Three Ways To Inspire Creativity At Work
Creativity, as it relates to work, is a mindset that is beneficial to every business. It allows for new ideas to emerge, diverse problem solving, improved workflows and, most importantly, it inspires people, leading to a happier, more invested team.
Here are a few ways to ignite the spark of creative thinking and unleash creative opportunities at work.
1.) Support Creativity And Embrace New Ideas
Allow employees the opportunity to flex their creative muscles. This does not mean just saying yes when a creative idea is proposed. This also involves supporting the idea of creativity. To spark creativity, one must be curious and open to new ways of doing things. The tried-and-true way can be safe, certainly, but it can also be stifling. When you get too used to doing things one way, you become blinded to more creative and easier ways of working.
For creativity to thrive in the workplace, employees need to learn not to fear moments of failure. One reason why employees are not innovating or proposing diverse solutions is due to the fear of making mistakes and not having their creativity supported. Nothing kills creativity like a risk adverse, overly precautious leader. Cultivate an office culture that rewards creative risk-taking. This can be achieved by being receptive to new ideas from staff and recognizing risk-takers for the impact they’ve made. At every turn, guide your employees into understanding the importance of creativity to your business. Here are a few ways to support creativity within your workplace:
• Institute a personal policy to listen to every new idea, even bad ones and those that go against your thinking. You don’t have to act on them, but you do have to value them, give honest feedback and reward employees for bringing them up. Doing so regularly will cultivate an atmosphere of positive idea generation and creativity.
• Establish an open-door policy or an anonymous outlet for those who wish to share their thoughts privately. Being open to feedback and suggestions from your staff is vital to inspiring creativity at work.
2.) Be Flexible
Every so often, a change of scenery is necessary to get the creative juices flowing. Studies have consistently shown that flexible work schedules lead to higher rates of overall productivity and higher job satisfaction. The flexible work policy method is also known to be beneficial to supporting employees in terms of cutting down transportation time and allowing for work-life balance. Furthermore, it can lead to the development of new skills that allow employees to generate an increased sense of creativity. Flexible work policies/programmes may include flexible working hours, work from home days or even unlimited vacation. The point is to have some degree of flexibility to accommodate multiple types of people and the differing ways in which people work best.
Steadily, the standard 9-to-5 way of working is becoming a bit outdated and more businesses are embracing the fact that working remotely can lead to a lot more productivity, creativity and overall greater benefits to the organisation. Think of it as letting your employees “work outside the box” in order to “think outside the box.” It is also important to build breaks into your work culture as this gives work less of a “grindstone” feel and more of an active choice. Every now and then, switch up your team routine with off-site and walking meetings. By venturing outside of their regular territory, your employees will have the chance to creatively think outside of the box they’re accustomed to.
3.) Build A Diverse Team
It has often been suggested that creativity is a team sport. One of the best strategies for encouraging creativity is to build a team with a diverse set of skills and strengths, and to encourage healthy debate/discussion among them. Group brainstorming sessions can help to bring out ideas from your team that would otherwise remain unsaid. When you set up your employees to work in a collaborative way, they begin sharing ideas more openly and can improve on each other’s brainstorming concepts. It is important to create an environment where failure is okay, and different points of view are encouraged. The expression “that’s not the way we do things here” should be banned from the office.
Management should also avoid micromanaging at all costs. When teams are micromanaged, they become stifled. They lose the desire to create, innovate and move freely within their areas of expertise. Instead of constantly looking over shoulders, leaders should empower their teams to work at a high level and they should be given the autonomy to do so effectively. Creativity doesn’t come naturally to everybody, but by facilitating a ‘team’ mentality, you’ll find your employees have more imaginative ideas, improved outlooks and more innovative solutions to the problems your business faces.
Written by Sherise Brooks
