IdeaJam

Michael Sampson profiled IdeaJam from Elguji. [Note that Ed Brill, the Lotus exec who endorses it on the homepage was a gues speaker in this class two quarters ago.]

IdeaJam seems to be a recommender system for ideas within an organization.  You put it up kind of in an enterprise social idea network sense and people contribute ideas.  Then others vote the ideas thumbs up or down.  Kind of like a Digg for internal ideas.

Think this will catch on?

Somewhat related, Brett Young posts on the benefits of having internal employee blogs.

Comments

[Rick-Teachers Assistant]

Large organizations are struggling with trying to find ways in communicating with employees and obgtaining buy in. Idea Jam provides emaployees with the opprotunities to weigh in on ideas or key decisions within an organization.

Remember the employee that is not satisfied will decrease your customer satisfaction ratings.

Organizations are also trying to find ways to be lean. This is a good way to stay lean without wasting time in meetings to discuss ideas and get employees opionion. There is no method for employees to feel like they have to agree because of who is in the room. Or even better be influenced by others.

Do you think Idea Jam will fit into your culture?

What would your CEO probably say if you were to present the idea?

[Syed Ahmer Zaidi]

I personally don't think this product will catch on as much as the developers would like it to.

First of all, its a Lotus Notes based applications, requiring Domino server to run which are very expensive to implement and maintain.

Secondly, the demo looks as though the suggestions/ideas does not have an anonymous option and some comments to certain idea can be discouraging to suggester.

[Hussain Noordin]

To be quite honest, nowadays, you really can't say for sure which ideas will take off and which ones will sit stale on the shelf until its their time.

For example: I never thought that blogs would catch on like they have.

Discussion Forum vs. Blogs:
What is a blog anyways? It's a glorified discussion forum to me. In a discussion forum, someone posts a thought, others read & replies. In a blog, the author posts a long thought, others read & comment.

The big differences between the two appears to be:
+ Usability. Blogs tend to be more rich in the types of content that the author can post.
+ It makes any "idiot" look like an expert in a topic. (and believe you mean - there are plenty of idiots blogging as experts)
+ It makes the author feel more empowered and gives them a feeling of self-worth.
+ Authors can better moderate comments posted by readers to ensure that the author looks good.
+ And more reasons, I'm sure...

If IdeaJam can appeal to some of these psychological needs - it just might make it.

It always has and always will be " All About the User".

[Gina D]

IdeaJam

This sounds like the absolute answer to actually being able to harness the great ideas within an organization. My company had the idea box, even an electronic version called bright ideas...but like the solution\comment box, while the ideas are usually requested and there is desire to collect the ideas -- there seems to be a disconnect on managing and distributing the ideas as an assignment. And the biggest flaw that seems to occur is who actually has the authority, prioritization, and knowledge of resources of how to proceed. It sounds like IDEAJAM is another way to filter the same type of data but again, the success depends on the attention and management actually assigned to reviewing and addressing an idea. It sounds like a great way to address ideas and create an electronic community, but another issue could be a way for ideas to get utilized by competitors. Interesting concept, if put into practice correctly it could be a very powerful tool.

[Rajeev Kumar]

Our company introduced an "idea" program (not online but through actual advertising) for its employees with a large monetary prize and whatnot. It lasted a month.
Nice concept.. no takers.. at least not in this economy !

[Matt Sorin]

We are just rolling out something very similar to IdeaJam. We use Salesforce.com as part of our CRM application suite. They have almost the exact same functionality within their product. We have rolled it out within our IT department and have received some very good reviews. We are now planning on rolling this out not only to our various departments within the company but to some of our clients so we can get product feedback. Starbucks uses this very system on their website. Starbucks did a presentation at Salesforce.com’s Dreamforce Conference a few weeks back and basically what the guy said was they get a ton of feedback from our customers and some of it is really easy to implement. Apparently Starbucks now has these stirrers that you can put into your coffee to prevent it from spilling out of the top when the cover is on, this idea came via Salesforce.com Ideas. This functionality is definitely the future of what is to come.
Check out this article:
http://www.thestandard.com/news/2008/03/26/starbucks-wants-your-ideas

[Kolawole Olatunbosun]

Implementing IdeaJam may be a good idea for comanies but it must be accepted by majority of the employees both senior executives and line managers for it to be relevant to overall goal of the company. If accepted and used properly the software can be used as a repository for suggesting meaningful concept and ideas that can minimize cost or maximize profit. In most companies, where the traditional suggestion box style is at play, one of the attendant problems has been the inability to channel suggestions to the right people so that it receives the appropriate attention and not end up in the trashcan.

