4 Ways To Increase Innovation In The Workplace

Keeping your company ahead of the competition is critical. So, maintaining the creative and innovative flare glowing is all-important. Without it, ground is lost and competitiveness wanes, but with the right steps, the flame can continue burning brightly, boosting the bottom line and your business’s market position.

These days, competition is so acute because consumer demands evolve quickly and dramatically. Accurately anticipating changes and regularly realigning to the newest demands needs bright thinkers and even brighter ideas.

And yet, according to a survey from McKinsey & Company, some 94% of managers are unhappy with their company’s innovation performance and are eager to improve matters in order to remain to the fore of their respective fields.

The best way to promote consistent innovation is to create an environment that fosters it – and there are several ways to do so.

We’ve put together a short list of 4 ways to increase innovation in the workplace:

• Incorporate Innovation into Company Culture – embrace creativity, encourage it. Let employees know that new ideas are important, and have the resources and structure in place to facilitate them. Use experiential learning to promote innovation in the workplace, and allow employees the time to develop their ideas.
• Embrace Technology – earlier this year, we examined how technology has been revolutionizing the way in which we work, and how a connected workplace can boost productivity. By adopting the right tools, colleagues can interact better, communicate faster, teams can be developed and procedures can be run automatically and more efficiently – all contributing to a better bottom line and a brighter future. Our own Quickfire and Go Team apps, for example, get delegates working with one another to find new solutions to achieve a goal.
• Use Metric to Measure – turning ideas into something real is the essence of innovation, but there is a journey involved. Metrics allow employees to measure the progress being made, and can help focus the innovation process. Define your metrics clearly, based on your innovation goals and then track progress.

You can also leverage your metrics to encourage specific behaviour you’re looking for. And remember that promoting a link between innovation and results demonstrates you are committed to acting on employee ideas.

• Celebrate Innovation and Success – the simplest way, but certainly the most enjoyable is to openly celebrate the successes that come from innovation. There is nothing that can motivate an employee more to keep coming up with new ideas and executing them than the knowledge that their efforts will be recognized.

Greater productivity and competitiveness are just 2 advantages innovation brings, but there are others too. Innovation is also a key quality in potential leaders; leaders who must experiment in order to succeed.

Data-driven decisions can bring success too, but it is equally vital to feel comfortable acting decisively on partial information. And by promoting innovation as a value, you encourage new thinking, fresh ideas and greater engagement all at the same time.

If you think your team may need some help to promote innovation in the workplace why not get in touch to discuss some options. Our Creative Team Challenges help to fix problems and generate new ideas by developing your team’s creative competence and confidence. Tell us what you need and we’ll get started on some options that will best suit your needs.