Lean Tip #3046 – Check in With Employees on a Regular
Basis.
Checking in with employees is an effective way
to make sure communication is strong. Plan in-person or online meetings every
few weeks or months. Discuss projects, feedback about leadership, and
suggestions for the future. You can also schedule stay interviews or create
employee surveys. People want to share their thoughts and opinions. By
respecting and listening to your staff, you will improve communication in the
workplace.
Lean Tip #3047 – Identify a Common Goal.
Every organization has a common objective that
motivates employees to show up every day and do their jobs. By identifying,
clarifying, and reinforcing this objective, you’ll strengthen your staff’s
productivity because it’s a reminder of why they joined your organization in
the first place. Inspire, motivate, and keep teams on track. After all, there’s
nothing more important for a team than for everyone to be on the same page.
Lean Tip #3048 – Focus on Company Culture.
Communication should be part of your company
culture. It encourages employees to connect with each other and aligns them to
your organization’s goals. You can do this by implementing employee engagement
ideas into the workplace. Also, promote your core values by branding your
intranet, office decor, business documentation, and other places you can
represent what your organization stands for.
Lean Tip #3049 – Value Teamwork.
Sometimes with team projects, employees like to
get their tasks done individually, with little communication with team members.
Some people feel comfortable collaborating, others don’t trust working with
other people. How do you get employees to work together? Encourage teamwork
with collaboration tools that boosts productivity. The workplace should be a
place where employees communicate and work together. Asking your employees to
take team-based approaches may cause initial discomfort, but a few minds are
always better than one.
Lean Tip #3050 – Welcome Questions.
There is a saying: “If you have a question,
ask. If you think it’s silly, ask. If you think you know the answer, ask.”
Questions are one of the most fundamental components of effective communication
in the workplace. Just as you should be asking questions, so should your
employees. Instill that mindset in your organization. Make sure employees are
comfortable to reach out with questions to you, managers, or each other.
Lean Tip #3051 – Build Employee Engagement
Collaborative efforts between management and
employees can help form stronger relationships. Boost employee engagement by
peer-to-peer awards for good work. Another alternative, is to create an ‘ideas
leaderboard’ where employees can see or build onto other employee ideas.
Through a encouraging, supportive, and engaging environment, your company can
help transform these ideas into realities.
Lean Tip #3052 – Involve Employees in Ideas
It’s essential to involve all employees in the
idea creation process. Employees have an incredible potential to provide
outstanding insights and ideas about organizational practices, customers, and
broader business goals. Employees need to be motivated, involved, and
participating in the idea process. They shouldn’t have to be forced to reveal
their thoughts. Pulling employees into the innovation management process is
easier with organizational-wide transparency.
Lean Tip #3053 – Encourage Your People to Think
About Innovation on a Daily Basis
Innovation shouldn’t be something people think
about only during retreats and workshops. If thinking about new ways of doing
things is seen only as an occasional exercise, you’ll never be able to access
the full potential of your employees’ creativity and imagination.
Instead, make room for your staff to consider
innovation as part of their daily tasks. For example, manufacturing giant 3M is
famous for giving its employees a 15% time allowance every day for constructive
daydreaming.
Of course, this doesn’t mean handing out a 15%
buffer for employees to just snooze at their desks. You should ask your people
to demonstrate the results of these innovation sessions.
Lean Tip #3054 – Accept Failure and Make it the
Norm
It’s an unavoidable fact that innovation
carries the risk of failure. For every example of world-changing innovation,
there’s a whole trash heap of failed ideas.
Rather than running from this fact, companies
need to come to peace with it. Acknowledge the possibility of failure,
dedramatize it and encourage risky initiatives to help employees approach
innovation in a more open and inventive way.
Lean Tip #3055 – Give Employees a Reason to Care
The fact is, if people aren’t feeling connected
to your company, there’s little incentive for them to be innovative.
Make sure you keep your team in the loop on
your firm’s strategies and challenges, and invite their input.
Employees who are involved early on in
processes and plans will be motivated to see them through to completion. Their
active participation will fuel more ideas than if they learn of initiatives
second-hand.
Lean Tip #3056 – Empower Your Employees to Make
Decisions and Take Action
People who are trusted to take safe risks and
attempt new ways of doing things just may stumble across that next great business
solution.
Be careful about being too critical when things
go wrong, though, because employees will take note.
No one wants to be the center of negative
attention, and people will hold back on making suggestions if they’re worried
about potential consequences.
Lean Tip #3057 – Calm the Naysayers For More
Creativity
A key reason people often hesitate to offer
fresh proposals is that they worry what others might say. No one wants to have
their ideas shot down immediately or become fodder for jokes. Make sure you’re
doing all you can to make it safe to brainstorm.
Even if someone makes an unrealistic
suggestion, thank the person for thinking creatively. Also make sure that
people can offer their recommendations in writing if they’re not comfortable
speaking up. Stress to the entire team that you welcome input any way they
prefer to share it with you.
Lean Tip #3058 – Remove the Red Tape
You may think that it’s easy for employees to
offer their ideas, but is it really?
Consider which internal processes might be
stifling innovation.
For instance, it can be demoralizing if
recommendations must go through multiple layers of approvals in the
organization and take a significant time before they’re implemented, if at all.
Look for ways to streamline the process so
people can see their good ideas in action quickly.
Lean Tip #3059 – Be Positive About Every Suggestion
Treat every idea with the same amount of
respect. Record or write every idea your team suggests, but try to limit how
much time you spend on each idea. This can help encourage your team to continue
thinking of new ideas and using previous suggestions as inspiration.
Lean Tip #3060 – Realize That Innovation is Everyone’s
Job
A common issue in organizations is to assume
that innovation is someone else’s job to figure out. Surely coming up with new
ideas is for the creative team/the managers, no one else?
The reality is that no matter where you are in
the organization, everyone has ideas. Everyone can, and should, share their unique
perspective to help the organization grow and improve.
Getting into the mindset that innovation is
everyone’s job can take some adjustment. But by encouraging everyone to
contribute and valuing everyone’s ideas equally, you can learn so much from your
team.
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