In addition, IdeaJam can also be used as a customer relationship management repository for customer suggested ideas that can aid future product development.

On the other hand, the software can also be used as avenue for creating awareness and enforcing company policies and guidelines on sensitive issues like bullying, sexual harassment, fraud and so on.

[Rhaquel Valencia]

I'm curious on which features this software would have. In my company we use an idea generator software and everybody hates it. Why? because it doesn't structure information in an effective way. Idea requests can be duplicated, there is no real order and you see how many people voted for one but no real process in determining what goes into implementation and what doesn't. I feel that the features that the software provides are critical to have an effective process where ideas can really help to improve the company.

[Tony]

Just last week my company sent us an email requesting ideas on how to minimize returned service calls... It blew me away as I was asked to reply to the email with my ideas. Maybe all the responses were electronically categorize into some usable form showing the weight or frequency of certain responses. However, with ideajam the population can observe the ideas and more important improve on something that already exist and then case a vote to promote or demote the ideas.
I kinda like the idea but not sure how effective it would be long term. The statistical interface looks like a good idea but the outcome depends on what the filters are selected. Ideajam could catch on but then maybe email is ok too.

[Ahmad Noordin]

Some organizations have internally developed their own versions of this type of product. The last company I worked for had a VP of Innovation who headed a IT-based project to create an intranet page where employees can come and contribute to an idea bank - we well as rate other employees' ideas. These systems work if companies have resources that can support the administration and reporting piece of it.

Ahmad Noordin

[Konrad Klimek]

If frequently used and contributed to ideajam than companies would be wise to use it. However, many people are either uncomfortable in using these kind of idea software or it is ineffectively implemented. Ideajam can catch on but it depends how it will be enforced and if ideas will actually be realistic as well as creative in the scope of the companies objective.

[Rhaquel Valencia]

In addition to using the software, I think that it is very important to keep the user informed and give a transparent process so they know what's going to happen with the ideas. From which score number will they start getting implemented? by whom? who is responsible? who can you contact to track status of ideas? I think these are concerns that should be addressed otherwise ideas will be stacked in the software and as a user you won't feel that there are true actions been executed towards implementing them.

[Nimmy Kurian]

I agree that the biggest challenge in implementing a virtual suggestion box in an organization is keeping the incoming ideas/suggestions organized . Another key challenge is in how to share this information.
In our organization, we have a quarterly innovation day where all ideas submitted via our internal wiki are evaluated by a group of people. Anybody can attend these sessions and provide their input on it. The results of these sessions are also posted on the wiki and is open to suggestions/comments. I find ths

Some very good product and process innovations were obtained and implemented this way.

[Khuram Jabbar]

IDeaJam sounds good for large corporations as it is expensive to implement and maintain. I think this will do great for company's because people don't have time to write to every suggetion in the company. This should not be used my higher management because this details should be given for a CFO or CEO's "agree" or disagree" for certain issue.
Another effective use could be applying it on to specific issues only.

[Khuram Jabbar]

I actually take that back and I would prefer Blogs, since they are detailed, one can express why he/she agree or disagree. Because this will make employees to participate and actually brainstorm, which in turn will produce much better results

[Zoaib Mirza]

I personally feel that this product might not become popular, especially for non corporate organizations. People like to have traditional meetings and then decide collectively what is an action for a task. Currently we are introduced to blogs and wikis and those are taking time to become part of our life. Not everyone is into blogs and wikis and it would be a while before it becomes common like checking our emails. Therefore I guess everything should be done step by step.

[Lita Scott]

The company where I work implemented a concept such as Idea Jam in Jul 2008....I don't think it has been used since the QA testing. The concept is great but folks aren't interested in using the tool. I think its a great idea and with proper management it could be effective for corporations. The virtual suggestion box would be great.

[Daniel Thompson]

This is a great tool for users to use. In a company it can pay huge dividends. The real issue in using something like this relates to the environment of the company. If the company does not foster ideas generally, and/or if they are very rigid in structure, it is impossible to gain buy-in from the rank and file, no matter how nifty the tool is, or how easy to use.

It is very similar to the implications of the collaborative software that all of the groups looked at. Some were good (ProjectPLace), some were bad (MS Project), but in the end, even the best fitting project management software will not work unless you have a group of people that have a vested interest in using it.

I would suspect that money in a lot of cases is not a main motivator, and definitely cannot in this economy. The key is not doing a mass implementation, but rather starting out small, and then trumpeting a success, and then gradually expanding the scope of everything.

This is the way to gain the most investment from a project where you have a lot of employees resistance. In other words, what a lot of you were talking about, a Big Bang implementation, will and did fail, hands down.

