Every team would prefer to be the finest in developing many creative solutions.
How can we assure a team to improve creativity skills?
How can to encourage the team members to work out some actions which will empower them to raise creative skills and work out the same to come out with different solutions?
The business has only two basic functions — marketing and innovation. —Peter Drucker
For innovation to thrive, organizations must establish an environment that fosters creativity; bringing together multi-talented groups of people who work in close collaboration together — exchanging knowledge, ideas and shaping the direction of the future. —Linda Naiman
As we all perceive, creativity is about bringing out unique ideas and solutions for a unique problem.
The team ambient plays an absolutely critical role to establish innovative solutions that come from the team.
Leadership style also performs a substantial role.
Organizational culture plays pivotal roles. Can we figure out what is the current state of all those and take actions?
Every team can not remain on prior success. They require to continually remake themselves to remain relevant in today’s business. What should we do as a team?
All the members can investigate how frequently they are contributing to that growth path by offering new propositions and solutions.
Leadership needs to challenge each team member to challenge each other about innovation speed. It has observed that when we have team members who always agree with their bosses blindly, it is not a perfect habitat for innovation. “Yes Sir” team members are not always preferable for the innovating team.
The skills and competency of the team members play a considerable role in innovation. As a team can we find if we are learning, fresh knowledge gain is taking place? Do we have the appropriate set of team members? The collective intelligence serves the team to brainstorm and come out with fresh ways of generating solution for a definite problem.
By considering at the last six-month trend of ideation or fresh ways of working will explain if we have enough innovation is taking place in a team. In the close examination, we can find out where ideations are stuck, why the flow of innovations is not advancing? What actions as a team we can choose to strengthen this idea boosting drive?
Leaders can inspire team members for a bigger purpose. With that drive, it will clear up the motivation issue. Leaders also can throw open challenges to have conversations, debates, constructive criticism, and healthy conflict. In a process, new views and ideas will surface.
The question is how much time, in a day or in a week, we go to such a condition? Most of the time, we are terrified to go out of the prescribed task and boundary. Organizational culture sometimes does not inspire to distort the flow of operation. We all want to perform in safe known boundaries. Maybe for fear of failure & Crtisim or punishment etc.
Innovation challenges among team members will embolden them to crush some of the silos in mind. Such an initiative will motivate the team members to consider variously, come out of the monotony and stretch for something bigger accomplishments. In a process, we will be capable to collaborate and exercise our skills muscle and pick up something new.
“I believe the real difference between success and failure in a corporation can very often be traced to the question of how well the organization brings out the great energies and talents of its people.” Thomas J. Watson, Jr. Former IBM Chief Executive.
Thank God It is a Friday innovation hour!!! Team members can consider Friday is their period for innovation! where they are free for certain hours, do fly like birds, roam like wild animals in the wildlife sanctuaries. No barrier, no boundary and do whatever their passion drives them to do. Come back and demonstrate what different ideas they are bringing.
One of the best problem-solving technique is Design thinking, this approach helped a lot of resolves many complex problems as a team. More discussion, open discussion with visuals helps the structurally to think about a problem. Demonstrate the prototype to fetch more feedback. Run the same model several rounds with new innovative ways. As a leader or team member, we need to explore the power of design thinking to come out with better product and solutions.
“Creativity, as has been said, consists largely of rearranging what we know in order to find out what we do not know. Hence, to think creatively, we must be able to look afresh at what we normally take for granted.” — George Kneller
The psychological safety and trust is the key driver in a team to experiment something new easily. The free flow open communication helps the team to view where we are heading, why we are not so successful in our approach. What should we try differently? all these approaches enable team members to think differently. These are the factors that otherwise constraints team members to come out with new ideas.
Let us not criticize whenever new ideas come. Let us look for the opportunity to explore and talk about those ideas. As a part of building a better team environment let us ensure all of us are exchanging, challenging each other to create and refine any ideas. It will take time for the team to reach such a state. It needs rehearsal and good trusting and bonding among team members. Sometime there will be team members who do not like to do open discussion. Thye tries to compete and create disturbance in the team setup. As leaders, they need to watch out for such team members.
A learning organization, To improve creativity in a team environment, leaders need to create many platforms where team members are continuously learning by sharing. We need to learn from others when I as team members share some of my new discovery, I feel proud of the organization to acknowledge in special setup. The same is true for every team member. There should be an inspiration for sharing, appreciation for sharing, acknowledgment of learning for failure.
Celebration whenever a mini-milestone has been achieved by the team members. The positive optimistic environment fires more innovation to come. One person who can drive such an event can track such a milestone of achievement, a kind of innovation in charge person. That person can mentor and coach the team members to improve & achieve such innovation milestones.
Look for the opportunity to become better. This is also one of the best techniques to continually refine our intentions, what can we do to make our existing ways of thinking further and better. This approach facilitates the team to challenges in many possible to come out with new approaches and solutions. Challenge each other from different elements to come out with unique proposals.
Watch out for the toxic employees. Find them, counsel them, and coach them to support the team. If they are not able to collaborate, communicate with them. The creativity will not be able to flourish when the team has such toxic employees. Ensure there us fun in the team, and all the team members are able to enjoy that fun-filled ambient. Toxic and negative people destroy the fun and flow of the team. Ensure that within a team, every team members secrete happy hormones! Serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin, and endorphins are famously happy hormones that promote positive feelings like happiness, enjoy and fun with better collaboration.
When team members feel good, they will voluntarily contribute. Innovation has to be aroused from inside it can not be commanded. People can go beyond their defined path when they are creative.
As a leader, we have to fire the curiosity among team members. Inspire them to resolve big problems. Influence them to take ownership.
