How to Build Co-Creation Strategies for Change Success

Want your change initiatives to succeed? Involve your people. Research shows that change efforts are 30% more likely to succeed when employees actively shape the process. Co-creation flips traditional change management by engaging those most affected by changes - your employees, partners, and stakeholders.

Here’s what you need to know about co-creation strategies:

• Why Co-Creation Works:

  • Boosts Engagement: Employees feel valued and invested.
  • Improves Decisions: Diverse perspectives lead to smarter solutions.
  • Reduces Resistance: Early involvement minimizes pushback.
  • Delivers Results: Projects with co-creation are 7x more likely to succeed.

• Core Steps to Build a Co-Creation Plan:

  1. Include Multiple Perspectives: Engage employees, Gen Z contributors, and external partners.
  2. Build Trust: Use transparent communication and active listening.
  3. Create Mutual Benefits: Ensure all participants see value in the process.
  4. Set Clear Goals: Use SMART+ objectives to guide efforts.
  5. Use the Right Tools: Combine digital platforms, workshops, and feedback systems.

• Measure Success:

  • Track engagement, innovation, customer satisfaction, and financial impact.
  • Example: DHL’s co-creation strategy boosted customer satisfaction to 80%+ and reduced churn.

Core Elements of Co-Creation Strategies

Including Multiple Perspectives

Co-creation thrives when diverse viewpoints come together. In fact, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 25% more likely to achieve above-average profitability ^[6]. This highlights the value of including varied perspectives in decision-making.

To bring multiple perspectives into the fold, organizations should engage different stakeholder groups effectively:

Stakeholder Group	Engagement Strategy	Expected Outcome
Employees	Cross-functional teams & resource groups	28% higher brand advocacy rates [5]
Gen Z Contributors	Leveraging digital platforms (e.g., TikTok, Discord)	76% of Gen Z consumers expect brands to respond to feedback [5]
External Partners	Regular innovation meetings	Improved product development and loyalty [11]

The impact of diverse input grows when trust and open communication form the foundation.

"In my work as a health equity strategist, I've found that genuine community engagement involves going beyond the obvious stakeholders. Actively seeking input from diverse voices ensures a more complete understanding, laying the groundwork for effective and lasting initiatives." - Donna Kabangai, MPH, Compliance & Equity Strategist ^[4]

Building Trust and Communication

Diverse perspectives are only as effective as the trust and communication that support them. Trust is essential for co-creation success, and organizations that emphasize strong communication can cut employee turnover by 50% ^[8]. Creating a safe space for idea-sharing is a key part of this process.

Here are two strategies to build trust:

• Transparent Communication: For example, a healthcare startup maintained credibility by promptly informing investors about delays and proposed solutions ^[9].
• Active Listening: Establishing diverse feedback channels strengthens stakeholder relationships. A non-profit organization successfully rebranded by hosting multiple forums and feedback sessions with donors and community members ^[9].

Creating Mutual Benefits

Once diverse voices are included and trust is established, the next step is to ensure that all participants gain value. Procter & Gamble exemplifies this by making co-created value central to its innovation strategy, engaging stakeholders throughout the process ^[11].

"If you can put staff first, your customer second, and shareholders third, effectively, in the end the shareholders do well, the customers do better, and [you] yourself are happy." - Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group ^[10]

One practical example comes from a Dutch innovation platform for facility management services. By holding monthly innovation meetings with frontline employees, they achieved:

• A better understanding of daily operational needs
• Empowered employees who felt their input mattered
• Greater loyalty to the organization
• Improved innovation outcomes from direct feedback ^[11]

To sustain these mutual benefits, organizations need structured processes that allow all parties to integrate their resources effectively. Regular interactions and clear expectations are essential for maintaining engagement and achieving better outcomes for everyone involved ^[11].

Building Your Co-Creation Plan

Identifying Key Players

Start by creating a stakeholder map to identify all the groups that will be impacted by or influential in your co-creation process.

Stakeholder Type	Role in Co-creation	Engagement Priority
Direct Influencers	Executive sponsors, department heads, team leaders	High – weekly touchpoints
Core Contributors	Subject matter experts, frontline employees	High – bi-weekly sessions
External Partners	Customers, suppliers, community members	Medium – monthly updates
Support Network	IT, HR, Communications teams	Medium – as needed

"A key stakeholder refers to any stakeholder that presents higher potential risk or reward and is more critical to the success of your project. These stakeholders will require closer management, frequent monitoring, and/or higher levels of engagement." ^[12]

Once you’ve identified the key players, outline specific objectives to guide each stakeholder’s role and contributions.

