The Innovation Dashboard: Your Innovation Pipeline's Steering Template

Many companies struggle with justifying innovation investments. They struggle with reporting the progress of their innovation pipeline. Too many and too vague innovation KPIs, siloed data across fragmented tools, and innovation theatre make it difficult to assess the innovation pipeline's quality.

Companies are left guessing which projects are on track. And, innovation activities become the first to cut in economically difficult situations. We have analyzed hundreds of report examples to provide you with the perfect dashboard. It enables innovation leaders to effectively track, manage, and optimize their innovation pipeline.

In this article, we explain what makes an ideal dashboard, how to design impactful reports, and why actionable key performance indicators and up-to-date portfolios are crucial for successful innovation strategy execution.

The importance of measuring innovation and dashboards

Most often, spending money on brilliant ideas is guesswork. The returns are risky and only amortize up-to years later after the decision. It thus needs strong commitment and leadership trust. To earn the trust repeatedly, reporting on achievements, providing status updates, and showing results is the most convincing approach.

Measuring innovation effectively is easier said than done. Many organizations face challenges when it comes to tracking and evaluating their innovation pipeline. To be effective, portfolio managers need to know stakeholder interests, use business-relevant actionable metrics, collect data comprehensively, and make different reports available as needed.

Innovation dashboards are essential for companies to overcome those challenges and provide real value and oversight. At best, they provide a clear, real-time view of the innovation pipeline, including metrics such as the percentage of ideas successfully developed, return on R&D costs, and the connection to strategic goals.

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the innovation performance, it is essential to measure both input and output metrics. Input metrics measure leading indicators, things you can directly control, such as budgets, people, or ideas. Output metrics measure lagging indicators and the results and consequences of the input metrics.

Putting both into a quotient will measure the effectiveness of utilizing the input metrics. This visibility allows companies to identify strengths and weaknesses in their innovation pipeline. Over the course of time and relative to goals, they help make informed decisions, repeatedly earning trust, or making corrections as necessary.

A well-designed report helps teams avoid common pitfalls, creates transparency, and keeps everyone aligned and informed.

Building a comprehensive innovation pipeline report

To craft a comprehensive dashboard, it is first important to understand innovation management and the parts of the innovation pipeline that must be included.

An end-to-end innovation pipeline is comprehensive when it captures the journey from strategy to ideas to projects to market success. It encompasses every stage of the innovation process, including foresight and priority setting, idea generation, testing, implementation, and scaling.

Furthermore, it should not only show the innovation pipeline of one team, department, or engine. It should unite the innovative projects of every team. It should provide a company-wide perspective to measure innovation.  

Combining all innovation process stages and the activities of every team in one data set will ensure a comprehensive innovation pipeline report. This will also ensure that good ideas are not lost, synergies are leveraged, and adjustments are made as needed. 

Understanding the trackable parts of the innovation process

Understanding the innovation process is crucial for effective innovation management. The innovation process is a structured journey designed to guide a company from concept to implementation, ensuring that new ideas are both valuable and executable.

It begins with foresight and opportunity identification, where a company actively seeks areas to innovate and grow. This can involve market and customer research, trend, and technology scouting, as well as internal assessments to identify gaps where new solutions could generate significant impact.

At this stage, key input metrics for measuring innovation may include the number of identified opportunities, the potential market sizes, and the alignment of these opportunities with the strategic horizons.

Once opportunities are clearly defined, idea collection and generation start. Here, a company gathers interesting concepts. A diverse range of perspectives during this phase increases the likelihood of generating promising concepts.

Metrics for this stage might include the number of ideas generated, diversity of participation, expected earnings or savings, and ideas with extraordinary ratings.

The next step involves assessing the feasibility, market potential, and alignment with the company strategy. It is the phase of refinement, evaluation, and prioritization.

Companies measure success in this phase by the percentage that passes initial feasibility tests and the resource efficiency in assessing and refining each idea.

With the most viable ideas selected, a company moves into development and prototyping. In this phase, concepts are transformed into prototypes or minimum viable products (MVPs). These prototypes help test the core features without a full resource commitment.

