Page 39 - CCCA 250375 Magazine_Summer 2016

{ strategIC management }

how Can You bring it to Your explains Goldstein. The Challenge en- even have to be a contest,” says Cud-
organization? courages them to be the change they joe. In a very small organization, for
■ Make it simple: The attraction of the want to see. It provides a forum to example, it could simply be a regular
Innovative Team Challenge is its sim- share the ideas that have been in their meeting to pitch ideas to the boss.
plicity. Employees are provided with heads for a while. Play around with the framework to
the rules and templates, training on the ■ Check for obstacles: Goldstein advises suit your team.
process and best practices, and individ- that such an initiative must have sup- “Make it work for you,” says Gold-
ual support as needed along the way. port from the top. While this was not stein. “The more people we get to do
To enter, they only need to fll out one a hurdle for BMO, if the support is not this, the more we get people to see
form, which is found on a SharePoint there in your organization, people will how the industry can be doing things
site along with all the documentation not feel it is important enough to par- differently.”
and tools for easy access. ticipate in. If you are interested in implementing
■ Keep it simple: Once set up, the Chal- She adds that they didn’t go in the Innovative Team Challenge in your
lenge is not complicated or expensive to with expectations, so there were none organization but need help, BMO Legal
run. And while key people need to al- to manage: “The goal is to get people is happy to assist. You can contact Carla
lot time to support it, the impact—and thinking differently. Cost savings are Goldstein at Carla.Goldstein@bmo.com. ❚
savings—in terms of effciency and en- the icing on the cake.”
gagement for the organization are huge. ■ Make it your own: Encouraging inno-
“We are giving people a voice. We vation does not have to be done ex- Lynne Yryku is the Managing Editor of CCCA Magazine.
want to hear what they have to say,” actly like BMO’s Challenge. “It doesn’t

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