Motivating Your Team Towards Business Innovation
Innovation is essential in the workplace; this is what gives new life and energy to everyone in a work environment. You should always find positive ways to drive your employees towards innovation in the office. This is especially true for entrepreneurs and small business owners.
What steps can you do to make this possible? How will you take a new business venture to success through innovation?
Get them involved.
Team members and employees won’t realize they have to be innovative if they don’t feel connected to the company in the first place. Keep them updated on the company’s struggles and strategies; get them involved with whatever is ongoing. It is amazing the number of companies that willfully keep their people in the dark on issues where employee input would be valuable.
Why? The answer is simple if they feel they’re in the loop, it’ll be easy for them to share their input because they’re aware of what’s currently going on with the company. Be an active and communicative business owner. There is a great ROI waiting for you.
Make it cool.
Some employees don’t find the need to be innovative because they see it as dull and dreary. Just because it is exciting for you doesn't mean those around feel the same. Make it fresh, then.
Help your employees realize that having innovation in the office is worthwhile by offering rewards for any activity that showcases creativity. One company I once worked for was known for giving out beer and pizza during brainstorming sessions, and the next day, some ideas shared were carried out and implemented.
Yes, beer and pizza cost money. But so does missing out on a million-dollar idea.
For some, activities with free-flowing beer may not be as productive. Hence, other courses of action should be chosen instead. What matters is for employees to see that innovation is highlighted with a positive and fun light, and that rewards will flow soon after.
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Be welcoming and respectful of input. Never make someone feel discouraged.
There are times when employees, in fact, have ideas, but they’re afraid to voice it for fear of being rejected. They don’t want to look and feel stupid, so they keep quiet. Your responsibility as a leader is to prevent this from happening as you lead by example. Be enthusiastic about all ideas, regardless of how eccentric they may sound. Allow everyone’s views to be heard; never shut any person out. You will be able to filter through everything later.
Take Google as an example. Google is known for having a one-of-a-kind headquarters with a relaxed environment, to think that their work is far from being simple. Not that every office has to look like Google’s, but the idea is for every office to have the same accepting atmosphere. As a new entrepreneur or a small business owner develop your leadership abilities so you become very good at creating a safe and welcoming environment for innovative idea-sharing.
Implement their ideas.
People will have more motivation once they see their ideas or the ideas they contributed to, being implemented and coming to life. They’ll feel like finally, they are being acknowledged.
If an idea is worth executing, then go ahead and invest time and resources towards them. On your end, take risks and try out new ideas. If ever something ends up as a failure, then don’t despair; learn from your mistakes. Just cross it off of your list as an approach that didn’t work. This is a key point for entrepreneurs to remember. The path to success for a small business that may one day become a large business is a road paved with failures that eventually lead to success. Don’t be afraid of the failure instead use it as a successful stepping stone.
Conclusion
Innovation may sound simple to implement, but without your employees’ cooperation, you won’t be able to accomplish anything. By getting them involved, however, listening to their ideas no matter how odd and rewarding them for every worthwhile idea presented and even bringing the idea into life. Your employees will see how good it’ll be to be innovative.
So finally my fellow entrepreneurs and business owners don’t forget that it may not be easy to start, but once you’ve begun showing your employees the perks of having innovation inside the office, they will soon follow.
About The Author
Professor Theodore Henderson is an Author-Coach-Trainer, working with entrepreneurs, small businesses, and executives for business and leadership success. Click for info.