Innovation has become the currency of success among companies today. Often, companies that perform the best are the least consumed by imitation and emulation, but rather they focus on creating something new and leveraging on new technologies for efficiency.
Innovation and its pressure on the labour market and workplace requires adaptability and resilience, behaviour that many workers and teams do not feel prepared to embrace. How can you, as a leader, lead in creating an environment that encourages innovation and bring the team onboard the transformation?
In today’s article, we bring to you 5 tips recommended by the Forbes Coaches Council for leaders on how to encourage their teams to embrace innovation:
1. Remove The Fear Of Failure
People inherently resist change. Anything “new” is a threat to their comfort zone and brings with it a fear of failing. Encourage teams to swing for the fences, knowing that failure is the doorway to innovation and success, and they will go for it. Create a game that changes the automatic mental threat, like rewarding the biggest fail and the biggest lesson. See what they innovate with the new paradigm. (Janet Zaretsky, The Zenith Business)
2. Let Your Team Do The Research
Journalism isn’t dead. Let your teams research, write, interview and report on the new technology, then publish their work in a company bulletin. In the U.S. Army, we produced unit reports weekly that provided insight into training, technology and new ideas. It gave people a voice, got them thinking, and most importantly, got them to ask questions. (John O’Connor, Career Pro Inc.)
Don’t “push” the new technology on the team and hope that they’ll embrace it. Instead, start by listening to their concerns and creating a learning process to find solutions. Acknowledge their fears and support their progress along the way through quantitative and qualitative feedback. Focus on how the company will benefit from the advancement and how important their involvement is. (Tanya Ezekiel, CareerCoach.com)
4. Create Clarity And Community
Communicate clearly why a new technology was chosen, the benefit, how it will be used, and a timeline for full integration. Give teams a framework and a call to action. It takes time to learn and trust new technology. Team meetings should include on the agenda open discussion about successes and challenges. Mutual support reduces anxiety and resistance to the unknown. (Beth J. Masterman, Masterman Executive Coaching)
5. Incentivize Them To Learn
Tell someone they have to do something and they won’t budge. But bring it to them with comprehensive training, an understanding of how it will enhance them professionally beyond their job, and how it will improve their performance and skill, and you’ll make it easier for them to embrace it. Many fear change, but if you make it friendly, you make it palatable. (Laura DeCarlo, Career Directors international)
—
This post was originally published here on Forbes.com in October 2016. TheYoungProfessionalGroup.com takes no credit for the work of the author.
