Getting your ideas (finally) implemented

Coming up with ideas for improving the workplace should be a good thing. So why can it be so frustrating?

“Few of my ideas are ever implemented,” one person told me recently. “It’s getting to the point where I rarely bother to suggest anything anymore.”

If you can relate, don’t give up. There are specific ways to move more of your good ideas from drawing board to reality.

• For starters, make sure your ideas aren’t all about things that other people should do. Come up with improvements you can implement on your own — and get them done.

• With an idea where you don’t have the authority or ability to implement, take a second look. Perhaps you can narrow the concept to something smaller that you can do. Let’s say you’ve pitched an idea for having your organization survey its customers, but senior leadership is unresponsive. No problem. Just scope down your idea to something you can do: Conduct your own survey of your own customers. Others will take notice, some will follow suit, and your idea for an all-company survey is likely to get attention.

• When communicating your ideas, speak to people in their preferred language. If you’re presenting to someone who’s obsessed with financials, lead off by explaining how the idea will benefit the bottom line. With someone who’s planning-oriented, show how the idea will help the organization achieve a goal. With someone who’s competitive, demonstrate how the idea will give the organization a significant edge.

• If none of the above seems doable, engage in a little guerilla marketing of your idea. Start talking it up, especially with individuals who wield influence and shape opinions. Growing chatter among the right people will give your idea added credibility.

The next time you come up with a great improvement idea for your workplace, you might be tempted to rush forward and tell everyone right away. Or you might be inclined to keep quiet because previous ideas went nowhere.

Avoid both of these extremes. Instead, advance your idea with the more nuanced approaches described above. It will take more time, more thought, and more patience – but you’ll achieve much more success.