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Innovation is one of our five leadership values. In an interview with SupplyOn board member Dr. Stefan Brandner, find out how we define innovation, the role it plays in our long-term strategy, and how we ensure that all employees across hierarchies and in all areas can participate in it. Learn about internal best practices and how we deal with challenges such as lack of time and failure to constantly question the status quo and proactively seek opportunities to improve our service offerings. How does SupplyOn define innovation?Stefan: We are guided by common definitions. We differentiate between innovations where the degree of technological novelty is very high. This includes, for example, innovations that are disruptive to existing markets and can completely change the market. The smartphone, the software-as-a-service concept, and platform business models are typical examples of this.On the other hand, there are innovations that use existing technologies to continuously increase customer value. These innovations are divided into incremental innovations, which are minor optimizations of existing products, and sustainable innovations, which are significant enhancements to a product to secure the company's market position in the long term. Applied to the examples mentioned, this means that providers in these originally disruptive markets must continuously improve. Customers do not opt for the provider that was first to define a new market with a disruptive product, but for the one they expect to offer the greatest benefit in the future.What role does innovation play in our long-term strategy?Stefan: Our customers are facing ever-increasing challenges. Disruptions in the supply chain are now the order of the day. Cost pressure is constantly increasing due to high development costs, e.g., in electromobility. Short development cycles increase the risk of quality problems. And for some years now, compliance with environmental and social standards and the industry's decarbonization targets have added to these challenges. As a solution provider, we must therefore always have our finger on the pulse.We were already focusing on the disruptive platform business model when we were founded in 2000, and its relevance is greater today than ever before. Our main focus is therefore the continuous optimization of existing solutions and services, including the new possibilities of artificial intelligence, as well as the regular development of new solutions as part of our still innovative business model. However, we must not ignore disruptive innovations either. We must closely monitor and evaluate technological developments and also test them ourselves. This is the only way we can develop a sound strategy that is sustainable in the medium and long term. To what extent is innovation seen as a shared responsibility of all employees, and how is this responsibility encouraged and supported? Stefan:It is very important to us that as many employees as possible are in direct contact with customers at all levels. Their diverse perspectives and experiences serve as a basis for recognizing needs and trends at an early stage and developing innovative solutions. This customer-oriented approach forms the foundation of our shared responsibility for innovation in our products and services.In line with our understanding of leadership "LOVE TO LEAD", which also includes the value of self-development, we actively encourage our employees to continuously expand and improve their skills.As part of this, we are currently intensively promoting personal development in the field of artificial intelligence, for example. Internal company hackathons and participation in conferences are also essential to give as many employees as possible the environment and time to broaden their perspectives.We see innovation as independent of the hierarchy and expect appropriate innovations to be identified and driven forward at every level. We place a strong emphasis on taking ownership at work and welcome every employee who takes the initiative and makes bold suggestions.Managers play a crucial role here as role models and are responsible for living and promoting our understanding of how to deal with innovation.How do we deal with failure and mistakes, which are often part of the innovation process, and how do we use these experiences to develop and improve?Stefan: By using the Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe) in our product development, we are able to manage innovations in a structured way. Personally, the process is very important to me. The better we understand the customer's problem and the more closely we coordinate the solution concept with the customer, the higher the probability of success when implementing innovations.Nevertheless, innovations can encounter unexpected hurdles that lead us to pause or even completely stop certain projects. However, we do not see this as a failure, but rather as a structured process to capitalize on potential opportunities while also limiting bad investments early on.There are also issues where we have to shorten the process for time-to-market reasons. It is then important that we regularly evaluate our progress and quickly adapt our approach based on new findings. This makes regular reviews all the more important to continuously learn and improve. We know that we will also make mistakes with this much more agile approach. We consciously accept this. As we are competing against start-ups on some topics, we have decided to work like a start-up on selected topics. The advantage, however, is that our start-up division has access to a complete operations and support organization as well as a business network with over 140,000 companies