The Dangers of E-Mail Based Idea Management

There are various ways of implementing an Idea Management process, ranging from the paper suggestion box to advanced collaboration systems on a corporate intranet. A number of companies have opted for a seemingly harmless middle option: the e-mail-based suggestion program.

The basic approach with E-Mail Idea Management is to solicit ideas from employees as broadly as possible by encouraging people to send ideas into a single dedicated inbox, the 'ideas@company.com'. More advanced approaches involve the creation of web-based forms for idea submission - even evaluation - that are received in a central system for processing.

The benefits of the approach are claimed to be:

Ease of Use - everyone knows e-mail, and users are comfortable with programs such as Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes Mail that can handle interactive forms in an e-mail message

Low Cost - e-mail programs can be deployed at practically zero cost, although systems based on web forms can easily come to around half the cost of an advanced Idea Management application like Imaginatik's Idea Central

Wide Audience - e-mail is accessible to most employees, a near universal tool, so all e-mail users can participate freely

E-Mail Idea Management has some real attractions, particularly in reducing the cost of the technology investment. However there are several disadvantages that rapidly overshadow the initial perceived benefits:

Unstructured - e-mails can be submitted in almost any format, and individuals often ignore the structured forms and revert to plain text mails

Unfocused - it is nearly impossible to focus people on important, timely business topics

Disorganized - e-mailed ideas become chain letters within an organization

Crushing Volume - e-mail communications multiply rapidly, causing stress and overwork for the people involved

No Idea Sharing - it is almost impossible to share ideas effectively with an e-mail system

Security Risk - it is all too easy to for people to forward ideas and related content to inappropriate readers, causing the company to lose control of intellectual property, and potentially lose rights to protect inventions through patents and trade secrets

Most Basic Idea Management software packages, in-house developed and from small vendors, are little more than glorified suggestion boxes, and often fail for all the reasons suggestion boxes fail. The E-mail approach, whether simple ideas@ or complex web forms, is no exception, and in fact may actually cause more problems than a Basic Idea Management system.

A recent study of companies who have implemented home-made idea inboxes, and e-mail based commercial software (not from Imaginatik) uncovered some intriguing results:

A well-known financial services company reported that they 'lost control' of their program after the first 100 ideas. The problem was the volume of e-mail traffic amongst the senior reviewers. According to their process, every idea was forwarded to five evaluators, who in turn would forward their reviews - and additional comments - to the other four reviewers. Sometimes an individual reviewer would directly contact the author, hopefully copying their fellow reviewers. The net result was that a single idea could generate more than 30 e-mails irrespective of the quality of the idea itself.

A global manufacturer initiated a program that was a combination of e-mail, focused topics, and a shared idea collaboration area. The month-long program generated a satisfying 200 seed ideas. However, the project was considered a failure as the ideas were unfocused and lacked substance. The software they purchased contained a shared space, but people were so used to the e-mail interface that they never bothered to look at other people's ideas. The result was a large number of duplicate concepts, and almost no collaborative input to improve on the seed ideas.

E-mail is not universally bad for Idea Management. Indeed, e-mail has proven to be a highly effective vehicle to drive use and maintain ongoing loyalty to the system. A recent study of twenty Idea Central customers found that over 70% of user traffic within the Idea Central environment is sparked from e-mails that contain URL links. E-mail is used as a means to inform and alert participants of relevant topics, whilst at the same time driving people to the shared space for the creation and development of ideas. In terms of specific e-mail types, the most beneficial mails cover internal marketing, automated alerts upon receipt of an idea, and updates to the collaborative process.

Ultimately the benefits from the 'inexpensive' e-mail solution are outweighed by the significant costs of wasted time, user inconvenience, and lack of substantive results. Imaginatik Research therefore predicts that the method will be primarily used by companies who are not committed to innovation in the organization, and are more concerned about the appearance of 'listening to their staff'. The committed organizations will continue to invest in Advanced Idea Management systems that use e-mail as a communication conduit to drive high quality concept creation and development.

If you have any ideas, feedback, or concepts you would like to share, please contact research@imaginatik.com.

Reference: The Dangers of E-Mail Based Idea Management - RN-0304-1