Everyone is (or can be) creative in their own way. As a leader, it’s your job to help your team use creativity to improve processes and overcome challenges at TonyBet.
Of course, encouraging and normalizing creativity in the workplace is a challenge in itself.
Many organizations are still far too rigidly structured and unwilling to change the status quo. Regardless of their industry or size. Do you want to give your team members the freedom to utilise creativity in the workplace? Then you need to lead by example and show them how it’s done. Here are some ideas for increasing creativity in the workplace:
- Create an environment that encourages innovation. To set an example for new approaches and set a good example for the team, show that you are willing to express yourself creatively. Share concepts and invite team members to discuss them. Avoid micromanaging (even if it’s hard), and feel free to allow immature ideas in brainstorming sessions. Give your team members the feeling that they are supported when they take risks and break new ground.
- Breaking down traditional systems and structures and listening to new ideas. It is people who drive innovation, not processes or systems.
You should be flexible with collaborative brainstorming sessions in your organisation and not set strict guidelines so that you and your team don’t fall into the trap of systematically following existing rules. It also encourages team members to share suggestions that may seem unconventional at first glance.
- A framework as a guideline for your team. Even if it sounds counterproductive, creative guidelines can actually stimulate creative thinking and do not necessarily have to be an obstacle. This is because it allows your team to focus on a specific approach when solving a problem. So rules are not necessarily a bad thing. For example, method 635 can help your team to quickly come up with lots of good ideas on a whiteboard and inspire each other in an organised way.
- Dissolve limiting beliefs in the team. Many managers face the problem that their employees doubt their own creativity when they are asked to develop ideas. This lack of self-confidence can cause everyone to suffer. Use your role to observe and determine if someone needs extra motivation or coaching to reveal their innovative side.
Once team members notice a gradual improvement and become comfortable with expressing their creativity in the workplace, they will overcome their initial fears and inhibitions and rise to the occasion. With practice, creativity then becomes a natural ability.
Tactics for further improvements
Once a foundation for creativity has been established across the team. You can use other tactics to create more opportunities for innovation and encourage collaboration.
To encourage creativity, Chris Marsh, Principal Search Analyst at 451 Research, suggests visual collaboration. ‘Some standardized tools can limit creative thinking. The playful aspect of a digital environment, on the other hand, makes work more interesting. User-friendly visual components help with creative problem solving, planning and brainstorming.’ For Marsh, the benefits of a visual environment like Lucidspark start with the unstructured workspace.
‘Adding structure is a creative exercise with a playful element … here it means that employees engage in the process of creating or interpreting something on their own initiative.’
Other benefits of visual collaboration with a lightly structured template include
- Better adaptability to changes in the workplace
- Greater commitment to a work project
- More energy and drive to achieve a specific goal
With online access and an intuitive user interface, a virtual whiteboard supports creativity in problem solving, planning and brainstorming. Or even more concrete creative processes such as developing new concepts for a business proposal or meeting.
