The groups : one of the key mechanisms for innovation

Usually, the worlds of innovation management and change management are completely independent, even if the consensus definitions of innovation integrate product and process innovations with organizational innovations. Indeed, innovation professionals such as product and marketing managers, as well as R&D and industrialization engineers and managers, are more concerned with proposing commercially or technologically innovative product or service concepts, than with the way in which the organization will have to change to implement them and, in particular, to bring them to market successfully. Similarly, change management professionals are more often concerned with the organizational and individual acceptance of a new structure, the use of a software package, the reorganization of services, etc., than with the successful deployment of a product or process innovation. However, these two disciplines have a number of elements in common. In particular, group work is playing an increasingly important role in developing their effectiveness. This article looks at the importance of groups in both innovation and change management.

Many different types of group can be distinguished, depending on their objectives, size, composition, practical modes of interaction... and there are a variety of methods for mobilizing them and developing exchanges and work within them. In addition, there are many software platforms available to support their activities, some of which will facilitate exchanges between professionals, while others will facilitate joint work, and still others will offer both possibilities, whether in face-to-face or remote mode.