THAT'S A GREAT IDEA is an initiative hosted on the Vice-President (Administration) website. It is an effort in keeping with Forward With Integrity to enhance community engagement, accountability and flexibility. The program provides an easy method for individuals of McMaster's community to submit their ideas for the continuous improvement of Administration.

THAT'S A GREAT IDEA is available to all, be it faculty, staff, students or other members of McMaster's community who have ideas for the continuous improvement of Administration.

All ideas received through the Great Idea website will be recognized. In keeping with the University's mission and strategic priorities and objectives, ideas should pertain to new opportunities or process enhancements that:

• Solve a problem being experienced;
• Create capacity in our resource stretched environment;
• Enhance quality of service in what we do;
• Increase efficiency and/or effectiveness in our practices.

If you are unsure of whether or not your idea has been previously submitted, you can refer to the Browse Program Results section of the THAT'S A GREAT IDEA website to see information on ideas submitted.

Ideas that pertain to existing projects will be forwarded to the appropriate leader(s) for further consideration.

Ideas can be emailed directly to relevant managers. For example, ideas that pertain to McMaster's new ERP project (ie. Mosaic) can be emailed to mosaic@mcmaster.ca.

Submission forms can be filled out and submitted online here. For those who would prefer submitting a hard-copy version, the submission form can be accessed at the following link, printed off, completed and submitted to the THAT'S A GREAT IDEA program manager, in the mailbox outside of Gilmour Hall, B107.

Yes, there is a section on the online submission form to be filled out by any collaborative submitters. For hard-copy submissions, additional collaborators and their contact information can be appended to the form. The completed package can be submitted to the THAT'S A GREAT IDEA program manager, using the mailbox outside of Gilmour Hall, B107.

Individuals may submit multiple ideas. It is, however, requested that submitters of multiple ideas submit one idea per submission form to facilitate ease of idea triage and communication amongst administrative leaders.

For the purposes of contributor recognition and communication, all ideas must be accompanied by the name and contact information of contributor(s).

If submitting an idea online, diagrams and any other additional information can be shared upon being contacted by the THAT'S A GREAT IDEA project manager. If submitting an idea in hard copy, additional diagrams and any other information can be appended to the document.

All ideas will be recognized. Ideas received will be reviewed for originality and program/area they apply to. Leader(s) receiving the ideas will evaluate them using the University's established analysis and implementation feasibility criteria. Implementation timeframes for successful ideas will be determined by the assigned leader(s).

Two-way communication will be maintained with the program management office and individuals who submit an idea. Idea updates may be posted here.

Upon receiving your idea, the project manager of THAT'S A GREAT IDEA will forward it to the appropriate leader(s) for evaluation. The leader(s) are selected based upon the topic and/or area that your idea pertains to. If the idea is related to a project planned or underway, it will be forwarded to the appropriate project manager and you will be notified.

You will receive communication as soon as decisions are made about the submitted idea.

Ideas will be processed and forwarded as they are received. Upon idea triage, you will be communicated with and your idea will be forwarded to the appropriate leader within the University. As decisions are made pertaining to the idea, you will be communicated with. Ideas will differ in terms of breadth and resources required, so time required to make decisions and/or implement ideas will also differ. Nonetheless, all submitters will be aware of where their idea stands, be it in the process of the program or stages of implementation.

Your idea submission may be followed up with additional questions from the THAT'S A GREAT IDEA project manager requesting further information about your submission. In regard to implementation, however, the leader(s) of the appropriate area may also communicate with submitters.

As a manager, you can assist in the success of THAT'S A GREAT IDEA by communicating the program details and features to your employees. A Manager's Toolkit has been developed, providing you with program details, a PowerPoint presentation and an FAQ document, to support you in building staff awareness of the program. Information sessions are being held for administrators. If preferred, an information session can be booked for employee groups by contacting greatidea@mcmaster.ca.