Innovation is a critical part of most businesses, and you need a culture of innovation in the workplace if you want to continually come up with new and interesting ideas/concepts. That said, if employees and leaders are resistant to change, it can be very difficult. In this article, we’re going to look at 10 ways to build and encourage a culture of innovation in the workplace despite pushback.
What is a Culture of Innovation?
Before getting into the tips and strategies, let’s look at exactly what is a culture of innovation and why you would want one. Building a culture of innovation is impossible if you don’t know what that actually is, so let’s start there.
In simple terms, a culture of innovation is a workplace or other environment that encourages, fosters, and supports creativity, outside of the box thinking, and innovation. In an innovative culture, employees from all levels are encouraged to come up with new ideas, look for new solutions, and share them.
Going deeper, workplaces with a culture of innovation embrace change and new ideas. If a promising idea fails, that’s not seen as a bad thing. It’s a chance to learn from a mistake and come up with new ideas. They’re willing to take risks and chances, and they support employees who are willing to put forth new ideas. And they create an environment where all of that is encouraged through teamwork, support, and much more.
As for why you want a culture of innovation, the answer is pretty simple; innovative companies do better. It makes sense too. Businesses that encourage creativity and innovation are always coming up with new ideas. These ideas can help them get ahead of competitors, become leaders in their field, and ultimately increase their revenue.
Besides that, a culture of innovation benefits your employees too. If they are encouraged to share new ideas and try to improve things, their skills will develop. Besides being innovative, you’ll help your employees get better too. Employees also prefer workplaces that value them and their input, so it benefits them too.
How to Create a Culture of Innovation at Work
Now, let’s move on to 10 strategies for creating a culture of innovation. Knowing how to encourage innovative ideas in the workplace is often the hardest part, so these tips and strategies will help you get started.
Encourage a Growth Mindset
One of the first things you can start doing is encouraging a growth mindset. A growth mindset is when people believe that their talents and abilities can be developed through hard work and dedication. This sounds fairly simple, but it’s very important when it comes to building a culture of innovation.
When employees feel like they can get better through their own efforts, they will put more focus on learning. They will be less concerned about failures, seeing them more as learning opportunities. This all translates into employees that are more invested in their jobs/the company, more engaged, and more innovative.
You can encourage a growth mindset by supporting employees in their learning, as well as going out of your way to praise and reward innovative ideas in the workplace.
Foster Open Communication and Collaboration
Another key strategy for creating an innovative culture is fostering open communication and collaboration. This helps in numerous ways.
First, it can help build trust in the workplace. Trust is a key element of many things at work, including innovation. Your employees need to trust that their superiors will respect and consider their ideas, and they need to trust their coworkers.
Communication also helps with collaboration, a key component of innovation. Your employees should feel comfortable sharing ideas and working together, and they need to have trust to do that. It’s an important part of psychological safety as well, so don’t overlook communication.
One good tactic for encouraging communication is by breaking down silos and promoting cross-functional collaboration. That means having different teams or departments communicate and work with each other. This can help foster innovation, communication, and build more cohesive teams.
Another good idea is to have a platform for idea sharing and feedback. Whether it’s weekly meetings, a virtual space, or something else, having a place where employees can share their ideas and get feedback is crucial.
Empower Employees
You should also try to empower your employees. Employees should feel valued and respected, and they should be given the independence to make decisions and develop an ownership mindset. This will help them become more invested, helping boost innovation at work.
Trust your employees and give them responsibility. Let them take ownership of projects and tasks. Reward their innovation and creativity, and provide constructive feedback if things don’t go as planned. It will all help empower them and develop a culture of innovation.
Design a Stimulating Workspace
This is something that often gets overlooked when it comes to how to build a culture of innovation, but it can make a big difference. You want your workplace itself to stimulate employees and encourage innovation.
For example, it shouldn’t be a surprise that a team of employees working from cubicles in the basement is going to be less innovative and collaborative than a team working from an open office with lots of sunlight. You should be trying to create an environment that inspires creativity.
You don’t have to break the bank either. Something as simple as well-chosen art, a comfortable lounge space, or an open floor plan can have a big impact on innovation.
Allocate Time and Resources for Innovation
Allocating time and resources for innovation is one of the most important strategies on this list. When people think of innovation, they tend to think of the successes. But the reality is that innovation is usually a long series of attempts, failures, and improvements that eventually lead to that final success.
As a business, you have to understand that and dedicate time and resources for people to innovate. They won’t get it right the first time, and that’s okay. Giving teams the freedom to try new things and iterate until they get it right is absolutely essential if you want to be an innovative business.
Promote Risk-Taking and Experimentation
Tying into the last point, you should promote risk taking and experimentation. Many managers or leaders will scoff at employees taking risks or experimenting, but it’s a necessary part of innovation in the workplace.
The best thing you can do is actively encourage and support calculated risk-taking and experimentation. If an employee has a promising idea they’re really passionate about it, give them the time and resources to try it out. Reward employees for coming up with new ideas.
Also, don’t be afraid to take risks. You shouldn’t take risks that aren’t smart, but you should be open to taking small risks. You never know which risk might lead to a big breakthrough.
Support Continuous Learning
Continuous learning is another key part of an innovative culture. You should encourage employees to continue developing their skills. Whether they’re fun activities for employees or things more focused on skills like college classes, help your employees grow and become better.
Team building events are a great choice too. They can help you and your team develop your skills, better communicate, and improve collaboration, all while having fun. Our Integrity event for example focused on collaboration and communication, important aspects of innovation.
Lead by Example
As always, it’s important to lead by example. Employees will take queues from their leaders. If you don’t encourage innovation and creativity yourself, employees won’t either.
Thankfully, this one is relatively easy to implement since you’re in control of it. Show employees you can embrace change. If they have a good idea, let them try it out and encourage them to do so. Show employees that can communicate with you freely, without any risk.
Set Clear Goals
Setting clear goals is something that every business should be doing no matter what, but it’s especially important in regards to innovation. Innovation and ideas can come at random, but limitations and goals are often what helps new ideas come to fruition.
You should define a vision for innovation and align it with organizational objectives. Employees should know what the company’s goals are and what they’re trying to innovate. This will help get everyone on the same page and working together towards a common goal.
Sustain Momentum and Celebrate Success
Lastly, sustain momentum and celebrate success. Just because you’ve had a successful innovation doesn’t mean you should stop being an innovative workplace. Each innovation and success should be a stepping stone towards the next one, not an end point.
When you have a success, celebrate it. Give employees credit for their hard work and innovation, and make sure their efforts are appreciated. But keep the focus on whatever is next. If you keep the momentum going, you can continually improve and innovate.
Prioritize Innovation in the Workplace
Building a culture of innovation at work has numerous benefits, such as increased creativity, communication, and financial success. If you use the strategies listed above, you can develop a culture of innovation and help your business become even more successful.
Start building a culture of innovation with TeamBonding. We have a multitude of events that are perfect for fostering innovation and creativity, as well helping you better things like creativity and collaboration. So get in touch with us today and start building an innovative culture.
