If your Edmonton-based business is going to thrive against the competition, you need to boost creativity in the workplace.
There's a strong link between employee happiness, engagement, and creativity. When workers have the freedom to be creative and come up with novel ideas, they'll be more engaged with their work. Engagement leads to happiness, which in turn, promotes more creativity.
Today, we're going to tell you how to boost creativity in the workplace. Motivating your employees to think creatively isn't always easy, but keep reading, and you'll have some good tactics in your leadership toolbox!
Encourage Risk Taking
One of the overlooked aspects of creativity is risk-taking. If you're not willing to put yourself out there and think outside the box, you're not unleashing your full creativity.
The problem with most businesses is that they don't foster a risk-taking environment. You need your employees to know that it's okay to take risks in the name of creativity. Don't encourage failure, but don't make it a punishable offence because big, creative swings come with failure sometimes.
Open Communication and Collaboration
Collaboration is a key part of an engaged workforce. Good ideas are best realized when they're fleshed out from various perspectives. That's why it's so beneficial to have a wide range of creative thinkers working on a given problem.
You can encourage communication verbally, but you can also do it through office design. Open-concept office planning, complete with breakout rooms and lounge areas where people can brainstorm informally, can help promote this sense of collaborative work.
Flex Work Environment
Creativity isn't something that comes on demand. You can do everything necessary to promote a creative workplace, but people need flexible work hours to be as creative as possible.
Implementing flex hours scares a lot of Canadian business owners, but as long as there's trust, it empowers your workers. When they feel like they've got time to come up with and develop ideas, more creative ideas will come.
Reward Creative Thinking
Rewarding your creative thinkers will motivate the entire workplace. When you acknowledge creative thought, it shows that you really do value creativity. If any of your employees have trepidation about their creative freedom, your acknowledgment will dispel it.
Bring in Outside Help
If you're having trouble getting the most out of your workers, try out a business course. Our Coursetter program promoting creativity in the workplace is a one-day session that will have a great effect on your office.
We'll help you define creativity and dispel myths about it. We'll teach you how to develop and nurture creativity while looking at some of the best brainstorming techniques. When you finish the course, you will have a collective understanding of the positive impacts of creativity.
Stimulate Creativity in the Workplace
Creativity in the workplace won't come overnight. You need to spend time pushing your employees to be more creative. Fostering the right type of work environment for people to be creative will require everything we've discussed here and more.
Sign up for our Coursetter in-person or online courses to take your business to new creative heights.