23 Jun Workplace creativity – an Ant’s journey
In our previous article, “The part initiative has to play during the Covid-19 pandemic,” we shared insight regarding our take on initiative and the important role it plays in seeing us through the current Covid-19 pandemic. However, a crucial component which initiative forms part of, and which also happens to be an important ingredient in defying adversity, is creativity.
Creativity surprisingly, can be taught, learned and channelled. Creativity is not just picking up a paintbrush or pen and “being creative” in the literal sense. Creativity is a phenomenon whereby something new, innovative and valuable is formed. In this way we can see that we can all be creative. Interestingly, creativity” has also been identified as a top requirement for future 4IR careers.
This made us wonder how we could harness this ability and develop it further in our temporary home-work spaces, and so we established the following:
- Ensure you have access to an anonymous team platform where you can share ideas. If this isn’t set up, show initiative and suggest it to your team. This can help you to test and implement new ideas easily.
- Reward and celebrate creativity and team members who push beyond the standard way of doing things. This will also develop a shared sense of purpose amongst team members.
- Encourage diverse thinking and develop your own ways of thinking outside the box
- Change your immediate workspace to be more engaging; look around you, you are working from home now. Is your immediate environment comfortable? Is it helping you to focus? Do you have enough natural light? Have you established different “zones” to help with productivity, collaboration and relaxation?
- Invest in yourself through developing your skills. This can be achieved through short online courses, workshops and virtual team-building activities like a game afternoon.
Let us know if you have a special routine or process for getting your creative thinking going, or share your tips on establishing an environment which is conducive to creativity.
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