How to unleash the creative potential of your staff
As a manager, you can increase the effectiveness, productivity, and competitiveness of your organisation if you establish a more creative working environment for your employees. In every organisation, creative people need a chance to display their talents. These people can be one of your greatest assets - but only if you know how to get the best from them. Here’s how...
1. Understand the creative process.
People won’t be creative unless they want to be and work in an environment that encourages them to be. If people are given the opportunity to participate in planning their work and encouraged to make decisions about how it should be done, they will want to be involved. A positive attitude, ownership, and commitment are the key ingredients of creativity.
Creativity is a fluctuating process - there will be fallow periods during the incubation stage when little happens. Wise counsel will rekindle the creative spirit, so the manager must keep the communication lines open and provide a flexible, supportive environment.
2. Appreciate that all staff can contribute creatively.
Nobody has a monopoly on creativity. Good ideas can come from the receptionist or the managing director. The trick is to create an environment where everyone in your organisation is encouraged to have a say. Set in place procedures where the views of all staff members are welcome and considered.
3. Set the example yourself.
To foster a creative work environment, you need to be, in Douglas McGregor’s terms, a 'Theory Y' manager - you see your staff as creative, imaginative, hardworking, and responsible. You need to favour informal organisational structures and encourage supervisors and employees to share ideas, resources, and information. You need to set the norm by occasionally coming up with a creative idea yourself. You need the ability to inspire, to ‘work them up’, to relax the controls, to demonstrate a positive attitude of confidence, and to offer praise and support.
