I often provide tips and tricks on how to spark personal creativity and increase motivation to be your best creative self. But how do you get everyone in your office to become inspired and more creative? If you feel that you and your team members could use a creative boost, check out the following tips:

1. Hire for diversity. It’s extremely easy to get along with like-minded individuals. If you hire five people who are “just like you”, you’ll probably be content when you all dream up the same ideas. It’s more challenging and rewarding to work with individuals who come from different walks of life. Hiring varying age groups, ethnicities, levels of education and experience will ensure that you receive different and equally valuable input.
2. Team building. I’m sure many individuals will cringe at the thought of team building exercises, retreats, or workshops, however, team building is proven to help create a stronger work dynamic, improve productivity and increase the flow of creativity within teams. Team building activities can be as simple as a movie night or enjoying lunch on a restaurant’s patio; whatever you decide to do, be sure to include everyone, be casual, have great conversation and share a lot of laughs!
3. Collaboration apps. Your team will likely be comprised of a combination of both introverts and extroverts; understanding their strengths and weaknesses can help contribute to your team’s success. Introverts are often hesitant to speak out during group meetings, but likely have great ideas brewing in their minds. Encourage creativity by using a collaboration app, such as Flow or Huddle. Not only do these apps help improve productivity and keep every team member accountable for their tasks, collaboration apps also have chat rooms and message functions that allow others to share their ideas in a “no pressure” online environment.
4. Golden rule. You’ve heard it before: “Treat everyone as you’d like to be treated. Treat everyone with dignity and respect.” Many employees in various companies feel that they cannot share their ideas due to the fear of being ridiculed by management and coworkers. At Plan A and StaffStat, we always encourage everyone to have an open-mind, to share ideas and goals (no matter how lofty they may seem), and to be kind to everyone. Creativity fuels creativity. Sharing ideas openly without fear allows others to speak up and share their own ideas.
5. Keep pushing. One rule within our office during meetings is to keep coming up with ideas as a group until you possibly can’t think of any others. Keep pushing yourself for an additional two minutes. You’d be surprised with what else your team members come up with when they push their minds a little bit longer.

When your team as a whole becomes more inspired, incredible things can happen! Good luck!