Sparkling Ideas

Finding yourself in a new position as the CEO or Managing Director can prove to be very challenging. Especially when your current position is in an unfamiliar industry or sector. 
To be effective with your new role, you would have to have confidence in what you are doing – to enable you can feel comfortable with your new environment and how things are done in the industry. Next, you have to understand that what your mission is, you strategize and put in all the effort you can to maximize results.

The final thing you consider is your human resource – in taking care of your staff, you need to make sure that apart from their basic needs, you need to make sure that your hear them out, make them feel their issues are being attended to so they can feel a part of the team.

Having sorted these important things out, you now set out to put your strategies into execution. However, there are times when the ideas are not forthcoming, as a leader, you need to wave the wand that will spark ideas in your people. Research shows that 80 percent of an organization’s improvement potential lies in front-line ideas – a potential that most organizations fail to tap.

Here are five quick tips on how to spark ideas in your employees.

1. Ask Unusual Questions

John Canfield, corporate speaker and management consultant, recommends asking unusual, open-ended questions as tools to encourage creative thought. The brain, he said, will work harder to answer these questions, which can pave the way to innovative ideas.

2. Create an Atmosphere that breeds confidence

Creating an environment that welcomes all ideas, without judgment or criticism may just do the trick. Some employees are afraid to be ridiculed, or will not attempt to bring any ideas on board because they are afraid it will be rejected. These are some insecurity that inhibits creativity and innovation in employees.

3. Turn to New Sources

Nothing halts innovation like relying on the same ways of thinking time and time again. Julie Weeks, advisor for American Express' small business branch, OPEN, believes that specifically seeking out diverse input is the key to cultivating new, creative ideas.

4. Go Somewhere Different from the Office

"Inspiration often comes from unexpected, serendipitous conversations," said Darwon Choe, marketing manager of ad technology firm Spongecell." Sometimes when employees are exposed to different environment different from the confines of their offices they tend to react differently. You are able to engage with them on a different level and spark ideas that might be the start of something great.