A new journey: Innovation management at alfa Media

Innovation. A big word with a powerful meaning; after all, innovations are the drivers of progress, but also important to keep a company competitive in the market. Hardly any time has made such great leaps in development as today. Nevertheless – or precisely because of this – this word is also perceived negatively. Often the workload in companies is so immense that there is no room for innovation. The staff are busy with their daily work and may not even develop any new ideas. And if they do, they are ideas that are part of the roadmap and deal with features and innovations for existing products or services.

But innovation can – and should – be more. It should not only improve the existing, but create something entirely new. The freedom and creativity to break out of old ways to ” invent” something completely new is, however, usually also crushed by the workload. The usual thought structures that deal with existing products (and are supposed to) also have to be broken down first in order to become more flexible again. The necessary and important expertise that has been acquired over years of developing a product can suddenly become a barrier. But not only the services and products are part of innovation management, but also the work processes and structures within a company. In times of New Work, it is also important to try out new things and break with traditions in this area.

To meet these requirements, which are essential in a modern world of work, we at alfa Media have decided to give innovations the importance they are deserving to have. Our staff is already doing a great job in the project business and has proven in recent years that we are not afraid of innovation. Nevertheless, we have realised that we are not focusing enough on modernisation, renewal and innovation. And we want to change that. For this reason, we have created a new department: The Department for Innovation Management.

Admittedly, this new department is still in the process of being set up. But it is a start to acquire the knowledge needed to establish successful innovation management outside the roadmap and the day-to-day business. As a first step, we need not only the gradual development of an innovation culture, but also the evaluation of which processes are necessary for this and which methods there are to promote innovative ideas in the company. We will acquire this knowledge and integrate it step by step into our work at alfa Media.

I would like to take you on this journey, which our CEO Michael Marcks and I are already looking forward to. Starting with the knowledge we have acquired, to the steps we are implementing, to the mistakes we will make, which are necessary in order to constantly improve and acquire the necessary learnings.

Let us take this journey together.