Setting Goals and Targets

Define clear and measurable goals for your co-creation efforts. Using the SMART+ framework is a great way to ensure your objectives are specific, measurable, aligned, realistic, time-bound, and include stretch targets ^[13].

• Strategic Alignment: Align your goals with the broader purpose of your organization. For instance, The Nature Conservancy successfully enhanced stakeholder engagement by focusing on shared priorities ^[12].
• Measurable Outcomes: Establish concrete metrics such as participation rates or the number of ideas generated. Don’t forget to also gather qualitative feedback to assess the overall impact.

With these goals in place, focus on selecting tools that will help your team collaborate effectively.

Selecting Tools and Methods

Once your objectives are set, choose tools and methods that simplify collaboration and deliver measurable results. The right tools can improve productivity by as much as 20-25% ^[14].

Take GE’s FastWorks program as an example. They achieved success by combining several strategies:

• Digital collaboration platforms to connect remote teams
• In-person workshops for tackling complex challenges
• Rapid prototyping tools to encourage quick iterations
• Feedback collection systems for ongoing improvement ^[7]

"One of my rules in consulting is simple: Never solve the problem I am asked to solve. [...] Because, invariably, the problem I am asked to solve is not the real, fundamental, root problem." – Don Norman ^[15]

Similarly, IBM’s Innovation Jams showcase how to bring diverse stakeholders together across time zones to generate actionable ideas ^[7]. When selecting tools, prioritize those that support both real-time and asynchronous collaboration, ensure transparency, and make it easy to collect and organize feedback from all participants.

7 Tips for Co-Creating Change

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Putting Co-Creation into Practice

Once you've laid out your co-creation plan, the next step is to bring it to life.

Planning and Resources

Executing co-creation successfully hinges on careful planning and resource allocation. Studies indicate that projects involving co-creation are 30% more likely to succeed compared to those lacking collaborative efforts ^[14].

A great example of this is Sodexo's Innov'Hub platform. By adopting Braineet's platform, they facilitated global idea sharing and innovation across their organization ^[18]. This highlights how aligning resources with strategic goals can drive impactful results.

With the resources sorted, the spotlight moves to fostering effective team collaboration.

Managing Team Collaboration

Collaboration thrives when there's a balance between structure and flexibility. It's essential to create an environment where team members feel comfortable sharing ideas and challenging the status quo. In fact, encouraging constructive debate can improve innovation outcomes by 35% ^[16].

"You can achieve more effective results when solutions are created, understood and accepted by the people impacted." – Michael Wilkinson ^[17]

DHL offers a practical example of this. Their co-creation initiatives led to customer satisfaction scores surpassing 80%. They achieved this by focusing on key practices, including:

• Regular progress updates
• Involving stakeholders at every stage
• Clear accountability
• Tracking and sharing results

Maintaining Long-term Success

For co-creation to have lasting impact, it requires continuous learning and adaptation. Heineken's Open Design Explorations program is a great case in point. Through this initiative, they engaged 19 designers and thousands of fans via an online creative hub to develop a club concept ^[18].

To ensure long-term success, consider these strategies:

• Document Learning: Build a repository of best practices and lessons learned.
• Monitor Progress: Use data to track key metrics and refine strategies.
• Invest in Skills: Provide ongoing training and development opportunities.
• Encourage Experimentation: Promote innovation within clear boundaries.

DeWalt's Insight Community is another standout example. By maintaining a group of 12,000 users, including 8,000 professional tradespeople, they saved nearly $6 million in research costs while consistently improving their products ^[18].

"Competition is fierce. Everyone's trying to launch more tools, faster. You need a fast and accurate way to be more reactive in the marketplace." – Ward Smith, Group Product Manager at DeWalt ^[18]

These steps set the stage for successful implementation, paving the way to measure results effectively in the future.

Measuring Co-Creation Results

Research shows that 88% of businesses with strong change management programs achieve or surpass their goals, compared to just 13% of those with weaker programs ^[20]. This highlights the importance of having clear, measurable metrics to assess the success of co-creation efforts.

Success Metrics

To evaluate co-creation, focus on the following key areas:

Metric Category	Key Measurements
Engagement	Participation rates and levels of active contribution
Innovation	Number of new ideas generated and their implementation rates
Customer Impact	Customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores and Net Promoter Score (NPS) changes
Business Value	Cost savings and revenue growth
Change Adoption	Employee buy-in and adherence to new processes

LEGO’s Ideas platform is a great example of this in action. They track both the number of ideas submitted by fans and the commercial success of fan-designed products ^[21].

