FAQ

ANONYMITY

Why is anonymity important for effective collaboration?

Anonymity has been shown to encourage a greater number of honest, creative, thoughtful opinions. It helps otherwise shy or silent members to voice their ideas – ideas that just might be the radically unique, innovative ones you need. Anonymity also ensures that a user’s input is judged more on merit, and less focus is placed on their identity, position in an organization, or credentials. This encourages a more inspired, open-minded environment – elements we believe are crucial to innovating successfully.

 

How do I maintain my anonymity?

In order to maintain anonymity, we encourage users not to mention information in their comments that could give away their identities or the identities of others in the group (e.g.: their names, departments or employment positions). If your post contains identity-revealing information, it will be rejected, and you will be asked to reword it accordingly.

SECURITY

How do you prevent trolling/harassment?

We ensure discussions remain professional and on-topic by validating (or moderating) each comment before it’s published. This way, members can express their ideas freely, as they form, without the fear of being intimidated, harassed, or trolled.

 

Who has access to the messages before they’re published?

The only people who can access and view your messages before publication are the validators (internal moderators), who are Innodirect® employees. 

 

How is my data / my company’s data protected?

The only people who come into contact with the data are yourself, those you invite to the group,  Innodirect® employees, and some of our providers – all of whom would have signed an NDA.

To whom does the data belong and what do you do with the data after the end of the project?  

The data remains the property of the group owner (the creator of the group) and will not be shared with anyone outside of Innodirect®, except when we need to work with external suppliers. In this case, your data is anonymized and everyone who comes into contact with it will have signed an NDA.

 

How do you use the data you collect?   

We keep the data for one purpose only: to train our artificial intelligence models in order to make our platform more user-friendly, effective and efficient.  The objective of the AI models to improve the customer experience, for example: to speed up the validation process or to offer you projects that might be of interest to you.  When we need to work with external suppliers, your data is anonymized and everyone who comes into contact with it will have signed an NDA.  

HOW IT WORKS

How does the platform work?   

The product itself is really quite simple. The platform takes the form of multiple chat rooms or “projects”. A group owner creates project topics to address with their group – it can be either a need (i.e. “in search of sustainable textile manufacturer for my refurbishing business”), an idea (i.e. “brainstorming session on how to improve user experience on our website”) or a solution (i.e. “need a quiet space to work? I have a room available!”). The group owner then invites a diverse group of employees, partners, or customers to discuss the topics anonymously. The idea is that anonymity provokes more honest feedback and creative ideas, allowing each user equal opportunity to participate. At the end of the meeting, we compile an overview outlining the discussion’s key takeaways, maximizing the efficacy of a meeting and minimizing resource expenditure. Users can also request one another’s identity and start private chats in order to develop an idea or project together.  

 

How many discussion boards can I create?   

As many as you want within your group!  

 

How many people can I invite?     

The more the merrier! The larger the crowd, the easier it is to maintain your anonymity. Not only this, but more people = more brainpower = increased ability to harness your group’s collective intelligence. 

To put it another way: more participants means more ideas can be generated, more opinions can be voiced, and more perspectives can be considered.  

All these aspects all contribute toward increased collaboration and co-creation, and better-rounded, sounder solutions . This is why we encourage group owners to invite at least 10 to 15 group members. 

 

Whom do I invite to my discussions?       

We encourage group owners to invite as diverse a group as possible – that means people from different departments, from varying hierarchical levels, from other sectors or other fields entirely, people who span across time zones or who come from different cultural backgrounds. The reasoning behind this is that, in order to capture a rich, multidimensional view of something, it’s necessary to view it from every possible angle. In this way, a solution can be found that’s more creative, more innovative, and more fully thought-through.  

 

Do I need to download additional software or an app in order to connect to the platform?

Nope! After your email address is verified, you’re good to connect to the platform from your  smartphone, tablet, laptop or desktop.  

 

Do I have to log in from a specific place or at a specific time?

That’s the beauty of our platform: you can log on and contribute from anywhere, at any time! 

 

Is it possible to see trends in the discussion?

Absolutely! At the end of your discussion, you will be provided with a feedback report outlining the keywords and trends throughout the session. Being armed with this data allows you to recognize the overall sentiment toward your discussion topic, and helps you consolidate the discussion while better formulating a clear path toward a concrete solution. 