Oh, and
Re: Blogs - blogs were not really doing so hot, and some might say, were actually fairly close to failing until the social networking sites kicked in. Once that happened, it would appear everyone developed an insatiable appetite for it.

[Jason Akai]

So - the problem with corporate blogs is the need to be anonymous. No one wants to post something (you know, like here) where your name is associated with an opinion forever, even if at some point you change your opinion. I'm sure Bill Gates regrets ever trying to claim a home workstation's limit on memory usage in the 80's to something like 64K.

With the anonymous post comes people who take advantage of that. If you can't be caught saying anything, some people will say anything. We've been doing that for sometime where I work and some bloggers say whatever they want and it then spins the blog out of control into a different point all together.

If the posts were done in a small team or group for a project or process - one that couldn't meet and where data could be edited, like a Wiki - there may be some value to that. But Blogs and discussion boards IMHO aren't the value add most people expect them to be.

[Scott Timmerman]

I think in order for IdeaJam to become effective in a company the management would have to force users to take part in it. It's a great concept, and if done right and people actually do use it they will grow to like it and spread positive feedback to others. Where I currently work we use an online system where people can login anonymously and post ideas/concerns/issues which are then forwarded to all management. I've been in companies where similar products were introduced, but without management backing and the requirement for it to be used they just all fall by the wayside within a matter of a couple weeks...

[An Ton]

This is a great ideal. I have to see how it works to have a better opinion. I also think that this could turn out to be a popularity contest within the company. I went to ideajam.net and found that the person who posted their idea will also get their name displace. If the tool allows company to take out that function it would reduce the chance of this turn into a popularity contest. I think, not until the vote final should we give credit to whoever posted that idea. This is also great for brainstorm section.

[Bruce Elgort]

Hello,

My name is Bruce Elgort and I am one of the creators of IdeaJam. I would be happy to provide some examples of how our customers are using IdeaJam both inside and outside the firewall. Let me know how I can best provide these examples to your your class.

Additionally, our product relies on a company having a Lotus Notes and Domino infrastructure. With this in place IdeaJam can be setup within 15 minutes. In Notes it would be File > Application > New > IdeaJam. Once that is done a few clicks and IdeaJam is ready to use.

We demonstrate some of this in our tour videos which can be found at http://elguji.com/ideajamtour

Keep up the comments as you all make very good points.

Warm regards,

Bruce Elgort
Elguji Software, LLC

[Hassan Raza]

Poor economic conditions and recession has forced many companies to find efficiencies and save cost. A similar measure was just taken in my company where the new CEO asked everyone to contribute their ideas to an "idea" email address. These emails are only viewed by a committee that reports to the CEO and then determine if the idea is worth pursuing. However, employees never get to see what ideas have surfaced and what is the status. Conversely, the committee never sees which ideas are popular and which could be made better. Ideajam stands to solve this dilemma.

Although American companies have dabbled in the process of bottom-up collaboration (Google), I wonder if the availability of a tool like ideajam will bring about the cultural change that Japanese have perfected. I know I will be pitching the idea of "ideajam" to my company.

[Esther Quintero-Guzman]

This is an interesting piece of software and it is remarkable how complicated one can make a suggestion box. From what I read ideajam is both, a suggestion box and a ballot box. I think this application would be best as a way of getting feed back from customers and employees not necessarily as a way of getting great ideas. A good feature is the ability to get a variety statistical reports. In my experience, the categories of great ideas and popular ideas do not overlap as much as one would like. But popular or not, it is a good idea to find out what people think, if nothing else to find out the degree of opposition. If an idea is suggested by many employees within the organization, it might have more chances to be supported and successful. In the same way, a complain from many customers might help to detect a failure in our processes. The marketing of the product suggests that it can be useful for multiple applications and not only as a recipient for suggestions. The tool might work for certain aspects of management like customer complaints, marketing research, surveys, etc.. From a technical point of view it is too bad that the product is not a stand alone but requires the ibm lotus notes server which is not that common on the market. Of
course , as any other system, a good input is necessary to get a good outcome, if the ideas posted are not brilliant or useful for the organization, or the persons in charge of the decision making are not capable to develop them, the tool never will provide miraculous solutions by itself. I found it very interesting to analyze this product and imagine its various application possibilities.

[rnahar]

Thank you for good knowledge of IdeaJam.This seems to me an interesting piece of software.Ideajam will bring about the cultural change. IdeaJam seems to be a recommender system for ideas within an organization.The tool helps work for certain aspects of management like customer complaints, marketing research, surveys, etc. It sounds like a great way to address ideas and create an electronic community.