Trend radars are powerful trend management tools that business leaders and organizations use to forecast, evaluate, and prepare for potential changes. Trend radars are often used for specific industries, technologies, or strategies, or to predict how a business idea will perform alongside evolving consumer trends.
This same format can be used to build a risk radar, which outlines potential risks that businesses are wise to anticipate. Interpreting trends is a critical action for any company that wants to succeed; trends propel industry change and convey what consumers value, what problems they need to solve, and what influences a buying decision. Trends can also occur as a result of new technologies or they can inspire new technologies, and a trend radar helps companies to incorporate both. But it isn’t enough to research trends, risks, and new technologies; the insights collected from a trend radar must be analyzed, communicated, and put into action through changes to organizational structure or competitive strategy. A trend radar applies distinct criteria, which allows users to review and filter the data in order to test out perspectives, play out responses to trends or risks, and determine if business opportunities are favourable in the changing environment.
Effective trend management also allows organizations to forecast and prepare for consumer patterns, and share information in a way that inspires innovation, teamwork, greater competitive advantage, and a shared vision.
Trend radars are often presented as circles, which are separated into two or more sections that represent different topics or areas of consideration. Users then determine how to measure the impact or relevance of each subject. This can be done by evaluating how many years it will take for a trend or risk to reach your customers, by labelling a trend or risk as high, medium, low, or not applicable, or by gauging the level of action a trend or risk will require. The measurement chosen is the one that will best convey the data to your team. The trends or risks that are most timely or impactful are plotted closest to the centre of the circle, and those that are least timely or impactful are plotted further from the centre or closer to the edge of the circle.
A trend or risk radar template provides a snapshot of your findings, but the work doesn’t end here. The most effective templates include detailed explanations alongside each subject plotted on the graph; think of the trend radar as a visual summary and the accompanying written descriptions as the comprehensive research that backs it up. To create a trend or risk radar, you can design your own template, use a presentation program that allows you to easily plot a radar graph, or employ a paid tool that is ready-made, collaborative, and in-depth.
Determine the intention of the trend radar. Getting clear on the purpose of this exercise is critical before you delegate any research. Consider these questions:
Consider the framework. There are different types of trend radar graphs, and there are different templates, softwares, or presentation programs available to use. Consider these questions:
Collect employee input. Your people are a powerful source of news, relevant trends, consumer data, new science and technologies, and the changing world of media, fashion, culture, sustainability, and beyond. Ask your team for their perspectives, observations, and recommendations. Consider these questions:
Organize your employee data and look for trend patterns. It is important to organize this data so that it can be easily reviewed and interpreted by your team; this data will provide insights into trend patterns and forecasted movements in the values, needs, or wants of your customers. Consider these questions:
Plot the trends on the radar graph. You can start with a few key trends or go into as much detail as your team feels necessary.
Collect feedback (now and regularly). An effective trend radar is routinely shared with key stakeholders and updated based on feedback, new perspectives, or the shifting business environment; this trend management tool contributes to innovative strategy only when it remains relevant to the world around you.
