This year, Google is (again) No. 1 on Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For list. Of Google’s famous perks and programs, 20% Time is an employee favorite, and has been responsible for dozens of new products, and contributes to increased innovation and wild employee satisfaction. But 20% Time demands an expensive eight hours of the workweek, so many businesses have held off on launching similar programs.But that doesn’t mean your company cannot tailor a program to produce killer innovative products and employee satisfaction. Brilliant Ink has been on a journey to create our own innovation program, and here are few guidelines we picked up along the way:

• Set clear goals. Do you want to increase employee satisfaction? Heighten creative consciousness? Improve processes? Produce blockbuster products? Just because innovation can be amorphous does not mean that your goals should be. Determine why your program exists and fine tune the process to measure how you align with those goals.

• Make it a cultural fit. If your company isn’t full of quirky engineers eager to program the next Gmail, then your approach to innovation should differ from Google’s. Help employees by adding some structure at the beginning of the program, perhaps by requiring applications to work on pre-approved projects. Or maybe hosting quarterly hack-a-thons would make more sense for your business. Find a balance between supporting employees and letting them fly solo, so that their efforts have clear direction and purpose.

• Foster group innovation. As Keith Sawyer notes in Group Genius, creativity is amplified in group settings. Consider program structures that maximize combined brainpower or group work. Groups are also excellent at keeping members accountable.

• Allot specific resources to this program and educate your employees about them. Let your employees know what tools they have at their disposal. Is there an additional budget for research? When they don’t have immediate ideas in mind, where can they go for suggestions or brainstorm fodder?

• Avoid 120% time. Set clear expectations for how much time employees will spend on this program to ensure it doesn’t become all-consuming. Likewise, adjust regular workloads to make sure employees don’t have too much on their plates.

• Show off the results. Brag about the great ideas and practices your employees have thought up by publishing the news on your intranet or Twitter feed! Nothing will ensure the success of your program like excited employees eager to take a stab at the next cool thing that’s all the talk and rage at work.

Do you participate in a 20% Time program? Tell us about it!