HR

Driving Innovation

in Small and Medium Businesses

“Don’t wait for the storms of your life to pass. Learn to dance in the rain.” – Steve Jobs

Small and medium-sized companies

have many options which allow them to

grow and push their business to the next

level. One of these development paths

is the systematic innovation of products

and services. This method allows

entrepreneurs to handle trying times and

changes that affect their futures.

Within our company the innovation

process, with which we direct the future

of our business, is placed on the same

pedestal as operative processes that earn

us money in the present.

as a company, are able to grasp and

effectively work with. In processing

specific themes we make use of the socalled Lean Canvas method, thanks to

which we reach a clear definition of the

problem we are trying to solve, and for

whom we are solving it for. In addition to

that, we also look for innovative solutions

that offer our customers the highest

possible added value. It is in this way

that we are able to analyze the financial

plan of realization for certain products

and evaluate the risks embedded in their

development and market introduction.

One of the core activities of our innovation

process is the August Innovation Week.

We use this workshop as an opportunity

to go through new developments in

the market and discuss those which we,

The results of this process include a list of

innovation intentions, which is then evaluated

by a team of specialists who highlight

priority goals. For example, this year we

found 6 product innovation opportunities,

3 of which were determined to be priority

goals. These were labeled as: students from

schools, computer digitization and company

culture within the walls of offices and halls.

Our main success criteria was to develop

products in a way which would truly solve the

issues that our clients are facing.

One important aspect of our development

approach is repeated prototype testing in

real customer scenarios. We realize that

only our customers can help us understand

how to best adapt our product development

to their needs. Our tests are conducted

physically, as well as online, which allows

us to lean on specific data points in our

decision making. Another core activity in our

innovation process is the January strategic

workshop. As part of this annual event,

we focus on revising and coming up with

new strategies for company development.

Products which have successfully entered

the testing stage become strategic projects.

New development teams are created,

which take large strides in pushing the

projects forward. Then, throughout the year,

every month we share data about project

advancements, put the final touches on

finished projects and reach into our backlog

for the next priority goal.

The methodology of our work in

development always keeps us pushing

forward and never leaves us lagging

behind, so that we can be competent

partners for our clients. This process of

driving innovation is working well for us,

and we adapt it to and help implement it

into the operation of our clientele, which

includes a range of small to medium-sized

companies.

Lenka Chýlková

Managing and business director

New Dimension, s.r.o.

Text a foto: New Dimension, s.r.o.

POSITIV 4/2022 ǀ 53