What Sparks Creativity: Encouraging innovation in your team

Behind every successful project, start up, product, etc., there is one big idea. Sure, there’s a lot of work, feedback loops, failures and lessons that come after that, but it all begins with an idea. This idea is what many companies are after.

According to a survey by Adobe (2014), 78% of hiring managers believe that creativity is a crucial ingredient of economic growth and adds value to society, and 94% of them consider creativity while evaluating candidates.

As a result, problem solving and creativity, especially through digital visual media, are the leading factors influencing salary-related decisions. Four years since that survey was published, research on creativity in the workplace has advanced manifold.

Alzghoul and colleagues (2018) studied the role of authentic leadership in encouraging knowledge sharing and stimulating creativity in the workplace. In the same year, Kwan and colleagues (2018) found that workplace ostracism negatively affects employees’ potential for creativity, and organizational support can remedy the situation to some extent.

Looks like it’s more important than ever now, to encourage creativity in the workplace. Research has shown that the role of leaders and managers in promoting creativity is crucial. So let’s look at how you can promote creativity and innovation in your office

Innovation contests

Innovation contests are a way to encourage people to find solutions to specific problems in the organization. These problems could be related to the design of a product, communication between teams, efficient use of the office space, etc.

Open vs closed contests

The contest could be limited to employees in that office, or you could open it up to employees from other branches, clients, partners, and even the general public! You can make an announcement through your website and social media handles to throw the challenge open to everyone.

The Google News Initiative

For example, Google has launched a challenge called Google News Initiative, which invites journalists from all over the world to come forward with revolutionary ideas in the field of digital journalism.

Incentives for innovation

Of course, innovation challenges should come with meaningful incentives. You can choose from a wide range of options- cash prizes, public recognition, opportunities for investing in company equity, membership in an incubation program, and offers for collaboration.

If the challenge is for employees within the organization, you can also offer opportunities for mentorship and networking. It is important to ensure that these incentives are powerful enough to attract people to the challenge. And despite what you might believe, monetary incentives are sometimes necessary, because appreciation doesn’t pay everyone’s bills!

Idea incubation labs

An idea incubation lab is a space where employees work on their creative ideas to contribute to the growth of the company. It is typically a physical office space with facilities and technology to allow people to do their tasks.

There is usually also people appointed as mentors so that innovators can network and get guidance on their work. If you have the funds, you can even organize workshops and seminars by successful entrepreneurs so that employees can learn how to materialize an idea into a concrete project.

Boston University Incubation Lab

For example, Boston University runs the Idea Incubation Fall Cohort program where students learn different skills that are crucial in entrepreneurship. Students are then encouraged to work on their own ideas and compete for getting a grant of $500.

Creating a culture of creativity

Encouraging creativity in the workplace is a two-fold process. The first task is to stimulate thinking, to encourage people to think outside the box. The second task is to create a bond of trust, so that employees feel comfortable sharing that idea with you. They should have the confidence that their ideas will be valued.

Here are a few things you can do to create a culture of creativity in the workplace.

Clarify your vision and goals

Tell your employees what exactly is the purpose of innovation. When they know what you are expecting from the process, they will get more clarity on how to proceed. Often, conversations about the goal of the innovation process prevents people going astray and working on things that are irrelevant to the objectives of the organization.

Lead by example

The famous saying goes, ‘preach what you practice’. Leaders play an important role in shaping the work culture. Encourage subordinates to keep an open mind, and demonstrate it by welcoming new suggestions. Experimentation comes with risk. So, if you want to turn your employees’ creativity into organizational growth, you need to have an appetite for risk.

Support and facilitate

Nurture the creative spirit of your employees by providing support in the form of funds, mentorship, and opportunities. If you feel like an idea has potential, make sure you do everything in your capacity to take it to the next level. For example, you could send your employee to a seminar on learning a new software that will help her automate certain tasks and help her bring an innovative idea to life.

Encourage collaboration

Some people have different strengths, and they make magic when they work together. A good leader recognizes the unique skills of different employees. Put together a team of people with diverse skills related to technology, finance, marketing, design, and so on. Encourage them to work on interdisciplinary projects.

Recognition of good ideas

Put your money where your mouth is! Managers often pay lip service to creativity and innovation in the workplace. But what is also required is real recognition and incentives for people who actually make valuable contributions. Sometimes, a pat on the back is not enough. You need to send a message that you value good ideas, and reward them in concrete, tangible ways!

Reframe failure

If people earned a dollar for every time an idea failed, we would all be rich! Fostering innovation requires taking risks- both financial, and emotional. People tend to get really disheartened when they fail. At this crucial juncture, how you respond to failure decides how they will approach new ideas in the future.

If you reprimand or lecture them, it will lead to a negative outcome- you might just miss out on good ideas because people wouldn’t want you to pitch ideas to you anymore. Instead, it’s a good idea to go over what went wrong, how these things can be prevented, and most importantly- appreciate them for trying!

If you want to create a culture of innovation in your office, we hope this article helped you understand how creativity is nurtured in a workplace. A few small steps can get you on your way to becoming an efficient manager who welcomes good ideas!