Unlocking Creative Potential: Strategies for Encouraging Creativity in Your Team
Creativity is often seen as a buzzword by today’s workforce leaders. And there’s a good reason for that — creativity comes with numerous benefits and job security.
Unfortunately, there’s a problem: many leaders think that creativity can’t be taught. We’re here to tell you that this simply isn’t true. The reality is that there are multiple creative team-building activities that can unlock the potential of your employees.
Not only that, but these activities for team bonding can also make your company feel more united.
In this guide, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know about unlocking creative potential, starting with its importance in the workplace.
The Importance of Creativity in the Workplace
If you have an analytical, logic-based mind, you might be scratching your head, wondering how creativity can benefit your industry. At first glance, certain industries like accounting and healthcare might not seem like they need creativity.
But this isn’t the case. The reality is that creativity will be an essential part of the workplace in the future. You’ve likely heard the headlines talking about how AI and machines are taking away human jobs.
While this is partly true, the reality is that this technology will mainly be taking over menial tasks. That means that there will still be plenty of positions needed for things like leadership, strategy, and, most importantly, creativity.
That’s why a recent report from the Australia Council for the Arts found that by 2030 the number of jobs that require creativity will outweigh those that don’t.
So investing in creativity is an important part of investing in the future. But what about the benefits in the here and now? In the next section, we’ll cover the advantages that you get when you invest in creativity for your team.
Benefits of Encouraging Creativity
The first benefit that comes with encouraging creativity is improved problem-solving skills. Regardless of the industry, businesses often face unique challenges that defy conventional wisdom.
Creativity gives your team the ability to think outside of the box. This can lead to a cost-saving solution that you would have never otherwise thought of. Next, there’s the innovation factor.
When the sky’s the limit on what you can conceive, it can lead to innovations that have the potential to disrupt an entire industry.
Revolutionary ideas at Microsoft, Facebook, and Apple were all the result of creativity being applied to a concept. Creativity can also increase the job satisfaction of your employees.
When people get to engage with their imagination in a productive way, it makes them feel more valuable.
Lastly, as this Harvard Business School article points out, creativity can boost your workplace’s productivity and potential for growth. As such, there are plenty of reasons why you should consider investing in it.
Common Barriers to Creativity
Despite the importance of creativity, many workplaces (either knowingly or unknowingly) hinder creativity. So what are some of the main barriers to creativity that need to be overcome?
For starters, there’s the fear of failure. Some businesses can be so competitive that employees don’t want to appear to have messed up. Or, there might be a boss that yells at everyone when there’s a failure.
This is a problem because failure is an important part of creativity. Not every idea that comes up in a creative brainstorming session is going to work. But if you don’t give some idea the space to fail, then you’ll never succeed.
As such, you should create an atmosphere that’s open to failure. Next, there’s the lack of resources.
As we’ll see later on, creativity isn’t an on/off switch. It needs to be fostered in order to develop.
If you have a team that’s not used to being creative, that will involve using specific strategies and tools.
Lastly, there are rigid work environments. So leaders might thrive in workplaces that have a strict schedule and routine. However, these types of environments aren’t good for promoting creativity. So try being a little more flexible with your routine.
Strategies for Encouraging Creativity
For starters, you’re going to want to create safe spaces for experimentation. This can include weekly brainstorming sessions where no idea is bad.
Or provide physical areas for your workforce to engage with something. Some of the best ideas often come during breaks in recreational areas. Next, allow for more flexible work arrangements.
Creativity can strike at any time of day, so be prepared to go with the flow in terms of what works with your team. Lastly, create an atmosphere of openness and collaboration.
This can be reflected in your company’s mission statement. When people work together, they can unlock creative ideas that would otherwise be lost.
Open office plans, teams, and common areas are all good starts for increasing this collaboration.
Tools and Techniques for Enhancing Creativity
Brainstorming is a great way of getting creative juices flowing. Gather your team together to address a problem or task that needs a solution. Begin brainstorming in an environment that doesn’t criticise any unusual ideas.
Encourage your team to use free association to tap into their creative subconscious. If you want to try a more visual technique, try mind mapping.
This is the process of condensing ideas, concepts and data into visual representations. It can often help your team start thinking creatively about ideas in a new way.
Or, if your company is creating new products or ideas, try design thinking to fully conceptualise it. Creative team-building activities can also be a great way of improving creative thinking and team bonding.
Ready to Foster Creativity? Check Out Team Building Made Easy
We hope this guide helps you learn more about strategies for encouraging creativity in your workforce. Here at Team Building Made Easy, we don’t think fostering creativity needs to be hard.
That’s why we offer numerous creative team-building activities for your organisation. Each of these activities is run by an expert that specialises in the class.
They’re all a great way to get the creative juices flowing while fostering a more accepting, open environment for your work. If you’re interested, make sure to check out all of the different creative activities that we provide today.