Motivating a Remote Team
Courtesy of Perkbox
As the future remains uncertain, keeping your remote team motivated will be a high priority for some time.
One of your questions may be “How do I keep my team solving problems effectively and generating ideas?”
Gone are the spontaneous exchanges that happen at the coffee machine. It’s challenging in these current circumstances to keep people thinking creatively, to replicate and harness the same creative spark and collective energy that drives innovation when working together onsite.
How do you create a culture of innovation when the company culture is location-based? Can innovation occur when working individually, just as it does in teams? Can remote working be a place of forward-thinking and ‘aha’ moments, such as those that happen at the water cooler?
It can happen – as long as everyone understands what goes into the creative problem-solving process and has a creative thinking toolkit.
Teams can be creative in work without being at work
Having a common task to focus on – like solving a problem – brings people together. Your priorities now are communication, project management, online learning, and tools for leveraging individual and collective energy to continue innovating.
One media agency I know of, for example, is encouraging everyone to call five people a week who they would normally bump into in the office. This is brilliant – it keeps the metaphorical door open to someone saying, “This may sound crazy…”
With regard to team vs individual ideating, remote working has another benefit – one that levels the playing field. In traditional office working it’s usually the more extroverted people who take the lead in brainstorming. Introverts, who often think better on their own, now have more space and time to do that.
What system(s) will you put in place for people to share ideas?
How will you help your team creatively solve problems?
I created Light Bulb Thinking™ to demystify the creative problem-solving process, to provide a framework for moving through the steps involved, to provide brainstorming and decision-making tools and, most importantly, to support leaders in their quest to create a culture of innovation.
What’s missing for your team?
I can help you figure out what secret sauce is missing for your team in coaching sessions. Contact me at Ellia@ThePotentialCenter.com to schedule a time to talk, and learn the benefits of LBT coaching for you and your organization.
With the right support, any individual, team, and organization can learn creative ways to solve problems. I’m hired by visionary leaders to bring serious fun and creative problem-solving to the workplace. Using Light Bulb Thinking™, we create a kickass culture of innovation.
The Light Bulb Thinking™ framework demystifies and simplifies the creative problem-solving and innovation processes, and opens the door to fresh ideas and stronger teams.
Would you like to see what tapping into creative potential could look like for your team or organization? Arrange an exploratory call - email me at Ellia@ThePotentialCenter.com.
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Forward this post to colleagues and friends that would also appreciate a creative perspective on solving problems. :)