Create and submit ideas for innovation

While every organisation is likely to describe and use ideas differently, capturing and recording ideas supports a strong organisational memory and ensures that good ideas don’t get forgotten.

Ideas that get approved will become proposals, which again, if approved will become projects. You are not always necessarily required to create and use ideas as you can also create new proposals or projects directly.
 

To create and maintain ideas:

1. Ensure you are in Portfolios and click Ideas in the Innovations section.
    
2. Click + New from the command bar.
    
3. Complete the Idea pane with as much information as you have now.
    
4. The Idea Name field is mandatory.
    
5. If appropriate, mouse over the Related Challenge field to associate the Idea with a Business Challenge.
    
6. Search for and select the appropriate Business Challenge.
    
7. Click Save & Close.
    

While your organisation may have defined a different ideas process, advancing a stage is as simple as validating the required processes are completed and selecting the Next Stage/Finish button.   

An idea begins with the identification of a suggestion to address a business challenge or as potential new project and ends with review where the idea is reviewed and potentially selected for implementation.
 

To submit the idea for review: 

1. Select the appropriate Idea to be updated.
    
2. Update the Status from New to Submitted. 
    
3. Click the Identify stage and update the stage checklist. 
    
4. Click the Next Stage button. 
    
5. Once in the Review stage, mark the Submit for Review item as complete. 
    
6. Click Save & Close.
    

To close the idea after it has been reviewed. 

1. Select the appropriate Idea to be updated.
    
2. Under the Review stage, mark the Review Completed item as complete. 
    
3. If the idea has been rejected:
   
   
   1. Set the Create Proposal item to Yes in the stage checklist.
       
   2. Then click Finish to until the tick mark appears denoting that it is closed. 
       
   3. Finally, update the Status to Rejected in the Details pane. 
       
4. Click Save & Close to apply changes. 
    

To convert the accepted idea to a proposal: 

1. Select the appropriate Idea to be updated.
    
2. Under the Review stage, mark the Review Completed item as complete. 
    
3. Set the Create Proposal item to Yes in the stage checklist and follow the prompts to create a new proposal linked to the idea.
    
4. Provide a unique name for the new proposal record created from the accepted idea and click Save. 
    
5. While on the Proposal stage, click Process then Switch Process from the command bar across the top of the idea record.
    
6. Select the Proposal Process from options then click OK. 
   
   Note: The Proposal Process will supersede the Idea Process in the lifecycle allowing the idea owner to formally manage the accepted idea as a proposal for review and selection as the next stage. 
    
7. Then, change the Status from Submitted to Accepted in the Details pane. 
    
8. Click Save & Close.
    

Download Job Aid: Creating and maintaining ideas