Did you know that creative time can help you solve problems, boost confidence, provide motivation, help you to become more productive, relieve stress and may even prolong your life?

It’s no secret that our world is constantly and rapidly evolving; businesses often struggle to keep up with the changes. However, it is vitally important for companies to prioritize creativity to solve issues, which promotes innovation and leads to higher levels of success.

As employees in the marketing industry, we have been known to get so caught up in meeting our clients’ needs that we sometimes forget to prioritize our own company’s creativity. Being acutely aware of this, we purposefully take time to promote our staff’s originality. This month, decorating Valentine’s Day boxes seemed like a fun way to link us to our artistic childhoods.

Here are some tips to help you make your organization more innovative and productive:

Promote team brainstorming

One of the most effortless ways to get the creative juices flowing is to allow time for employees to brainstorm together and see what ideas can be created collectively. It can be difficult to feel imaginative when we’re alone (as we often feel stuck in the same thoughts), but hearing others’ suggestions can ignite new thoughts and provide new perspectives. Brainstorming can also help strengthen staff relationships by encouraging meaningful teamwork and giving a sense of how each person develops their own interpretations. Once a week, we dedicate an hour to meet as a team where we talk about company matters, devise solutions, and allow people to speak about anything that is on their minds. This meeting alone has helped our team bond and has been the place where many great ideas have been created.

Reward creativity and encourage failure

If employees do not feel that creativity is valued or desired, they will be less likely to try new ideas and practices when needed. It is important as a business to show your employees appreciation when they come up with visionary proposals and inventive ideas, whether or not they are ultimately feasible. Recognizing their efforts is imperative to continue inspiring and motivating workers to come up with innovative concepts. This practice coincides with encouraging failure towards your employees to ensure they are not fearful of putting themselves out there with their propositions. If employees are scared of failing and the consequences for it, then they may keep those imaginative ideas to themselves, hindering the growth of both the company and those that work there. Clearly communicating that it’s all right to have an “out there” idea ensures employees feel comfortable with having the group help flesh out the merits of their ideas.

Change up the environment

Adjusting your space is an easy way to get your mind flowing with new ideas. Whether they’re big or small, modifications in your work environment can help ignite new thinking and get you out of a rut. Simply rearranging office furniture or seating arrangements can spark creativity, motivate people to work, and are great ways to practice team collaboration. We frequently do this in our own office and not only enjoy the process of rearranging and working together, but also have found it beneficial to help keep our team motivated and focused. If it’s not practical to change the office around, go to a different location – such as a park or coffee shop – to completely change your surroundings to help trigger new ideas. This can also serve as a quality team bonding experience by getting everyone interacting out of the office and seeing each other in a new environment.

Give time to recharge

Creativity cannot continue without taking a break to recharge our minds. With having such persistent obligations, it’s easy to get burnout and to feel overworked. It is important for businesses to plan for free time during the workday or to allow employees the flexibility to take breaks throughout their day to avoid feeling burnout and negative towards their job. This time can be spent however one wishes but should be quick and easy enough to move on from to jump back into work. Our favorite ways to revive our minds are to go on a short walk, talk with each other about our days, go outside for fresh air, or jam out to music.

We hope to have inspired you – and your business – to think more creatively.  

Resources:

https://www.northeastern.edu/graduate/blog/creativity-importance-in-business/

https://www.thebalancesmb.com/more-creative-entrepreneurs-4023945

https://martech.org/spark-creativity-11-tips-to-build-a-more-creative-business/

https://www.teachthought.com/learning/benefits-creativity/  

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