in 70 countries.What specific examples of best practice do you know of, or do you have any further tips for our readers on the topic of innovation?Stefan: We have many examples: With our SRM suite, we are probably the only provider that maps purchasing and quality processes so broadly and integrates them so deeply at the same time. The same applies to the integration of supply chain and transport management processes, for which we won the VDA Logistics Award together with Bosch and Eurolog. I was also very impressed by the digital product twin, which was initially developed for the traceability of quality problems and is now the technological basis for many other applications.However, consistent digitalization also requires a comprehensive range of services in addition to SupplyOn solutions. That's why we need to start innovating here too. A best-practice example comes from the onboarding team with the supplier community model. Here we regularly broadcast information events on current supply chain topics from SupplyOn's own studio. These can be expert talks on sustainability, for example, or discussions with customer representatives who present their digitization strategy. The idea of the supplier community model was developed independently by the team and implemented perfectly. Of course, there were also critical voices when the investment decision was made, but the team consistently fought for their idea and we are now looking forward to around 1,000 participants per event.The most recent example of best practice I would like to mention is the development of our comprehensive ESG suite. Here we have adapted to the specific market conditions with a new lean organization. The team has been given a great deal of responsibility, but also the corresponding decision-making authority. It has accepted this challenge in an exemplary manner and is breaking new ground not only in product development, but also in other processes, such as go-to-market or user support. Innovation also means that we have to question our organization and our processes and, where necessary, take fundamentally different paths.I recommend that external readers and potential applicants get to know our corporate culture and working methods better by actively engaging with our current projects and success stories.If you would like to be part of an innovative team and contribute your skills in a dynamic environment, we invite you to apply to us as an employer and shape the future of the supply chain together: to our job offers
At the beginning of February 2024, our SupplyOn Leadership understanding was rolled out at a kick-off meeting with all employees. Developed by employees for employees, a team consisting of 16 change agents - with and without management responsibility - and the SupplyOn Vice Presidents played a key role in defining and developing the SupplyOn Leadership values and principles.Today, three of them are answering our questions about the impact and application of the LOVE TO LEAD leadership initiative: Korbinian Reng is Vice President of Portfolio Strategy & Marketing, Marian Wilken is Team Leader in Consulting and Dominik Maier is Product Manager and responsible for AirSupply Quality. Dominik, Marian and Korbinian, you have played a key role in shaping SupplyOn's leadership values and principles. Can you describe why leadership affects all employees across the hierarchy and not just managers? Marian: I don't think a change initiative can work if everyone just looks at their manager and waits to see what they do. Otherwise, all that's left at the end is the Management Board, which is then supposed to somehow lead the way.However, we have many substantive topics and we have experts for these topics. These tasks need to be led and driven forward. We need leaders who lead the way. And these must be the thematic specialists, they must be every single one of us. Because that's the only way we can develop.Dominik: In the role of Product Manager or Product Owner at SupplyOn, you have technical responsibility for the product even without disciplinary leadership. You also manage the product in the sense that it is constantly improving, which puts you in a functional management role.Korbinian: I think that's exactly the core of it. People often talk about ownership - but leadership goes a bit further: for example: I not only take responsibility for my topic, but I also lead my topic to success. I lead my colleagues, I lead my customers, I lead my boss. That is also something you can and must do. That's why all of our employees have a leadership role, regardless of their position within SupplyOn.Anchoring this as a leadership value now empowers every employee once again. True to the motto: "Do it and lead yourself."How do you interpret the "LOVE TO LEAD" approach in your day-to-day work in relation to how you live leadership?Korbinian: LOVE TO LEAD stands for passion. As a manager, I believe it has to be fun to work with people and to want to tease out the best possible potential from each person. At the same time, I am also an employee and project manager. I am passionate about driving my topics forward, and this can be broken down into all five leadership values - innovation, self-development, co-creation, customer value and long-term thinking.A few examples:Innovation: I want our solutions to be better, smarter and simpler.Self-development: I want to continue my professional development, both internally and externally.Customer value: I want to build something that offers our customers real added value.LOVE TO LEAD can therefore be found everywhere in my day-to-day work and I can apply it in many places.Marian: For the consulting sector and my team, LOVE TO LEAD means above all leading the customer. I see LOVE