Key performance indicators (KPIs) here include the time taken to develop prototypes, the cost of prototyping/iterations, user satisfaction scores, the percentage of successful tests, and the number of hypotheses validated by these models.

Finally, it is time for full-scale deployment, ensuring that innovations can be integrated into existing operations or brought to market effectively. Metrics at this stage include the speed of scaling, cost efficiency, and market penetration rates.

An effective innovation pipeline report thus should include the following stages:

1. Foresight and opportunity identification: Number, volume, and effort of spotting relevant business opportunities or risks
2. Idea generation: Number, volume, and strategic fit of idea submissions
3. Idea refinement, evaluation, prioritization: Conversion rate of ideas, conversion time, and confidence in evaluations and decisions
4. Development and prototyping: Number, volume, conversion rate, resource spending, and conversion time to verify projects
5. Full-scale deployment: Number, volume, conversion rate, resource spending, and conversion time to scale projects

Understanding these essential parts of the innovation process helps build a convincing report. A company can thus use those metrics to build actionable indicators that adequately path the way to success.

Building an actionable innovation report

An innovation report is a powerful communication and control tool that provides stakeholders with a comprehensive overview of the progress and outcomes. A well-structured report helps in maintaining transparency and accountability while showcasing the value of each initiative. Strategic planning thus becomes actionable, and the control board helps align the company’s business objectives with its project management.

Here is the ideal structure for a best-practice dashboard:

Tracking actionable innovation metrics and KPIs

When it comes to measuring innovation, it is essential to distinguish between vanity metrics and actionable metrics. Vanity metrics are superficial indicators that might look impressive but provide little value for decision-making.

Examples include the sheer number of ideas submitted or the volume of patents filed. While these numbers can give a sense of activity, they do not reveal if these activities are generating real business value.

In contrast, actionable metrics are those that provide insights leading to tangible improvements in the innovation process. Actionable metrics are context-rich, allowing companies to take informed steps to optimize their innovation activities.

For example, measuring the percentage of new ideas that move from concept to market or tracking the return on R&D investment are ways output metrics measure the effectiveness of innovation activities. These metrics help gauge effectiveness and direct resources where they will have the most impact.

Using actionable innovation indicators shows adjustment directions and informs business actions.

Actionable innovation metrics are characterized by:

• Relative (input/output) and time-bound
• Related to specific goals and having direction
• Revealing possible directions for change

To effectively manage innovation, focusing on actionable metrics ensures that data drives meaningful change. Tracking relative metrics—those that provide insights in comparison to other factors, such as success rates or investment efficiency—can lead to a more effective innovation strategy.

Innovation KPIs should be actionable, meaning they provide insights that lead to improvements in the innovation process.

Here are some of the most important actionable innovation KPIs to consider:

By tracking these actionable KPIs, organizations can identify areas for improvement, allocate resources more effectively, and ensure that their innovation efforts are aligned with business objectives.

Collecting input metrics and output metrics

Data collection is the backbone of building meaningful innovation KPIs. The input for these metrics is gathered through a variety of sources, ensuring that the data is both comprehensive and reliable. Employee feedback and collaboration tools are used to capture the number and quality of new ideas.

Customer surveys and market research provide insights into customer impact and market readiness. Project management systems and internal R&D reports track the progress of projects, from concept development to implementation, allowing companies to measure the efficiency of their innovation pipeline.

Financial data, including R&D spending and ROI calculations, are integrated from accounting systems to evaluate the overall return on investments. By systematically collecting and analyzing this data, companies can develop actionable KPIs that reflect the true performance and impact of their innovation efforts.

By defining and managing an end-to-end innovation pipeline, companies can ensure that they have a structured process for turning ideas into impactful products or services. This structure is crucial for maintaining momentum and avoiding the common pitfalls of stalled or unsuccessful projects.

Integrating innovation pipeline reports into working routines

For an innovation pipeline review to be truly effective, it must be integrated into the daily routines of the teams involved in innovation. This means that the dashboard should not be an afterthought or something that is only reviewed during quarterly meetings. Instead, it should be a living tool that teams interact with regularly.

