HOW TO IMPROVE TEAM EFFICIENCY: THINKING CREATIVELY
Without new ideas, teams are unlikely to achieve the breakthroughs that generate real success. Creative thinking is a team responsibility in which all members should participate. Develop it in teams through plenty of training and practice.
Encouraging Creativity
Many people become locked into patterns of thinking drawn from their own experience and personalities. To unlock new creativity, do not allow yourself or your team members to become typecast as creative or non-creative. Everybody is capable of having or developing new ideas. Encourage people to think creatively by insisting that they come to appropriate meetings – to discuss new products, for example, or to solve a problem – with a number of ideas. Then all can play a creative role, which emphasizes that thinking is a group activity in which everybody shares. Always welcome diversity of views and ideas, but steer debate towards consensus.
Generate New Ideas
Brainstorming sessions aim to generate as many ideas as possible, no matter how far-fetched. They can be used for many purposes, from new ways to market a product, to devising a new pay system. Brainstorming requires a leader and takes some organization – a session should be open-ended., but the leader should call a halt when it starts to run out of steam. All ideas should be recorded on a flip chart or white board so they can be seen by everyone. Afterwards, reject non-starters and produce a short list of feasible ideas, Use this as the agenda for a subsequent meeting to discuss and agree on the best idea and action plan.
Points to Remember
- Brainstorming is sometimes called “group action thinking”.
- Criticism kills creativity. Ideas should never be scorned during a brainstorming session.
- Many seemingly foolish ideas can lead to sensible solutions.
- All ideas should be recorded – no matter how unconventional they appear to be.
- The joint creative input in these sessions will always be higher than individuals can provide alone.
TIPS
- Look for the good points in an idea, and never criticize ideas in public.
- Look for people with experience when seeking problem-solvers.
- Analyze the roles that people play within your team.
- Never dismiss brainstormed ideas out of hand – that is disheartening and stops the flow of creativity.
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