort. Thus, many times, innovation is hampered as ideas have to work their way through bureaucracy; and alignment across departments does not occur. It certainly happens that different departments operate in isolation from insights of other areas​.

Smaller, agile teams can be far more effective at big companies. Pooling expertise by bringing people together from different areas of the company can yield a wider variety of ideas without large innovation teams' overhead and inefficiency. These cross-functional teams can move much faster in responding to market changes and customer needs, hence driving innovation at a much quicker pace.

How Large Companies Can Innovate with Small, Cross-Functional Teams

Cross-functional collaboration is really one of the most powerful mechanisms for driving innovation in large enterprises. By pulling in resources from departments such as R&D, marketing, and operations, companies can assemble smaller, more agile teams focused on particular projects related to innovation. This approach lets diverse ideas surface, speeds up decision-making processes, and enhances the speed at which product or service innovations are iterated.

For instance, AWS deploys two-pizza teams – small, cross-functional groups of people that manage predefined projects. The size of such teams is supposed to be as small as could be fed with two pizzas, including experts in development, operations, and marketing. By maintaining the lean and focused nature of teams, Amazon drives innovation with high efficiency and without a huge centralized team. With this set up, AWS can rapidly launch new services and also iterate on existing ones with least amount of bureaucracy​ required, to maintain competitiveness.

The Role of Holistic Innovation Management Software in Large Organizations

Innovation management software is important to help large enterprises design maximum efficiencies of smaller, cross-functional teams through collaboration across departments and geographies. By centralizing the oversight of the innovation process, companies can manage ideas, track progress, and analyze data from across the organization. This enables teams to work more effectively and fast-track the best ideas into market delivery.

By providing all employees equal opportunities to participate in innovation, be it in any role or from anywhere, innovation management software introduces an innovation culture and gives an opportunity for smaller teams to adopt the agility and efficiency required to compete in today's fast world of business.

Example: Innovating Effectively in a Large Company

With more than 90,000 employees worldwide, Siemens Energy serves as a prime example of how a large organization can drive effective innovation through smaller, more agile teams. Since separating from the Siemens Group, Siemens Energy has tried to develop a more flexible and innovation-driven culture. To achieve this, they implemented the KICKBOX Intrapreneurship program across more than 50 locations worldwide.

The program was introduced to enable employees across the company to develop and validate ideas themselves, with access to an innovation budget, coachings and expert advisory. Instead of having one big innovation team, Siemens Energy created the opportunity for a group of volunteers to implement the program across the globe within their specific locations. This allowed for a more decentralized innovation approach, whereby the regional teams were given the ownership, and the necessary tools and frameworks to  run the program on the ground, with continued support and enablement from the core KICKBOX team. 

Within less than two years, the company generated numerous successful innovations across different locations, filing a total of 12 patents and realizing several million in benefits.

The success of Siemens Energy's innovation strategy fundamentally shows large corporations how to break down bureaucratic silos and bring innovation forward with smaller, cross-functional teams. In applying innovation management tools, collaboration and accountability were strengthened, without losing alignment to the company-wide strategic goal. This approach enabled Siemens Energy to capture the collective ingenuity of the workforce, driving meaningful improvements.

Using the Right Tools to Innovate

Large organizations often have to contend with bureaucracy, slow decision-making processes, and breakdowns in communication, all working against innovative initiatives. 

The right tools can help large companies innovate with leaner, more focused teams. These tools make communication seamless and break up silos, hence, helping their teams create with much more efficiency and speed.

Innovation management software creates a central oversight over idea management, clearly delegating tasks, and allowing collaboration across departments, regions, and hierarchies.

Key Features to Look for in Innovation Management Software for Enterprises

When selecting innovation management software for an enterprise, there are several key features to consider:

• Scalability: The software must be able to handle innovation efforts across thousands of employees while maintaining its performance.
• Robust collaboration features: Collaboration across departments and geographies is essential for smaller teams to succeed in large organizations. An innovation management solution should allow for timely and effective collaboration through the necessary features.
• Advanced data analytics: Measuring the effectiveness of innovation initiatives and tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) is critical for maintaining alignment with strategic objectives.
• IP protection and compliance: Large organizations often require strong intellectual property protection and compliance features to safeguard their innovations and ideas. An innovation management software should account for this.
• Centralized platform: A centralized platform that can manage decentralized innovation efforts across multiple departments is essential for streamlining the innovation process.

Innovating at Scale Without a Dedicated Innovation Team

In large organizations, innovation doesn’t require a massive, dedicated team. Instead, companies can achieve effective innovation through an agile approach, cross-functional collaboration, and the right tools. By utilizing innovation management software, organizations can empower smaller teams to drive impactful changes across departments, ensuring that they remain competitive without the need for large, centralized resources.