Enterprise innovation is the sole aim of every startup and the big-wig today. As simple as it seems, innovation is hard to come by. You need highly motivated employees who will make great team members, and that is just the beginning. Then you need to find a leader who will channel their potential- strengths, and differences, towards a common goal. While this is one of the many growth strategies that will give the much-needed thrust to the team culture, it comes with no guarantees unless employees have the freedom to communicate openly and do things in their own unique ways.
Leaders today face far more accountability than ever before, to assemble teams and lead them to produce acceptable results. It is up to the leader to bring together people of different vision and mindset to work together and get back the best possible outcome. This is known to cultivate a workplace environment of consistent improvements, innovation, and initiative. Also, the leader is tasked with fostering commitment from the teams to adopt an innovative mindset where each employee educates themselves to apply the individual differences for their personal success and that of the organization.
As a leader, there are a few significant steps you can take to create a thriving team culture and inspire your employees to be more innovative themselves.
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#1. Let your employees be their own boss.
If an employee has a brilliant idea, instead of assigning it to the whole team, let this individual manage it on his own. Doing so will put them in a position of authority where they will manage everything themselves. They will also feel far more confident because of the trust displayed by you as their leader and feel grateful for working in a company that allows them to innovate without inhibitions.
#2. Trust yourself so much that you trust other members of your team.
For an enterprise innovation to occur, one of the most effective growth strategies is to let spread trust all around the company team culture. This is only possible when each member of the team trusts themselves to be able to trust each other. It is the key to becoming more patient, a better listener, and one day the team will feel grateful for the new experiences and relationships thus formed.
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#3. Give employees a reason to care.
Express that you as a leader and as an executive of the company, care about your employees. If an organization lacks connection with its workers, there is a little chance that they are going to adopt enterprise innovation and the team culture remains unfruitful.
#4. Empower your employees to make self-decisions and take actions whenever required without prior approval.
Thinking on one’s feet is a common phrase used by many corporate leaders. To do that your team must be equipped to think through the pros and cons in less time.
Allow your employees to feel free to make decisions and take actions without your approval. In other words, cut the red tape. Even if an employee’s idea goes awry, do not overreact, because they will take a note. Nobody wants to attract negative attention. Moreover, they might hold back potential suggestions in the future fearing rejection.
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#5. Take it easy on your overworked employees.
An overworked mind will find it hard to be more creative. As their manager, make sure that all those employees who have crossed the 40-hour per week margin, gets to take an extra day off or leaves work a bit early than others. It is sort of an incentive which will pay off in a great way for you and for the company. Upon their return, they will feel reenergized to work again thus making a positive impact on the team culture.
Let your teammates innovate on their own and figure out how to use their collective intelligence is the best of all growth strategies to employ as a manager. Allowing employees to do what they are best at, will only reward you in a unique manner.
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