SMEs: nine ideas for effective technology monitoring

If there is one activity that represents a strategic challenge for a company, it is technology monitoring. Without it, no innovation is possible. While the giants of innovation spend considerable sums on R&D — from 7.1 billion dollars for Apple to 12.6 billion for Samsung — one wonders how an SME can claim to keep pace with such excess.

And yet there is no alternative. Whatever its size, a company that claims to bring tomorrow's technologies to market must be up to date on everything happening in its sector. Here therefore is a short list of best practices, drawn from my experience as an entrepreneur, for effective technology monitoring.

1. Encourage your collaborators to diversify their skills. Between two projects, your collaborators often find themselves with free time. The best use of this availability is to encourage them to train. Seize the opportunities that arise between projects to let them train on a dedicated subject for which you have identified a need. This will stimulate emulation within your team.
2. Make the most of your suppliers' expertise. The best way to know the latest market trends is to question your partners. If over time you have succeeded in building a network of excellence with your suppliers, it becomes even simpler — they will spontaneously provide you with information on their latest innovations or brief you on the latest developments in the technologies they master. Information exists within your entrepreneurial environment: do not hesitate to approach your suppliers to be informed of the very latest developments, and do not forget to return the favour.
3. Build alter egos. In every team there are experts who excel in a given area. These invaluable resources can play a mentoring role within your company and ensure a transfer of skills towards other collaborators. This is all the more necessary since it will allow the expert to form an alter ego with whom they can discuss complex subjects and even, in time, challenge each other within a healthy internal emulation.
4. Prioritise small-group training. Training catalogues are plentiful and the offer nearly infinite — to the point where, sometimes, too much choice kills the choice. Prioritise training in small groups, where the trainer can adapt to the level of the participant with great precision. Always choose specific and targeted training.
5. Subscribe and re-subscribe. Technical journals are there to guarantee you a source of knowledge. Journalists and experts have pre-digested the information and reviewed the latest innovations. Organise yourself to have time to read this press review, whether in paper or online format (websites, blogs, specialist forums).
6. Hire engineers. Schools such as the EPF or HES, for example, are renowned for "teaching their engineers to learn" by giving them solid foundations that will allow them to dive into in-depth documentation. Recruiting an engineer means welcoming into your company a resource capable of tackling the resolution of industrial problems — and above all, one who arrives trained in the very latest technologies. They will therefore be capable of opening up new perspectives within your company: a healthy open-mindedness for progressing on the path of innovation.
7. Brainstorm. This anglicism has entered common usage. Montaigne put it this way: "One must travel to rub and sharpen one's brain against that of others." A quote from a great humanist that describes brainstorming well and above all explains the fact that by brainstorming, your collaborators are not just inventing — they are training each other. Just because a brainstorming session does not yield the solution being sought does not mean time has been wasted. By consulting with one another, your collaborators will have shared their knowledge — the fruit of an environment conducive to constructive discussion.
8. Visit specialist trade fairs. From CES in Las Vegas to EPHJ in Geneva, via Baselworld and many others, events dedicated to your professions are like an open book. From stands to conferences, you will inevitably find material to deepen your knowledge on your preferred subjects.
9. Benchmark your competitors. This is undoubtedly the most fruitful exercise for your company in terms of learning. By studying the best practices of your competitors, you will find avenues for progress and differentiation for your own activity. Methodical monitoring followed by in-depth analysis will allow you to extract the salient facts from your competitors' strategies and position yourself in relation to them.

In conclusion, it should be recalled that in times of crisis, innovation is vital for companies — which must imperatively seize this moment to innovate and differentiate themselves. There has never been a better time to develop your technology monitoring.