Finding ideas to be more creative and innovative in your workplace can often be challenging.

Large companies/businesses that gain prominence and present good growth, tend to have a common characteristic … innovation! The business market is constantly changing, thus requiring companies to follow trends and reinvent themselves.

However, one of the important requirements for achieving innovation is creativity, which brings new practices and approaches to the company. But this involves not only the products or processes used, but also the entire environment and the work team.

But how to implement this strategy in the company? In today’s article we are going to give you some ideas to be more creative and innovative at work

 

Have spaces that stimulate creativity
The work environment can influence productivity and the flow of ideas, so it is necessary to have inspiring spaces to stimulate creativity. Neutral and extremely quiet environments can bring a professional look to the office. But do they encourage innovation?

Impersonality, lack of conversation and dull decoration can do the opposite, eventually hindering creative processes. Therefore, it is worth reviewing the company’s environments so that they are more stimulating and encouraging. Place personal items in your space and encourage the rest of the team to do that too.

The idea is to have more comfort, encouragement, fun and relaxation. The reason is simple: when there is greater stress, it is more difficult to be able to develop thoughts and innovate. Therefore, it is necessary to have environments that improve mental health, with greater lightness and relaxation.

A tip that can help in this task is to have a cowork space . It is possible to hire spaces that are made available to the team or only to one or two employees, as an alternative to the company’s environments. If there is no obligation for tasks to be performed at headquarters, why not offer alternatives?

The spaces are built to offer infrastructure, while encouraging networking and the sharing of ideas. Still, there is contact with other professionals, which can broaden the view on several aspects that lead to innovation in the business.

 

Including creativity and innovation in business culture
The corporate culture reflects the company’s values, mission, customs and beliefs. In this way it is able to guide several processes, such as the hiring of employees and the way in which workflows are organized. Thus, it brings harmony between the various sectors and proposed actions.

Therefore, a good starting point to be more creative and innovative is to make this part of the organizational culture. Make the team aware of what these concepts are, their impacts on the business and how to develop them. In addition, encourage innovative and creative actions, recognize these practices and reward those involved to increase motivation.

However, the success of the strategy requires being prepared to innovate. Often, companies think of this type of process as a way to differentiate and monitor the market. However, they still stick to traditional methods, offering resistance to change. So it is not enough that actions are limited to employees: leaders and managers must also adapt to the concept.

Encourage collaborative work between the team
One of the fundamental ideas to be more creative and innovative at work is to encourage team collaboration. It’s not just about everyone having the same goals, like business success, but about exchanging experiences and insights.

Many companies advocate teamwork, without actually putting it into practice. It is common for there to be rigidity about the interactions between employees, a requirement for silence and other actions that, in the end, limit creativity.

When talking about collaborative work, the idea is that people get together to brainstorm and exchange ideas that increase perspectives.

Collaboration emerges as a solution, which will bring together people with different knowledge and skills that may even be different. This broader vision that is achieved through teamwork can result in great ideas and solutions that might not have been considered in the past.

Provide more freedom and flexibility
Remote work is not new, especially now with the pandemic situation, but not only that, remote work has been practiced in many places, it started to stand out in 2017, with the labor reform. However, it is also a tool to assist in creative and innovative processes.

Not needing to be linked to company spaces (and schedules, in some cases), provides more quality of life and facilitates routine. In addition, when there is trust between the parties, less rigidity and freedom can stimulate work and increase productivity.

If your business doesn’t fit into a completely remote model, hybrid work can be a solution, keeping both models in action.

Work with suggestions and questions
Innovation requires leaving the comfort zone, so you need to be ready to present suggestions, ideas and question the methods used. In addition, the entire company team must do the same, with incentives and freedom to do so.

Openness to the reception of ideas is one of the essential points to identify solutions and points of innovation. It is also worth opening anonymous channels, allowing those who do not yet have the security to expose themselves to open up. Each professional has a profile, so it is important to offer alternatives that help those who are more introverted.

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes when evaluating ideas and putting them into practice. Sometimes, even if the original suggestion is not successful, the search for improvements and corrections brings the opportunity for new ideas

With these ideas to be more creative and innovative at work, we hope you will be able to develop good strategies in your day to day and also for your business.

Come and see HUB Ativo and our cowork space in Portimão. For more information contact us at our contact page or come and visit the HUB Ativo in Portimão.