Best practices for integrating dashboards into routines:

Daily or Weekly Standups: Incorporate the innovation pipeline review into regular team meetings to review progress and make quick adjustments as needed.

Real-Time Updates: Ensure that the dashboard is updated in real-time, so teams always have access to the most current data. This helps in making informed decisions quickly.

Role-Based Views: Customize the dashboard to provide relevant insights for different stakeholders. For example, executives may need a high-level overview, while R&D teams require detailed project-level data.

Training and Adoption: Educate team members on how to use the dashboard effectively. This includes understanding the metrics, how to interpret the data, and how to take action based on insights.

By integrating the innovation pipeline review into regular workflows, teams can maintain momentum, make data-driven decisions, and keep everyone aligned with the company’s innovation goals.

Innovation reporting tailored to stakeholder interests

Different stakeholders have different needs when it comes to innovation reporting. Executives want to know the ROI and strategic alignment of innovation initiatives, while R&D teams need details on project progress and technical challenges. Tailoring innovation reports to meet the interests of different stakeholders ensures that everyone gets the information they need to make informed decisions.

To tailor innovation reporting effectively:

Understand Stakeholder Needs: Identify what each group of stakeholders cares about. Executives may prioritize financial metrics, while product managers focus on development timelines and customer feedback.

Use Different Formats: Consider using multiple formats for your innovation report, such as executive summaries, detailed project reports, and visual dashboards. This ensures that each stakeholder can access the information in the format that works best for them.

Highlight What Matters Most: Emphasize the innovation metrics that are most relevant to each audience. For example, highlight financial impact and strategic alignment for executives, while focusing on technical milestones for development teams.

Tailored reporting helps build buy-in from stakeholders and ensures that the entire business is aligned in its innovation pipeline.

Avoiding common pitfalls

Measuring innovation can be challenging, and there are several common pitfalls that organizations should avoid to ensure effective innovation management. One common pitfall is using too many metrics, which can lead to confusion and distraction. It is important to focus on a few key metrics that provide actionable recommendations and drive meaningful improvements.

Another pitfall is focusing too much on input metrics, such as the number of generated ideas or the amount of money spent on R&D. While these metrics are important, they do not necessarily indicate the success of your innovation operations.

Organizations should also focus on output metrics, such as the percentage of ideas that reach the market, the return on R&D investment, and the impact of innovation on customer satisfaction.

Additionally, organizations should avoid using metrics that are not aligned with their innovation strategy or goals. Metrics should be carefully selected to ensure they support the overall innovation objectives and provide recommendations that lead to strategic improvements.

By avoiding these common pitfalls and focusing on the right metrics, organizations can effectively measure their innovation portfolio, make informed decisions, and achieve their innovation goals.

Best-practice innovation report with ITONICS Innovation OS

The ITONICS Innovation OS allows you to manage all your innovation data inside one single source of truth. Use the data and synchronize it with any other application. Via the ITONICS API, you can extract data and send it to any business intelligence tool, style your report, and embed a report again in your Innovation OS.

You can build as many reports as you want to and define the permission rights of every user to see your innovation reports.

Start straight optimizing your innovation pipeline with ITONICS

The ITONICS Innovation OS is the best innovation management software to run a successful innovation process. At ITONICS, we understand the importance of innovation and offer a comprehensive innovation management platform. Our Innovation OS embodies all the essentials of the best innovation management software and covers all the application areas in one tool.

With ITONICS, organizations can:

• Eliminate Information Silos: The Innovation OS centralizes all your innovation projects, ideas, and teams in one place. Reduce duplicated efforts, dispersed teams, and disconnected data.
• Track Actionable KPIs: ITONICS allows companies to define and track KPIs that align with their strategic goals. This ensures that innovation projects are delivering value and contributing to business success.
• Generate Customized Reports: Create tailored innovation reports that meet the needs of different stakeholders. Whether you need a high-level business summary or a detailed project breakdown, ITONICS makes it easy to generate the right reports.
• Facilitate Cross-Functional Collaboration: By centralizing innovation activities in one platform, ITONICS helps break down silos and encourages collaboration across teams and departments.