Innovation can be a whirlwind of ideas, feedback, and revisions. Idea management tools are your digital assistants on this ride. These tools help you streamline the entire innovation process, from idea capture to development and implementation.

Here are some features to look for in an idea management tool:

• Idea submission and capture
  The tool should make it easy for employees to submit ideas from anywhere, at any time.
  
  
• Collaboration features
  Look for features that facilitate communication and collaboration around ideas, such as commenting threads and discussion boards.
  
  
• Idea evaluation and scoring
  The tool should allow you to define evaluation criteria and score ideas based on predetermined factors.
  
  
• Workflow and tracking
  Efficient tools track the progress of ideas through various stages of the innovation funnel.

These are the basics and pretty much all tools that claim to work with idea management will or should do this. If you've read this far, you'll know we prefer Brightidea when managing ideas and innovation activities, because it does all this and so much more, at scale and in a way that makes it easy for your central or distributed teams to work with ideas and innovation.

Remember: The best idea management tool is the one that fits your specific needs. Do your research and choose a tool that will empower your team to reach its full innovative potential.