"Measuring change management is one of the most difficult parts of the process because you're measuring people and their emotions, which is hard to quantify." - Dana Otto, Senior Manager, Change Management, Zendesk ^[19]

Calculating Business Value

While engagement is important, understanding the financial impact of co-creation is essential. In fact, 51% of businesses report improved financial performance thanks to co-creation initiatives ^[22].

DHL offers a compelling case study. Their co-creation strategy led to over 80% customer satisfaction, 97% on-time delivery rates, reduced customer churn, and increased revenue from new services ^[22].

To calculate business value, focus on three core areas:

• Direct Cost Savings: Track reductions in R&D expenses, marketing costs, and operational inefficiencies.
• Revenue Impact: Monitor new revenue streams, customer lifetime value growth, and market share gains.
• Innovation Metrics: Measure improvements in time-to-market, implementation rates, and customer adoption of new offerings.

Starbucks’ "My Starbucks Idea" platform is a prime example. They measure success by tracking idea implementation rates, cost savings, and the direct impact on customer satisfaction ^[21].

Conclusion: Making Co-Creation Work

To make co-creation truly effective, it's essential to balance leadership, engagement, and execution. Projects that incorporate strong change management practices tend to deliver much better results ^[2].

A solid co-creation framework relies on three key pillars: leadership commitment, full stakeholder involvement, and long-term implementation. These elements support the strategies and tools outlined in the co-creation process.

Leadership Commitment

Organizations thrive when they cultivate an environment of continuous learning and experimentation. Dr. Lynn Kelly of LeadChange™ emphasizes, "Culture permeates every aspect of change" ^[24]. Leaders play a crucial role here - they need to prioritize openness, encourage calculated risk-taking, and create a safe space for teams to step out of their comfort zones ^[23].

Stakeholder Engagement

When those directly affected by change are actively involved in shaping it, the chances of long-term success increase significantly - by as much as 30% ^[1]. Effective engagement ensures all voices are heard, aligning with the collaborative principles highlighted by change management experts.

Sustainable Implementation

In a world where employees face up to 10 major changes each year ^[24], sustainability becomes non-negotiable. Clear processes are essential, but so is adaptability. As Rosabeth Moss Kanter of Harvard Business School aptly puts it, "Change is disturbing when done to us, exhilarating when done by us" ^[25].

To embed co-creation into your organization’s DNA, focus on building agile teams, designating communication leads ^[23], and establishing continuous feedback loops. As Nils Koenig ^[3] pointed out, co-creation succeeds when those impacted are directly involved in shaping the change.

FAQs

How can organizations ensure all stakeholders feel valued in the co-creation process?

To make stakeholders feel appreciated during the co-creation process, organizations should focus on fostering open communication and ensuring everyone feels included. Start by laying out a clear purpose and specific goals for the initiative. This helps everyone understand their role and see how their contributions can make a difference.

Engage stakeholders by actively listening to their ideas, addressing their concerns, and incorporating their feedback into decisions. When people see their input shaping the results, they’re more likely to feel connected and committed to the project. Providing clear guidance and the resources they need also builds trust, making it easier for everyone to work together.

When organizations create a space where every voice matters, they not only encourage collaboration but also set the stage for fresh ideas and a stronger sense of unity around shared objectives.

What are the best tools and techniques for successful co-creation in a remote work environment?

To make co-creation work effectively in a remote environment, you need a solid mix of communication tools, project management platforms, and collaborative software. Tools like Zoom or Microsoft Teams are great for real-time conversations and video meetings, keeping remote teams connected despite the distance. When it comes to organizing tasks and tracking progress, platforms like Trello or Asana help ensure everyone stays on the same page with clear goals and deadlines. For brainstorming and visualizing ideas, tools such as Miro or Mural make it easier to collaborate and bring creative concepts to life.

Beyond the tools, setting up clear communication guidelines and scheduling regular check-ins are key to keeping everyone aligned and engaged. Adding team-building activities into the mix can also help strengthen relationships and boost morale - both of which are crucial for successful teamwork. By combining the right tools with thoughtful communication strategies, you can create a remote environment where collaboration and innovation flourish.

What are the best ways to measure the success of co-creation strategies beyond financial results?

To gauge the success of co-creation strategies beyond just financial results, businesses can turn their attention to innovation metrics and stakeholder engagement. For instance, they might monitor how many new ideas are generated, the percentage of those ideas that are actually implemented, and how these efforts influence market performance. These indicators offer insight into how effectively co-creation fuels innovation.

It’s also important to assess customer satisfaction and participant engagement. Metrics like participation rates, the quality of interactions, and the perceived value of stakeholder contributions can paint a fuller picture. This approach not only highlights the effectiveness of co-creation in driving innovation but also its role in fostering collaboration and strengthening community connections.