4 tips to be more innovative in the workplace
Bringing new and exciting ideas into your workplace will make you a huge asset to any company you work for, which is why innovation is something most professionals strive for. However, simply having ideas, pitching them and implementing them to the point of success isn’t a simple step-by-step process.
Innovative thinking, if you can achieve it, is beneficial for the company you work for as well as yourself. It can improve motivation, contribute to your CV and professional recognition, and help you improve your communicative and collaborative skills too.
Here are a few ways you can work on bringing innovation into your workplace in 2022.
Innovation management
Innovation involves a constant influx of new ideas, creative thoughts and cutting-edge concepts. In order for any of these to ever evolve into something concrete, you’re going to need to find a way to capture and manage them. You can look into innovation management tools at https://www.servicenow.com/products/business-management/what-is-innovation-management.html.
A tool like this will enable you to capture and keep track of your ideas, identify which have the most potential, inspire you, and help you to resolve issues within the ideas.
Allow change to come
If you want to become more innovative in your career, you first need to become unstuck. When you’re set in your ways, comfortable or complacent in your job, the systems that are in place, and your own processes and flows, you won’t feel the need to bring anything new to the table.
Change your mindset to become open to change and excited about it too. This might be a difficult change to make and won’t happen overnight, but you can practice it by simply being open to new things, both in your work life and your personal life.
Opening yourself up to new perspectives, new activities and new ways of doing things can open your eyes to the positive possibilities within change.
Attend workshops
Workshops are designed to teach and inspire. You might attend a workshop on a specific skill, concept or tool, or you might simply choose to attend a workshop specifically about innovation.
Workshops function as a form of training, which means many organisations or schools will offer and support the attendance thereof. They can range from a few hours to about a week, with different types of sessions touching on different topics.
Workshops are also a great way to learn what drives change, and expand your network by meeting new, like-minded people who could inspire you and help you along on your journey.
Find mentors and inspiration
More than simply expanding your network, it’s always a good idea to find people to look up to – especially innovative people. Studying innovative thinkers (especially in your industry) will help you to understand how their minds worked.
Think of people who you might really look up to, or who have made waves that really impressed you and read their biographies, interviews or anything else you can find about who they are/were and how they worked. You could even find a mentor to speak to in person, and they might be able to give you insight into how they trained themselves to be more innovative.
