6 ways to encourage creativity in your team
Encouraging team members to be more creative and think creatively can be a challenge, especially in a traditional business setting where the focus is often on efficiency and meeting deadlines or if you have particular team members who are seemingly averse to exploring possibilities in favour of doing what’s always been done.
Fostering a culture of creativity can lead to more innovative solutions and a more engaging work environment. Here are a few ways to encourage team members to be more creative:
- Set the stage for creativity: Create an environment that is conducive to creativity. This might include providing a space for team members to brainstorm and collaborate, as well as allowing for flexibility in how and when work is done.
- Encourage risk-taking: Encourage team members to think outside the box and to try new approaches, even if there is a risk of failure. By taking risks, team members are more likely to come up with unique and creative ideas.
- Encourage collaboration: Encourage team members to work together and share ideas. Collaboration can lead to the exchange of different perspectives and the development of new ideas.
- Provide resources and support: Make sure that team members have the resources and support they need to be creative. This might include providing training, access to research and information, or mentorship.
- Encourage idea generation: Encourage team members to come up with as many ideas as possible, even if they seem far-fetched or unrealistic. By generating a large volume of ideas, team members are more likely to come up with creative solutions.
- Foster a culture of experimentation: Encourage team members to experiment and test out new ideas. This can help team members learn from their successes and failures and come up with even better ideas in the future.
One thing I would recommend though is to RECRUIT FOR CREATIVITY. It’s like moving to a data-first approach to digital transformation. Traditionally businesses recruit for existing (or comparative) abilities, but with a creative mindset, innovation becomes the currency of solutions of new solutions. I don’t want someone who has always done things in a certain way, I don’t want to train them in the way WE do things, I want them to bring something new, to show US how THEY work and maybe, we can benefit from their experiences and thinking rather than creating cookie-cutter team members.
The creative mindset comes with its own challenges of course, but I am going to be discussing these with Revd Peterson Feital in an upcoming episode of my new podcast called “The Loqui”, starting in January 2023.
It's a fact that encouraging team members to be more creative and think creatively is an important way to foster innovation and drive business success. By setting the stage for creativity, encouraging risk-taking and collaboration, providing resources and support, and fostering a culture of experimentation, businesses can create an environment that encourages creativity and promotes the development of unique and innovative ideas.