TO LEAD as going beyond the values and into leadership. To take the customer with us and lead them towards the goal that we have very specifically in the respective project. To simply live "leading"! Can you pick out one of the five leadership values and describe how it influences your decisions in your area of work and interactions with team members on a daily basis?Dominik: For me, co-creation has always been very important. We have now codified the value and refined it through the principles, but the principle of achieving very good results as a team - and not as a lone fighter - still influences me. The result is better thanks to the different perspectives from the team. I think it's great that the value as a leadership topic has been given this importance, as it also encourages people to get involved, to express other perspectives or concerns, which further strengthens collaboration.Marian: As change agents, we have formed teams for certain values. As I am in the co-creation team, I would also pick out this value in my example. For me, working on co-creation within the leadership initiative has led me to think even more specifically about dependencies and synergies:I am increasingly asking myself questions such as: What are the departments relevant to me, the teams relevant to me that we work with a lot? Do these teams have conflicting goals and how can we identify and address these internally together in advance?How can we present to the customer together in the same direction so that the best possible result is achieved for all departments and, of course, especially for the customer?Korbinian: I would like to talk about the value of innovation. You have to be hungry and enthusiastic to innovate. You have to be willing to question things and keep trying out new ideas.Because in everyday life, it's rarely the case that a great idea is thrown into the room and everyone shouts "hurrah" and runs off. This brings us back to the value of co-creation: you have to approach your colleagues to understand how you can convince and inspire them. That's exciting because everyone has a different way of thinking. And of course, when it comes to innovation, you also need staying power. The leadership values and principles provide support here and encourage everyone: "Keep at it and keep going."How do you experience the implementation of "LOVE TO LEAD" in your daily work? Are there any examples you would like to share?Dominik: I think that the formulation of the leadership values and principles has an impact on our day-to-day work. A personal example I gave last week, for example, was when a customer communicated a new requirement to me regarding the data exchange of documents. Coincidentally, the customer communicated this new requirement to me. But I realized that this would also affect many other departments at SupplyOn that work for this customer. So, I took responsibility for this and, in the spirit of co-creation, felt obliged to inform all other affected teams about the upcoming change. The other teams were very happy because they were not yet aware of this requirement and now had the opportunity to act with foresight. In my view, this sharpening of a shared sense of responsibility is also what makes the values so important.Korbinian: Absolutely! I'm fascinated by what has already happened in the short time since the presentation in February 2024. I've seen employees stand up in meetings and say: "Guys, why are we discussing this now, why should we wait here for hierarchical decisions, let's take the lead ourselves, live leadership and decide together."And I have already seen an invitation to an appointment being canceled with the explanation: "I'm blocking this time slot for my personal development, this webinar is important to me. You said we should take responsibility for our self-development 😉."Marian: I can confirm that! I've also noticed a lot of discussion about leadership values and principles. People are thinking about them, questioning their meaning and looking for answers to the questions:What does this mean in concrete terms for us as a team?What measures can we take within our team?How can we bring the values to life in our everyday lives?Or to put it another way: what do we need to bring them to life?I receive feedback that colleagues feel that the leadership initiative has added value for them. They are motivated to work on things, to help shape their entire working day and the future against the backdrop of the leadership values.It is tangible that LOVE TO LEAD increases commitment and satisfaction within the company. People are keen to drive issues forward and that makes me even happier as a manager in my day-to-day work.Dominik: The great thing about the initiative is that it was broadly based right from the start and that a cross-section of employees was involved. Even without disciplinary leadership, I personally found it very exciting to be part of it. There was a positive energy right from the start. And that has carried people along and is now helping us to drive this topic forward.Incorporating so many different perspectives was probably the key to anchoring these topics in a sustainable way so that everyone at SupplyOn can identify with the values and principles.As change agents, you are also mentors for a specific leadership value and are available to all employees for questions and in-depth knowledge. What tips can you give employees to bring the leadership values to life in everyday life and actively contribute to the further development of the leadership culture?Korbinian: Be brave, dare to do it! Do you have a good idea? Talk about it with your manager, with division heads, with vice presidents - with whoever - if you are convinced that you have a good idea, then