From flexible workspaces to scheduling brainstorming sessions, Mark Fallon outlines five strategies to ignite innovation and inspire your hybrid team
It can be challenging to spark creativity when working from home and even more difficult to encourage creativity among your team members. Here are five steps leaders can take to encourage remote creativity that supports organisational success.
1. Facilitate workspace flexibility
A change in scenery is often a great way to recharge the creative batteries. This might include encouraging your team to move their office setup to a new room that has a great view or colourful paintings, or even a complete shift in location to a relative’s house or outside to a park bench.
Whatever the choice, the change will be sure to enhance their creative process.
2. Find your creative hours
Depending on their role or personal circumstances, members of your team may find the best time to be creative is first thing in the morning or last thing at night before going to sleep.
It is important to adjust work hours accordingly to allow for this time, ensuring that the appropriate resources are available when team members are at their peak creativity (even if it is just a pen and notebook on the bedside locker!).
3. Schedule brainstorming sessions
Ideas often develop and build in-depth as you discuss them with people either face-to-face or over a video call.
Carve out time in your working week to run your thoughts by team members together in one place – either online or in the office together.
Encourage healthy discussion and ask for their input and feedback – they may have a unique viewpoint you have not yet considered.
4. Use your commute time
When you and your team commute to and from the office, you will often find yourself thinking through a project or solution to a problem. You might jot notes on your phone about a new idea or send an email to yourself to remind you of an important action or next step.
If working from home and stuck in a creativity rut, ask your team to recreate this headspace by using the commute time to think by going for a walk or dedicating an hour of their day to deep thinking and creativity.
5. Take time off
If team members have the time to take a day (or more) of annual leave, encourage it!
Our best ideas often come to us when we least expect them. Taking some personal time to relax will let the mind freely wander and help the team feel rejuvenated and re-energised when returning to work – hopefully with a few new ideas.
Whether you are looking to get into that creative mindset or inspire your team members to think outside the box, keep these tips in mind and implement them in everyone’s working day.
Most importantly, lead by example – when you focus on creativity and innovation, the people around you will feel motivated to do the same.
Mark Fallon is Director and Co-Founder at Coopman Search and Selection
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