How to communicate about innovation performance

This guide provides a step-by-step process to develop a communications plan for information about innovation performance.

How to communicate about innovation performance

Most innovation leaders don’t prioritize communication highly enough. While there are many aspects to communication about innovation, innovation performance measurement is an important tool in your communication toolkit. A well-designed system can help you establish a common language for innovation measurement and basis for judgment among diverse stakeholders. It will improve your collective ability to evaluate discrete projects, calibrate the priorities of different groups, and to steward the innovation function of your organization.

Our guide contains a step-by-step process to improve how you communicate about the innovation performance for your innovation portfolio.​

This guide describes a straightforward approach to defining a communications plan for information about innovation performance. It begins by helping you identify and understand your audience. The guide then provides a framework to assist with characterizing your organization’s culture. With that insight in mind, the guide then illustrates how to select the communication methods that fit the context and address your audiences’ needs.

This guide assumes you already have a measurement system in place—or you’re in the process of developing one. As a prerequisite, you should know what information you and your colleagues need about innovation performance and what metrics you track to generate that information. If you don’t, see our separate guide.

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