push it forward!Marian: It's a matter of type. You have to want to help shape things in order to fully exploit the potential of LOVE TO LEAD for yourself. And of course, it's okay if you don't see yourself in an active role. Nevertheless, I recommend that you don't sit down and wait for someone else to make you happy but use the opportunity to fill the values with life and get the most out of them for the company and for yourself personally.Korbinian: In my opinion, it's important to involve every employee. There are many people who don't like to push themselves to the fore as spokespeople, who tend to be quiet in groups or workshops. But these employees often have real treasures inside them in terms of ideas, opinions and observations. As managers, we have the opportunity to involve these employees, to encourage them to be bold so that we can unearth this treasure together.Marian: Some questions keep coming back to me:What's next for LOVE TO LEAD?What comes next?How will this be put into practice now?The short, concise answer to this is: There are topics that we are working on from the values teams. But ask yourself the same question: What do the leadership values and principles mean to you? Which topics are important to you and would you like to advance yourself? Do you want to break new ground, take charge of your own topics and take responsibility for advancing yourself and your career?Then you'll fit in with us! Apply now for one of our vacancies.
Integrating and activating employees in meetings is crucial to encourage diverse perspectives, creative ideas and valuable feedback. Find out in an interview with Senior Project Manager Savis Konrad, Team P2P and e-Invoicing and Dominik Halamoda, Product Owner in the UX, Supplier Quality Management & Supplier Management Solutions team at SupplyOn, how meetings can be turned into interactive and inclusive platforms for idea generation and feedback by using different methods. How do you ensure that employees are actively and inclusively involved in meetings in order to promote diverse perspectives and ideas?Savis: In my experience, precise formulation of expectations and targeted moderation are crucial. By clearly setting expectations at the beginning of the meeting, I can create an appropriate framework, promote interaction and inclusion and express appreciation.I communicate the meeting topic in advance and explain exactly what my expectations are for the meeting. Depending on the topic and work stream, I sometimes find it more efficient to work together on a draft version rather than starting from scratch.In terms of interactive discussion, I rely on direct communication. If I notice any reluctance or embarrassment during the meeting, I address the participants directly and ask for their opinion.This approach promotes effective communication and helps to ensure that meetings are successful and focused.Dominik: I agree with Savis, the preparation of meetings is particularly important if productive work results are to be achieved in the meetings. For me, this also means providing the participants with information about the meetings in advance so that they can prepare themselves. This makes more introverted colleagues in particular feel more confident about getting involved."Individuals and interactions over processes and tools", from the agile manifesto, is also my motto for successful collaboration. The focus is not on a rigid framework, but on individual appreciation. I try to involve everyone and address them in a targeted manner.To make this possible, I believe it is important to create a framework that builds trust and makes the meeting feel like a safe space.You mention psychological safety in meetings. How do you create an environment in which employees dare to share their thoughts and opinions?Savis: Ensuring a protected environment is the fundamental basis for the success of any exchange. In our department, the established error culture plays a key role as a success factor in creating a framework that promotes open communication. In the event of errors within our team, the focus is not on apportioning blame, but rather on finding solutions together. Both managers and team members work together to analyze the problem and strive for a common understanding of it.Once an issue has been successfully resolved, we focus on how we can avoid similar incidents in the future. This culture of dealing with mistakes strengthens the sense of togetherness in the team and encourages us to address critical issues. This creates a deep bond of trust that enables us to contribute ideas courageously and share opinions openly.Furthermore, in such a complex environment with constant changes and different fields of activity, we are aware that we cannot know everything. That's why we value feedback and the open discussion of concerns. This exchange enables us to complement each other and gain a broader perspective.Dominik: I can also say that in my role as product owner, I see myself as a central point of contact and try to shield my development team from external influences such as pressure or tension so that the team stays in the flow.This allows for concentrated and productive work and creates an interactive meeting atmosphere that encourages an open exchange of ideas.In our meetings, I experience respectful behavior and openness towards other opinions. It's a good human fit. It goes without saying that this also makes working together fun.We experience this fun in our meetings and also encourage it, for example through team-building events on the fringes of our PI planning events. This in turn deepens the trust relationship.What specific methods do you use to generate creative ideas interactively from your team and turn them into solutions?Dominik: