Looking for the next big idea for your business? You might start by asking your staff members.

“Employees are the best source of innovation,” said Anna Carol “Acey” Lampe, executive professor of management at Rockhurst University’s Helzberg School of Management.

In some ways, your team might be an even better source of innovation than you as the owner. That’s because company founders are so focused on bringing their visions to life that it can be hard for them to imagine different ways of doing things.

“The founder is so close to the vision,” Lampe said, “that it’s often very difficult to come up with new ideas.”

Create a Constant Funnel

What’s the best way to solicit employee ideas? Semiannual brainstorming sessions? An anonymous suggestion box in the break room? Maybe an open-door or open-inbox policy that encourages workers to share ideas whenever they pop up?

Actually, Lampe says, those all can be useful, and you shouldn’t settle for just one avenue for collecting ideas. Instead, you should create multiple systems that continually funnel suggestions to you.

Your more extraverted workers might thrive in a big brainstorming session. In fact, they’ll probably try to top each other during the meeting. But that could cut out more introverted staffers. “Not every employee is the same,” Lampe said.

Having an anonymous idea box lets an employee quietly share their thoughts. If you really like an idea, you can always bring it up during a staff meeting and encourage whoever shared it to step forward. (Especially if you plan to offer a gift certificate or a cash bonus.)

“The more ways you can offer up for people to share their ideas in a safe environment, one that’s comfortable for them, the better ideas you’re going to have,” Lampe said.

Adapters and Innovators

You should also recognize that people will come up with different kinds of ideas. In his theory of adaption-innovation, British psychologist Michael Kirton identified two major styles of idea generation.

Adapters are good at tweaking existing products, services and processes. An adapter, for example, might notice that removing a step from the manufacturing process could deliver $1 million in savings without any loss in quality.

The other type of idea generator is the innovator. Innovators are “outside the box” thinkers—they come up with completely original concepts.

Both types are valuable, but they don’t always mesh well in brainstorming sessions. Adapters think innovators’ ideas are too “pie in the sky” to ever become a reality. Innovators, meanwhile, see adapters’ suggestions as too small.

If you decide to hold a brainstorming session, Lampe said, it’s important to have someone leading the meeting who knows how to manage both personality types and can encourage everyone to share their ideas.

That’s a skill that you as the business owner should try to develop, too. Most companies are very good about respecting gender or ethnic diversity, but they don’t always excel at welcoming different kinds of ideas, Lampe said.

By keeping your door—and your mind—open to new concepts, you could find the next big innovation for your company.