 

How long does it take to process/verify messages?

Within office hours (9am-5pm, EST), messages are verified in minutes. If you’re posting outside of working hours, your messages will be verified as soon as our office opens. 

 

What are the three rules and why are they important?

We ask that users remain:

1. Anonymous. Anonymity is crucial to our platform. It’s been shown that participants in a group setting are more likely to contribute a greater number of ideas that are more creative, as the barrier of timidity has been lowered. Additionally, group members are more likely to provide honest, well thought-out responses when they are certain there will be no reputational consequences, and when they are given the opportunity to contribute in their own time and space. 

2. On-topic and clear. In-person meetings tend to veer off-track, costing companies hundreds of thousands of hours each year. On our platform, we pride ourselves in encouraging discussions that are goal-oriented and enriching. That’s why comments that are confusing or irrelevant to the discussion topic remain unpublished.

3. Courteous. With anonymity comes great responsibility. At Innodirect®, we are completely aware of the potential ramifications of providing our users with total anonymity. We are dedicated to keeping the discussion space free of any disrespect or online harassment; that’s why each discussion thread is carefully monitored both by our validators (who pre-moderate each message in a discussion thread), as well as by a dedicated discussion facilitator. 

 

How do you keep discussions on-track? 

Not only do we provide discussion feedback, but we also make sure that every comment is pre-moderated by our internal validators, and each discussion thread is professionally facilitated to keep discussions topic-focused. 

 

Who are the facilitators?  

Facilitators can be selected from within your organization, or from third-party consultancy firms. If you need help finding a third-party facilitator, don’t hesitate to contact us for a recommendation. 

 

What is the role of the facilitator? 

Facilitators keep discussions on-track. They help the conversation along by occasionally asking thought-provoking questions around the discussion topic or about specific comments. They also provide clarity by summing up arguments, and report any off-colour comments to the Innodirect® validation team.

Facilitators do not provide their opinions on the discussion forums, but they can intervene if the conversation veers off topic. 

It is important to note that users remain anonymous to facilitators, who are not privy to user information whatsoever.  

 

How do I phrase a discussion question to get the maximum value out of my discussion? 

Even though a facilitator helps discussions remain on-topic, it’s the well-thought-out questions that form the solid foundation for productive discussions. We’ve found it’s best to stick to one topic per question and one question per project. Keep your questions clear and concise and leave embellishment or examples for the “project information” section.

Read our blog on agenda-setting tips for more information on to get your project started on our platform.

 

Is this a solution that I can use on a daily basis?  

Absolutely! Our platform can be used for a specific project, or for day-to-day communication within your organization.

 

How long does a project on your platform last for?   

A project can be continuous or time-restricted. Continuous projects take the form of an open channel of communication, where the platform is used to chat about specific topics within an organization that are ever-present, such as continuous improvement.  Time-restricted projects have a start and end-date, running for a minimum of one week. 

 

Can I invite people as the project progresses? 

You can add extra group members whenever you like. All you have to do is send us their names and email addresses and we’ll be happy to add them to your discussion group. 

 

My company has several offices around the world, can I use Innodirect® to connect to them? 

Absolutely! The great thing about Innodirect® is that group members can contribute from anywhere, anytime – all you need is an internet connection and you’re good to go!  

 

Can my discussion boards be customized with my company logo? 

To date, we do not offer this service. However, if this is important to you, don’t hesitate to tell us; we’re always open to any feedback you might have! 

 

Can I add files or links to external websites?  

Currently, our platform does not support the sharing of documents or external links for security and privacy reasons.

 

In which languages should we communicate on the platform?   

Currently, users can communicate in either English or French. We plan to add a wider variety of languages in the future, according to requests.  

 

What are the prices? 

Our price list is divided into two categories :

1. Short term projects  (lasting less than three months): 25$CA + tax per group member per week*

2. Long term projects  (lasting three months or more): 50$CA + tax per group member per week*

*These prices include:

– Preparation time with our teams to establish your needs and define your project

– Custom communication materials

– Updates detailing participant response rates

– Tech support

– A tailored discussion feedback report