I like to work with my development team using the Planning Poker method to estimate the effort required to meet customer requirements. In preparation for the meeting, we design the user stories and send them to the team in advance for review. That way, everyone is prepared and we can clarify any questions while playing poker.We then use a virtual planning poker tool in which the user stories are displayed one after the other. Our agile development team of developers and testers then have 30 seconds, similar to poker, to draw a card with the number of days they think they will need to implement the user story.If there are differences of opinion within the team, we then check why this is the case. At the end of the process, the team agrees on an average value, an estimate of the effort required that suits the entire team. I find this method particularly inclusive, interactive and very transparent because all team members have their say and share the background to their effort estimates.I like to write the user stories themselves in the format of the Gherkin scheme so that the three Cs: "Card, Conversation, Confirmation" are fulfilled. The requirement should be written in such a way that it is easy to understand and fits on a card.Conversation is one of the most important elements. I therefore do not formulate 100% of the requirements so that each team member can help shape and formulate them during the discussion process. This also promotes participation and acceptance within the team. Confirmation means that the acceptance criteria are also clearly formulated, as otherwise acceptance would not be possible later on.Savis: I achieve the best results in collaborative workshops where I deliberately bring together experts with different experiences and perspectives. The diversity of participants, both in terms of responsibilities and team affiliations (not just product owners, not just developer teams, etc.), has proven to be particularly effective so far.Diversity opens up the possibility of obtaining a differentiated picture. The different characters and perspectives complement each other. The exchange is particularly fruitful as everyone considers different aspects and sees different challenges.In terms of methodology, I often resort to classic brainstorming. The starting point varies depending on the participants. Some are most creative when they can brainstorm freely, while others prefer to be guided by an initial proposal. In such cases, I present an incomplete draft as a basis for discussion. Participants can then add their own ideas or make changes. In this way, I have already seen a rough block become a polished diamond.Dominik: That's my experience too, Savis. It's a matter of type. Some colleagues don't dare to fully express their own suggestions and prefer to use a template to discuss what specifically would have to be different in order to work. Sometimes I receive counter-suggestions that are a much better solution than I could have come up with on my own. Teamwork makes the dream work.To ensure that the idea generation process in interactive meeting design remains a good experience for all team members, it is important as meeting organizers to be open, accept the team's suggestions and put your own ego aside.What challenges have you overcome on your way to successfully shaping employee interaction in meetings, and what successes can you share that have come from your meetings?Dominik: One challenge is, of course, the continuous, inclusive involvement of all workshop participants. Always address the individual participants on a rolling basis. Employee activation does not happen ad hoc, but only over time.Savis: The challenge is to take limited resources into account across departments and to manage the issue with perseverance and commitment while maintaining high quality standards. Effective work management and positive communication are crucial. Time plays a key role and perseverance is essential.Another challenge is to create space for innovation and creativity in daily business, which requires conscious time management. Planning and conducting meetings, reviews and coordination sessions is a time-consuming task, and successful time management is crucial.Successes can be seen in the dovetailing and networking of different subject areas as well as in the reduction of silos through meetings in different compositions. This was particularly helpful in developing a more comprehensive understanding.Dominik: By using interactive methods such as the Planning Poker described above or the three Cs, the meetings within our Scrum sprints are productive and inclusive, the requirements are formulated more clearly for everyone and the effort estimates are more realistic. This promotes satisfaction in our teams and that is definitely a success. What tips do you have for other teams and employees who want to implement your methods and approaches in their own meetings in order to make meetings similarly interactive?Dominik: Be open to criticism and feedback!Savis: Despite a busy working day, it is important to allow enough time for preparation and follow-up to organize interactive meetings and to promote a culture of shared learning. The exchange brings great added value.To the meeting participants: Asking questions is by no means unintelligent; on the contrary, they help to improve the overall outcome.It is crucial not to rest on your laurels, but to always strive for innovation. Convince yourself that change is possible despite limited capacity or budget constraints, and your decision to do so can pave the way for change.Would you like to work for an employer where meetings are designed to be inclusive and interactive using modern methods? Go to our job advertisements: Jobs at SupplyOn
