Innovation at Work: 3 Benefits of Innovative Thinking

Innovation at work is a form of creative thinking that promotes collaboration and brainstorming sessions to generate innovative ideas. Startups and more forward-thinking, innovative companies will often use this form of creativity and problem-solving to develop new products and services. The encouragement of ideating improves employee engagement and creates a workplace ecosystem that is more dynamic and attractive.

Innovative thinking is excellent for your brand and company value, and it improves the employee experience. Consider the following advantages:

1. 1. Growth: Business growth means increasing your profits and defending your bottom line. Successful innovation allows you to add value to your business to increase your earnings—if you don’t innovate well, your business may plateau.
2. 2. Retention: A culture of innovation can improve your team members’ work lives by engaging and empowering them to share ideas. This creates a healthier workspace where people want to stay, work, and grow.
3. 3. Technology: Technology evolves quickly, so there may be new, more efficient technologies to make better products, offer your services, market your business, or track your performance with analytics. By taking advantage of these new technologies for process innovation, you can optimize your business and gain a competitive advantage over your competitors.

The innovation process can take a few forms. Consider the following ways to bring innovation to your work environment:
1. Go on retreats. Team leaders can take coworkers on retreats where a new space can lead to fresh ideas. This breaks up daily work and provides more headspace for enabling a more innovative team.
2. Make meetings less hierarchical. An innovative office is egalitarian. Team leaders should encourage ideas from all employees, regardless of standing in the pecking order.
3. Ensure brainstorming is a part of work. Meetings can clog up schedules, so be sure to encourage brainstorming by dedicating the time for it on people’s calendars. Similarly, innovative leaders can allow workers to spend time out of the office when thinking up new ideas if it will help them be more productive and generative.

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