How can an Information Architecture team manager encourage innovation?

1 Define the goals and vision

The first step to encourage innovation is to define the goals and vision of your IA project. What are you trying to achieve? Who are your users? What are their pain points and needs? How can you solve their problems or improve their experience? By clarifying these questions, you can align your team around a common purpose and direction. You can also communicate the value and impact of your IA work to the stakeholders and clients. This will help your team to focus on the big picture and avoid getting stuck in the details or assumptions.

2 Provide tools and resources

The second step to encourage innovation is to provide your team with the tools and resources they need to explore and experiment with different IA solutions. This could include software, hardware, platforms, frameworks, methods, guidelines, templates, or examples. You can also create a shared library or repository of IA resources that your team can access and use anytime. The goal is to enable your team to generate, test, and iterate on their ideas quickly and easily. You can also encourage your team to learn new skills or tools that can enhance their IA capabilities.

3 Create a safe and supportive environment

The third step to encourage innovation is to create a safe and supportive environment for your team. This means giving them the freedom and autonomy to try new things, make mistakes, and learn from them. You can also provide constructive feedback, recognition, and rewards for their efforts and achievements. You can also foster a culture of collaboration and communication among your team members. You can encourage them to share their ideas, insights, challenges, and solutions with each other. You can also facilitate brainstorming sessions, workshops, or hackathons where your team can work together on creative IA challenges or projects.

4 Seek inspiration and feedback

The fourth step to encourage innovation is to seek inspiration and feedback from various sources. This could include your users, customers, stakeholders, clients, peers, experts, or competitors. You can use different methods, such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, usability testing, analytics, or benchmarking, to gather data and insights about your users' needs, preferences, behaviors, and feedback. You can also use different platforms, such as blogs, podcasts, newsletters, books, or events, to learn about the latest trends, best practices, or case studies in IA and related fields. You can also use different tools, such as mood boards, mind maps, sketches, or prototypes, to visualize and communicate your IA ideas and concepts.

5 Challenge yourself and your team

The fifth step to encourage innovation is to challenge yourself and your team to go beyond your comfort zone and push the boundaries of your IA work. You can do this by setting ambitious and realistic goals, deadlines, and metrics for your IA project. You can also do this by exploring different perspectives, scenarios, or alternatives for your IA solution. You can also do this by asking yourself and your team critical and creative questions, such as: What if? How might we? Why not? What else? You can also do this by seeking feedback and criticism from different sources and using it to improve your IA work.

6 Celebrate and share your innovation

The sixth and final step to encourage innovation is to celebrate and share your innovation with your team, stakeholders, clients, and users. You can do this by showcasing your IA work, results, and learnings in various formats, such as reports, presentations, demos, or portfolios. You can also do this by acknowledging and thanking your team, stakeholders, clients, and users for their contribution, collaboration, and support. You can also do this by reflecting and documenting your IA process, challenges, and solutions. This will help you to appreciate your achievements, share your knowledge, and inspire others to innovate.

7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?