How to Harness the Creativity of Your Team
Posted August 20th, 2014
As a manager, you have to do more than just delegate responsibility. You also must find ways to motivate your team to work more efficiently, more collaboratively, and in innovative ways. Your team may be brimming with talented people, but if you don’t find ways to accentuate their best qualities, you are not getting as much from them as you could. Here a few proven strategies for harnessing the creativity of your team.
Create Productive Outlets for Creative Ideas
Creativity is great, but it works best in the proper setting. You may have a person on your team that is full of creative ideas, but if they do not have a place to express those ideas, or they routinely pick the wrong time and place to express them, then their creativity becomes more of a disruption than an asset. Make sure that you create contexts where creativity is encouraged and privileged, and keep those separate from more routine or formal meetings.
Understand the True Nature of Creativity
You might think that given the nature of your team, or your company, there is no urgent need or appropriate context for creative thinking. But creativity doesn’t have to be transformational to be valuable. Small changes meant to improve efficiency can be just as beneficial as revolutionary new products or concepts. Make sure you understand the full spectrum of creativity, and it will be much easier to encourage it within your team.
Find Ways to Break Routines
Routinization tends to dull creative thinking. When people perform the same tasks over and over, they naturally grow complacent, and they are sent the message that business as usual is what’s important. If you can find ways to disrupt or interrupt these routines while still meeting goals, you break your team out of a rut and encourage them to look at things differently. Something as simple as bringing in a guest speaker or having a brainstorming session can promote fresh perspectives.
Communicate Your Intentions
This one is so simple that many managers overlook it. If your team doesn’t know that you value their creativity and welcome their input, they will hesitate to bring you new ideas. Boldly and clearly state that you are prioritizing creativity, and make it easy for your team to come to you with creative ideas.
The takeaway is that you need to be proactive if you want to harness the creativity of your team. It is not enough to sit back and simply hope that an exciting new idea appears. You need make it one of your managerial priorities to promote creative thinking. Work with the team at Bayside Solutions to find top scientist in the Bay Area.
