It is not enough to just simply ask your employees to develop creative ideas, rather you need to develop and commit to a culture that invites suggestions and innovation. Great ideas do not just appear randomly, rather they appear because they are encouraged and welcomed through clear communication and an open door policy that invites them to offer their ideas. Do, if you want to increase the level of inspiration within your team, then consider the 5 keys suggested below.
- Reward creativity
If you want your employees to provide you with innovative ideas that will you’re your organization ahead of the crowd, then you need to know how to motivate them to do so. You have to take their suggestions seriously and actively search for ways in which those ideas can actually be implemented. You must never give them the impression that their ideas are not welcomed or appreciated. Rather, you must encourage them to come forward with their ideas and let them know that you appreciate the input. You might even offer them time to do just that…..brainstorm innovations and reward the ideas that prove to be the most viable and doable. This will certainly offer some inspiration and motivation for them to actually do this.
- Encourage experimentation
Ideas do not simply appear in “ready-made” formats. Rather, it takes time to develop creative ways to do things or new product or service ideas. So if you encourage them to experiment and then share the outcomes, again, they will be likely to give this a try.
- Allow room for failures
Failures should not be viewed as a reason to give up, instead, they are how we learn what does not work and then what does. The mistakes or errors are opportunities to learn and you should treat them as such. If your people play with ideas, then you should expect failure to appear at one point or another. It is normal and you don’t have to force your employees to apologize for every mistake. If people become afraid of failure and what happens when plans fail, then the creativity will decrease. Let everyone develop ideas, to take risks, make mistakes, seek solutions and understand that anything is possible.
- Create a positive mindset
Sometimes being too serious can be intimidating. That sort of agitation and related problems can deter the development of inspiration, so it is more beneficial to make time for some relaxation and fun. When people are having fun they are usually more creative, efficient, and productive and you should be modeling the behaviors that you want your people to espouse so try to be less serious all the time and invite some levity into exchanges. It is very important to leave some room for relaxation and socialization and to accept any ideas, even if they seem a bit strange at the outset. If you turn the office into a fun place, then the relations between the employees will change, people will be calmer, and good ideas will be more plentiful.
- Don’t miss viable concepts!
With all the fuss around, you might actually miss good ideas. As mentioned above, nothing can demoralize an employee more having a good idea ignored or disrespected. Therefore it is imperative to examine all the proposals that come across your desk and try to discover something really good inside them so that not viable concepts get lost.
If you implement these five key suggestions into your regular business environment, you might be very amazed by how quickly great results will start to appear.
Not only will the inspiration level inside your organization increase, but your employees will actually be more satisfied and as a result more engaged in their work as well. When this happens it is a win/win for everyone as confidence levels rise, performance is enhanced, turnover will be reduced, and your bottom line will strengthen.
