11 ways to foster innovative thinking in your team - Viewpoint - careers advice blog Viewpoint careers advice blog

11 ways to foster innovative thinking in your team - Viewpoint - careers advice blog It doesnt matter what industry you work in: the ability to be creative and innovative is something that every business should have if theyre to maintain their competitive edge. Often, innovation occurs within teams, not with individuals, as it is the combination of different expertise, personalities, ages, and cultures which brings together a variety of thoughts and ideas. As a leader, your job is to embrace this process and to act in a timely way on the creative thoughts of your team. To make sure youre getting the very best from your team, consider implementing these 11 ways to encourage innovative thinking. 1. Encourage interaction between departments In large businesses in particular it can be easy for different departments to become segregated and shut off from each other, making it difficult for employees to fully appreciate how the business functions as a whole. Encouraging members of different departments to come together now and again can help your team to break out of their silos, be inspired by new ways of thinking and come up with ways in which departments could work together to make processes more efficient or effective. 2. Always look for alternative methods, and encourage your team to do the same Although tried and tested practices often seem like the safer option, sometimes we find ourselves doing things the old way when theres a better, more successful method out there. It’s always a good idea to look for alternative methods, and in doing so youll lead by example and encourage your team to do the same. You never know how much of a difference your team might make by exploring some alternative ideas. 3. Try reverse mentoring to gain different perspectives Reverse mentoring is the process of teaming up senior and junior employees in order that both parties gain new skills and knowledge. Although a senior employee may have many years of business expertise and industry knowledge to pass on, the junior staff member might have valuable insights to share on new technologies which could be useful to the business, or have a better understanding of what makes young consumers tick. It may simply be that the junior employee has different perspectives on certain aspects of business, and the fresh way of thinking could do with being shared at a senior level. There are multiple ways in which younger, less experienced members of staff can mentor senior ones, and by combining the knowledge of junior and senior you may find that innovative new ideas begin bubbling up between them. 4. Get out of the office Creativity and innovation doesnt always come when were restricted to the same office every day. Get out into new environments and encourage your team to do the same. A refreshing walk, lunch at a local cafe or even a Monday morning working from home could be enough to get the creative juices flowing. 5. Tolerate and encourage learning by mistakes With innovative thinking and new ideas inevitably comes a certain degree of risk-taking, but its important to embrace this rather than be afraid of it. When members of your team take risks and get things wrong, be sure to let them know that you tolerate the error and encourage them to learn from it. If youre too quick to berate staff for ideas that go wrong, theyll be unlikely to put forward future ideas for fear of failing again, which means plenty of fantastic ideas could go to waste. Focus on constructive criticism and ongoing learning, and your team will quickly figure out that with some carefully calculated risk, their new ideas can still come to life. 6. Welcome all ideas, no matter how outlandish Putting a creative idea out there in front of your colleagues and superiors can be daunting, so to boost the confidence of your team members you should be sure to welcome all ideas that come your way, no matter how out of the box they may be. If faced with an idea that simply isnt right for the business, rather than dismissing it outright make a concerted effort to be enthusiastic and to talk through the ins and outs of the concept. In doing so, you can carefully and tactfully explain why the idea is not quite right, yet your team member will still feel appreciated for their creative thinking and will learn along the way. Plus, although an original idea may not be right, a discussion around it will often trigger new creative thoughts and lead to future bright ideas that your business could well utilise. 7. Make brainstorming a regular occurrence Brainstorming doesnt have to be restricted to specific projects; sometimes its helpful to practice group brainstorming to discuss general ways in which your business could improve. Consider organising sessions outside of the office to break the day-to-day routine and mindset of your team and stimulate some creative thinking. Encourage members of different teams to get together for this process, and make sure everyone has an opportunity to speak so that the quieter voices are able to share their thoughts. Plan what youll discuss too, and let the team know ahead of time. You might ask them to come up with five things the company could do differently to improve, or tell them to think of one way in which they think their department could be more productive. Encourage ideas both big and small a suggestion for a new coffee machine in the kitchen may not seem as ground-breaking as an idea for a new line of products, but both could impact the business positively in very different ways. 8. Dont be controlling be influential A controlling leader is not one which stimulates creativity, so be sure to influence rather than control, particularly when it comes to ideas. For example, dont push forward with your ideas over your teams, particularly if they dont seem to willingly agree that yours is the best. Dont keep throwing new ideas their way either give them a few suggestions and encourage them to come up with their own. By being creative yet welcoming of creativity from others, your team will be influenced to do exactly the same. 9. Reward and incentivise innovative thinking It isnt always part of an employees role to come up with new ideas, but that doesnt mean they dont have them. To give them an incentive to speak up about new ideas, consider implementing a rewards system of some kind to show how much your appreciate the creativity of all members of staff. 10. Implement ideas boxes Inspiration often hits us at the most random moments, so have an outlet for staff to get their great ideas down at any time with a simple ideas box. You can then have more detailed conversations about the ideas at later points to encourage staff to embellish on their bright ideas. 11. Action good ideas, no matter who came up with them Sometimes ideas only get actioned when theyve come from a senior member of staff, leaving junior team members to feel disheartened that their ideas arent taken seriously. Whenever you hear a good idea, be sure to action it in some way and let the member of staff know about it. They will feel empowered and inspired to keep up with their creative thinking, and confident enough to speak up about future ideas that they may have. 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