A new-generation suggestion box

Kelli Rodda

How many of you have a suggestion box? How many years’ worth of dust has it collected? Is the most intriguing suggestion you ever received about changing the coffee or buying softer toilet paper? It’s time to turn that box into kindling.

I’m not saying don’t take suggestions or ideas from your employees. By all means, encourage their feedback. Listen to it carefully. Let them know you appreciate it. But you need a new vehicle.

There are a few inherent problems with the old-fashioned suggestion box.

1. Your people are too busy to stop and write something down.
2. Employees may think you won’t consider their idea at all.
3. Not everyone is good at getting ideas from their head to paper.

Better solutions
To help combat No. 1, carve out some brainstorming time. It can be in a large or small group setting. And don’t make it an elitist group that only includes upper management — include everyone. Throwing a box of doughnuts on the table and asking, “So, who’s got some ideas to boost profits (or create a new product, improve an existing technique, etc.)?” is not going to get the creative juices flowing. Identify some places that need improvement or areas where new products are warranted. Explain the issues and any ideas the company has tried in the past, as well as why the proposed solutions didn’t work.

For help with No. 2, be encouraging. Nothing will derail an ideas/solutions session like an eye roll, a deep sigh or a furrowed brow. Be aware of how you react. Someone may suggest something that sounds so farfetched, but it just may be valuable. If you’ve had some really good ideas come from employees in the past, let them know. If not, tell them the story of the Post-It Note, which was Spencer Silver, a 3M employee’s, idea. Not everyone’s idea will make a gajillion dollars like the Post-It, but 3M blew off Silver’s idea for many years. And let your employees know that you’re not necessarily looking for the next big thing — a few small ideas can lead to big savings.

No. 3 is a little tricky, but a caring manager can help. Not everyone is comfortable talking in front of a group. Perhaps an employee would be better off drawing a solution or making a video. Ask your managers to engage people at the end of a shift or the end of the week about problems. Have them demonstrate the problem and offer solutions. The one-on-one time with a person’s immediate supervisor may yield better results.

Have a little fun
Steven Farmer, W. Frank Barton Distinguished Chair in Business at Wichita State University, told Inc. magazine that new ideas come from playfulness and humor. “If fun is not a dirty word at your business, you’ll hear a lot more ideas every day,” he told the magazine.

I’ve visited a ton of nurseries and several suppliers’ companies — I’ve seen you people have fun. Now I’ve seen some people who take things way too seriously, but there’s one in every crowd, I think. So be creative — have a Wii bowling tournament, a baking contest or a dominoes tourney. Find something enjoyable to start and help break up the monotony. Then let me know if Farmer was right.