HOW TO MAKE YOUR OFFICE A CREATIVE HUB

Publish date:

• 30th September, 2020

The workplace should be like a beehive, brimming with activity, buzz, and creative juices flowing. The environment stimulating and the employees excited about coming to work daily and making a difference. If your office is not this, then its time you converted your workspace into a lab for creativity and out-of-the-box thinking which will invigorate all those impacted by it. Let's see how one can go about doing it in some detail.

Here are some ways you can make your office a creative hub: 

• Give the employees exposure beyond the office walls. It could mean inviting experts in their fields to give talks/presentations. Employees can be sent for field trips and postings to other locations or even abroad. Get employees to be part of cross-department think tanks or teams for specific purposes. 

• Organizational set - up and culture plays an important role in this regard. So as a leader etc., it is up to you to make the shift in the office ambiance to encourage creativity. If there is a culture of ideas, creativity, and innovation, people will thrive and make creativity an integral part of their day to day working. 

• Reward and recognize creativity and innovation in the office. A reward system needs to be institutionalized to ensure that employees are assured of being "patted on the back" for their achievements, idea, and accomplishments. The reward & recognition system can vary from company to company. It could mean a cash award, some freebies, and so on. 

• Company resources must be focused on nurturing ideas and innovation. The company has to invest itself in a systematic and sustained way by providing opportunities and facilities to the employees. Without the basic resources, you cannot accept creativity to be sustained. Time to ensure all the wheels are well oiled. 

• Create fun and light-hearted ambiance where people can enjoy themselves while working. Being at work doesn't mean anyone is a slave. Allow freedom within the organization to play, relieve boredom & stress. One of the greatest examples is the google offices worldwide have captured the imagination the world over for the design, layout, ambiance, and facilities for their employees.  Now isn't that a great reason to work for Google considered as one of the best employers? With happy and carefree team members, the seeds for making the office a creative hub are sown. Plant the seeds and reap the fruits. 

• Have an open mind and be a good listener. Send the message out "loud and clear" on a regular basis that the management welcomes ideas, thoughts, and all other forms of creativity. Encourage employees to come up with ideas anytime, anywhere, using any medium at their disposal to express. It could be in one on one sessions or team meetings or emails and so on. 

If you wish to encourage and develop a spirit of creativity and innovation, start with yourself as the manager/leader/company owner. Lead from the front and ensure everyone is in tune with the motto/philosophy. And who knows which genius minds are unleashed and ideas worth a million rupees are generated. 

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About the Author

Anand Sharma

Anand is a Salesforce Evangelist, joined the Salesforce ecosystem in 2014 helping customers to be successful with Salesforce, and joined Codleo to share the goodness with even more developers all around the world. He is based in New Delhi, with his wife, and he tries to escape summers every chance he gets.