Training Your Team to Be More Creative

Tapping into your team's creative potential can be difficult. Often, brainstorming sessions can waste time and resources, adding to your employees’ stress levels rather than generating good ideas. So how can managers foster and improve creativity in the workplace? Start by generating several ideas—even if they aren't the best. It's also important to create space for failure. When you're trying new things, expected that not everything will be right. It's also crucial to understand that creative thought occurs during unstructured time. Try not to fill employees' calendars up with meetings. Overbooked employees will feel like there's no time when pushed to innovate. Finally, delay your decisions. This might seem counterintuitive, but not making a decision has psychological implications for boosting creativity. By leaving a problem unresolved, people will continue to consider it, often resulting in better solutions.