Get your insights off the bench and into play

Insights that don't get off the bench -- don't get a chance to show what they can do for your business -- are insights wasted. The HBR article we talked about last week stressed the importance of integrating insights and how to do get it done, at a high level.

But how about at a detailed level? With limited time to engage other parts of your business, how can you bring them on board, understand their concerns, and get them to internalize the research results?

Doug Church, co-head of Phase 5's innovation practice, put together tips that address precisely these questions. Below is the executive summary, or download the "Get Insights Used" tipsheet to get his full running commentary on each item. Here's what that commentary is like, Doug on Tip 2: “A pre-research workshop can replace the one-way communication of the traditional kick-off meeting. Instead of convening a meeting to say ‘here’s what we’re doing,’ extend the meeting by an hour and use it to put people on the spot. They’ll thank you for it later.”

1. Meta-research. Do one-on-one pre-research internal interviews with key stakeholders – about the research aims.
2. Pre-research workshops, not meetings. Involve multiple business functions in confirming objectives and detailed research design.
3. Role-playing report outs. In reporting, don’t just tell the customer’s story, bring the customer into the room (figuratively) to answer questions.
4. Cross-group Retrospectives. Encourage the re-use of research by bringing it to different audiences.