What makes a good workplace culture? Any manager, leader or team member will tell you it goes far beyond the day-to-day work your organization does. Whether it’s a sense of community, caring and trust, benefits like employee events and perks, or recognizing your team’s accomplishments, there’s so much that goes into making your workplace culture great. But have you ever thought about how creativity fits into the equation?
A creative workplace isn’t just for startups, advertising agencies or tech companies. Creativity has its place in every single workplace and industry. When teams are creative, they’re engaged and excited about their work. They’re a team who always have innovation in mind, who are open to change and willing to step outside their comfort zones.
Here are our top five tips for inspiring creativity in your team.
1: Provide a stimulating work environment
Setting employees up to do their best work is key in nurturing creativity. After all, everyone works to their full potential when they’re feeling focused, calm, energized and inspired. Your office setup can have a huge impact on your team: for example, by including plants and decorations and spaces for employees to collaborate and connect.
Using a co-working space like iQ is an easy way to ensure your team’s space is helping them reach their full creative potential. Our spaces were each designed to not only be aesthetically pleasing but also include other elements key to employee well-being and productivity—like natural light, greenery and ergonomic setup.
2: Offer flexibility to your team
Sometimes the best inspiration comes when you step away from your desk and let ideas percolate in your mind. Facilitate your team’s creativity by offering them opportunities to switch it up, like encouraging walking meetings or hosting meetings at a local coffee shop. At iQ, our offices include breakout and social spaces, giving your team the chance to get a change of scenery and collaborate with one another.
In today’s work world, you can also give your team more freedom and flexibility when it comes to where and when they work. This can mean adopting a hybrid in-office/work-from-home schedule that allows for greater work-life balance for your team. Employees who feel they have balance in their schedule will be more productive and more creative in their daily work. Where it works for you, you can also give employees the freedom to adapt their schedule
to what works best for their own productivity. Some team members might do their best work in the mornings, others in the evening.
Another way flexibility can play a role in the workplace is by allowing time and space for employees to de-stress, have fun and get to know one another. That can mean encouraging breaks or holding team events, whether virtual or in-person. Having time away from work can boost employees’ creativity, focus, and performance during work hours.
3: Build a diverse team that can learn from one another
Actively seek to hire employees from different backgrounds and walks of life, with varying perspectives, skills, and opinions that they bring to your team. Keeping diversity in mind as you hire team members will help facilitate conversations and innovation and open up new opportunities for your business. Employees who think differently from one another are better equipped to problem-solve and brainstorm than a team who all have the exact same opinion as each other.
Encourage your team to take advantage of the different perspectives each of them bring by collaborating on tasks or solving problems. Even if your team is remote or hybrid, or includes employees in different locations, you can still encourage collaboration via video chat.
You can also facilitate creativity by actively providing opportunities and spaces for team members to share knowledge and insights, even if it’s not directly related to their job functions. For example, team members could take turns hosting lunch-and-learns to share skills like guided meditation, drawing or basic coding. Stepping out of your day-to-day to learn new skills or discuss topics outside of your work can go a long way to getting those creative juices flowing.
4: Don’t be afraid to fail
Failure is a scary word. But if your team are afraid to fail or disappoint you, they won’t be as willing to take risks or try out new ideas. Avoiding risks might feel safe, but on the other hand, taking a risk might pay off when you come up with the next big idea for your business.
Embrace the idea that failure is OK, and that it’s the only way you and your team can truly learn and grow. And when an idea doesn’t work out, talk about it. Debrief with your team and figure out why something wasn’t successful—it might just spark new ideas for next time.
By encouraging your team to take risks, to try and try again, and to bring forward new ideas, you’ll boost creativity and your business.
5: Openly encourage creative thinking
Boosting creativity by encouraging creativity? It may sound obvious, but it’s an essential step in the process. Build a team culture where creativity is encouraged, valued and celebrated. It’s also key to ensure your team is clear on your organization’s mission, vision and goals—and the role they play in those.
When team members raise their hand in meetings or speak up to share their opinions, reward and recognize them. Actively ask for your team’s opinion and encourage them to think outside the box.
Beyond regular meetings, you can also provide opportunities for creativity to flourish. Be open to feedback, and ask for it regularly. You can create a “suggestion box,” virtual or physical, to give team members a chance to share ideas or feedback anonymously, alongside sharing their opinion in conversations. Make brainstorm sessions a regular fixture in your organization, especially to kick off a new project, and make sure all key team members have a seat at the table
