Five Ways to Encourage Innovation as a First Generation Leader
One of the most impactful leadership behaviors is to encourage innovation, from trying new systems or brainstorming new ideas or products.
Innovation and adaptability allows you to stay in touch with the latest in your industry and allows you to hone in on the needs of your constituents.
“Trialing new approaches to services and products ensures a constant focus on serving the needs of customers. This helps build a dedicated market base and ensures a company stays responsive to customer demand (1)”.
Further, innovation encourages new and different ways of thinking, which allows your team to wok outside the box in a meaningful and creative way.
“[B]ecause innovation brings together wider groups of staff, innovation processes contribute significantly to a company’s social development, making staff feel valued, engaged, and more cohesive (1).”
In this Article, we will outline five best practices to encourage innovation and how you can implement them on your team.
Determine your goals
First, set the guardrails for your thinking by considering the end result.
Work backwards from a known issue and consider the logistics of budget and personnel resources.
Establish the framework for determining if an idea is worth pursuing and aligns with your goal. This may include how much your company is willing to invest financially in the solution. Also, determine if a solution needs to address multiple related issues or just your primary problem for you to consider it worthwhile and implement it. (2)
As a leader, you are responsible for the framework that will positively contribute to your team’s innovative thinking.
Cultivate an Innovative Team
If your team works in a creative environment, perhaps innovation is already a part of your company culture. Be sure to provide space for new and different ideas. Even if your team does not operate in a creative space, encourage them to share their ideas for new processes or more productive structures.
People are as innovative as you allow them to be. If you empower your staff to chase their “aha moments”, you’ll soon find yourself with a more dynamic and innovative workplace. (1)
When thinking about your team, or when sourcing personnel for a specific project or client, “build teams of people from various backgrounds and departments who may not otherwise work together. See how their different points of view complement each other to foster innovation and creative thinking.” (2) By diversifying thought processes, backgrounds, professional experience, and areas of expertise
You may even consider drafting a formal innovation strategy, which includes innovation goals for your team, best practices for sharing new ideas, and the timeline for consideration. Remember to establish the clear expectation that not all ideas will be implemented, which will reduce the risk of negative feelings in the event an idea does not meet your immediate needs for the project or solve.
Implementing an innovation strategy will also demonstrate that innovation is a priority at all levels of your organization, including for senior leadership. We have all been a part of a team that is trying new things, but does not have the top-down support needed for lasting change. Avoid stagnation by involving your leadership from the outset, keep them apprised of your team’s progress goals, and highlight your team members who are going above and beyond.
Experiment and Do Not Be Afraid to Fail
One step at a time: Accomplishment and acceptance of small innovations can have a momentum-building ripple effect into larger-scale projects. You can also use this momentum and established successes to innovate your product offerings or internal thought processes.
Adjacencies are new products or markets that are closely related to the work a company is currently engaged in, but are different enough to represent new value for the company. By moving into these areas, a company can create new customers and solidify its market position (1)
While it would not be advisable to stretch resources unsustainably, by experimenting with new ideas, you will be able to place yourself in the minds of new consumers to determine how your existing offerings and services can better serve your constituents or internal partners. The more you can demonstrate successful implementation of new ideas, you can build confidence in your team’s ability to experiment further out of the box.
Create Space and Provide Tools
Is your office or WFH culture set-up to prioritize innovative thinking?
Consider your current resources: are they static or dynamic? Do they serve one specific area of focus or can they be leveraged across multiple departments or product lines? Are you investing in the right software to encourage collaboration or multi-department communication? By re-evaluating the tools available to your team, you can determine future productivity and capacity for creativity.
[U]sing the right set of tools can save time and effort, freeing your staff up to innovate. Second, a good set of innovation software can guide your staff in taking an idea through from concept to implementation (1).
Don’t have the budget for fancy software? No problem! Consider a monthly brainstorm session with your team to encourage open dialogue and idea sharing. For an anonymous approach, implement a (physical or virtual) suggestion box or email inbox to receive feedback or ideas. Not only does this provide a low-pressure, hands-off way to encourage innovative thinking, it allows all departments (not just creative departments) to provide ideas in a democratic way.
Measure Against Industry Standards
As you establish quantifiable innovation goals, you will want to measure your success and progress against industry standards to ensure you are keeping pace with your competitors. Are your diversification efforts leading the pack or lagging behind? Are you thinking outside the box or missing key change indicators? Without creating unfair comparisons, check out your competitor’s (either direct or aspirational) publicly available financial data to determine their priorities. Be sure to also understand your desired customer through up-to-date market research and trend forecasting.
Bonus: Innovation and Diversity
For discussion on the intersection of diversity and innovation, check out this article from Great Place to Work.
Citations
“16 Techniques to Encourage Innovation in the Workplace.” Braineet, 9 Jan. 2023, www.braineet.com/blog/encouraging-workplace-innovation.
“How To Encourage Innovation in the Workplace (With Examples and Tips).” Indeed, 24 June 2022, www.indeed.com/career-advice/career-development/innovation-in-the-workplace-examples.
Gayan, Gautam. “8 Ways To Encourage Innovation In The Workplace.” Nurture an Engaged and Satisfied Workforce | Vantage Circle HR Blog, 27 Apr. 2023, blog.vantagecircle.com/innovation-in-the-workplace/.
Pathak, Anjan. “8 Ways to Encourage Innovation in the Workplace.” Nurture an Engaged and Satisfied Workforce, 27 Apr. 2023, blog.vantagecircle.com/innovation-in-the-workplace/.
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