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Creativity is a really important aspect of business. Only when your employees are feeling creative will they come up with brand new ideas and directions for your business. And yet, the vast majority of offices and businesses completely fail to inspire any kind of creativity.
Creativity doesn’t come from nowhere. It is actually a combination of things and usually, the first spark of an idea happens when you find the right inspiration and you are relaxed enough to let the thought through. This is why a dull grey cubicle in an open plan office is rarely a place for great ideas!
Transforming Your Office
It might sound superficial but everything from the color of your office to the layout will have an effect on the way you work. Whether you are looking to boost your creativity or you want your team to be more productive, you should look at your office design first.
A bright space where employees feel that they can express themselves is really important. Indeed, being able to play – whether that means adding a foosball table or a stack of video games – is also really important. Adults learn through play just as much as kids do and being able to relax is vital for clear thinking.
If you can create a flexible space where your employees can make the room into what they need for their project, that would really help too. It’s incredible that something as simple as moving some furniture around could make a difference but, hey, at least that’s a fairly simple problem to fix! Have a look at Rieke.com to see what your office could become.
Be an Inclusive Office
Inclusivity is really important in any office but if you want to be more creative, you must ensure that you foster the right culture. Diversity is key to creating a team but we’re not just talking about socio-economic diversity, here, deep-level diversity including personality, values and abilities are also essential.
Though a group of people who all approach problems in different ways can be difficult to manage, they are much more likely to have a lightbulb moment than a group who all think in the same way. This is because as they discuss their ideas, they will be able to bounce off each other, finding flaws and solutions as they go.
But inclusivity is about more than diversity. Inclusivity is about giving people the chance to speak and to shine no matter whether they are a junior in their first week or a manager with years of experience. This article from Entrepreneur has some interesting ideas but the one that stands out most for creativity are the simplest: talk about something other than work.
Inspiration can and should come from anywhere and, though the office might be the most logical space for a business, you must adapt that space to make it work for you. Transforming your office is a good start to this process but you must also transform your culture to succeed.
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