Capturing Ideas From the Floor Without Killing Momentum

Most organisations say they want more ideas from the floor.

In practice, they often do the opposite.

Someone spots an inefficiency, a cost saving, or a smarter way of working but instead of sharing it, they think:

• It’s probably not worth the hassle

• I don’t know who to tell

• I don’t have time to write a full business case

So the idea dies quietly. Not because it wasn’t good but because the path to sharing it felt heavy.

The challenge isn’t a lack of ideas.
It’s a lack of lightweight structure to capture them.

You Don’t Need a Full Business Case to Capture a Good Idea

Early-stage ideas don’t need financial models or formal approvals.

What they do need is:

• Clear thinking

• Shared visibility

• A place to live

At this stage, the goal isn’t to approve spend, it’s to understand:

• What’s the idea?

• What problem does it solve?

• Where might the value come from?

That’s it.

If you ask for more than that too early, people stop contributing.

Why Most “Idea Capture” Programs Fail

Many organisations try:

• Suggestion boxes

• Innovation portals

• Monthly “ideas” meetings

They fail for the same reasons:

• Ideas aren’t structured, so they’re hard to assess

• Feedback loops are unclear

• Nothing visibly happens afterwards

People quickly learn that sharing ideas goes nowhere, so they stop.

What Actually Encourages Strong Thinking From the Floor

The goal isn’t volume.
It’s thoughtful ideas that others can build on.

That requires three things:

1. A Simple Thinking Framework (Not a Form)

Give them one place to share answers to the following:

• What are you seeing?

• Why does it matter?

• What do you think could improve?

This encourages clarity without intimidation.

2. Shared Visibility

Ideas should be:

• Visible to the right people

• Easy to comment on

• Easy to build on

When people see their thinking acknowledged, engagement grows.

3. A Clear Next Step

Every idea should have one of three outcomes:

• Park it

• Explore it

• Turn it into a formal justification

Uncertainty kills momentum more than rejection.

Turning Floor-Level Ideas Into Action (Without Bureaucracy)

The most effective organisations treat ideas as a pipeline:

1. Idea capture: lightweight, open, encouraging

2. Exploration: structured thinking, rough value, quick feedback

3. Justification: only when real time or money is required

This keeps the bar low at the start and raises it only when necessary.

Where This Becomes Easy

Riff works well at this early stage because it:

• Helps people articulate ideas clearly

• Prompts better thinking without demanding numbers

• Creates a shared record of ideas and discussion

• Makes it easy to escalate the right ideas into structured justifications later

People don’t need to “submit a business case.”
They just need a place to think out loud in a way others can follow.

The Cultural Shift That Follows

When ideas from the floor are:

• Easy to share

• Taken seriously

• Clearly progressed or parked

Something changes.

People stop self-censoring.
Managers gain visibility into what’s really happening.
Good ideas stop getting lost in conversations.

You don’t get more noise.
You get better thinking, shared earlier.

And that’s how organisations improve one practical idea at a time.

Using Riff to collect and refine ideas

Riff can identify an idea from a formal business case, in fact we have an 'ideas' agent. People can share their thoughts in Riff and have it turned into a simple one pager that others understand and engage with. They can share it, get feedback in Riff and you can even set up an approvals flow for idea evaluation.