Regardless of an employee’s role, it’s important that they maintain a sense of creativity in the workplace. If their creative side is shut off they won’t be as engaged with their work. They will go into autopilot mode and new ideas and innovations will cease.
Engagement and innovation are two things that are crucial for a productive, efficient workplace. If you find that creativity is down and everyone seems to simply be going through the motions, it may be time to kick things up a notch. There are many ways you can do this, and technology can lend a hand. Try using software to help your employees reach their creative side once again.
Organization
It can be easy to get overwhelmed by the small, tedious details. Depending on the type of job an employee is in, they might be bored with the menial, repetitive tasks they perform every day. Even HR managers with high HR manager salary can’t always help. Fortunately, there is software that can help alleviate this.
You can start with basic note-taking software. One of the leading note-taking software is Evernote. Their basic version is free to use and can be a huge time saver for anyone who takes a lot of notes, has a lot of files or information to organize, or has a busy, hectic schedule.
Organizing the little things in their life will take a weight off their shoulders and help an employee point their thoughts and efforts in a more productive and creative direction. These types of apps can even be used to maintain an ongoing “creativity” file. They can store away ideas they have for future use or reference. Having the app close at hand on their desktop or mobile device makes it easy to jot down quick notes.
Creative Writing
Some people are natural-born writers, even if this isn’t what they do as a profession. Maybe their job includes a little writing and maybe it doesn’t, but writing is a perfect way to get creative juices flowing. For those that are writers or perhaps just enjoy writing, this free book writing software might appeal to them.
This software offers them a series of tools to help them organize their writing. They can use it for simple things like journaling and recording ideas. There are templates for this specific purpose and they create a seamless, enjoyable experience.
If they want to write something a little more in-depth and complicated, the software is also set up for proper research, note-taking, outlining, and organizing as many chapters as needed.
Novels
For those who prefer to dabble in fiction, this free novel writing software will be beneficial. This software is expertly set up for novelists to let their imagination run wild without having to worry about the little details.
To get you started, there are many novel-writing templates available. If you’re unsure of the exact direction of your story or you want a loose structure, there is a general, open-ended novel template you can use. Or, you can pick from one of the many genre-specific templates that have more specific guidance.
Whether it’s to journal or make an attempt at getting published, this software makes the writing process easy, efficient, and enjoyable. For employees with an interest in writing, encouraging them to engage with this software will motivate them to write more which will, in turn, open up the flow of creativity.
For those who aren’t natural writers, you can still encourage them to challenge themselves with dialogue writing prompts or screenwriting prompts. Every once in a while you can even run contests or challenges at work. Hold a short story contest or offer incentives to anyone who keeps up a personal journal for 30 days.
There are plenty of fun little things you can do with everyone, but the point is that exercising the creative part of the brain will encourage more creativity and innovation in their work.
Collaboration
Collaboration is one thing that can often spark creativity in ways that no one thought was possible. When people work together and build on each other’s ideas, the outcome can be incredible. It’s easy enough for employees to physically meet in one place to discuss a project, but what if they could actually work on it together once they leave the room?
There is plenty of collaboration software out there that can make this possible. There are instant messaging programs that streamline communication well. There are also programs that allow simultaneous and collaborative working. Depending on the type of work and project at hand, there are different options.
Google Docs is a good place to start. It’s simple compared to others but the concept works. Everyone can work on the same document and view who made what changes. You can leave comments and start a dialogue within the document so you don’t have to keep switching out of it.
This way, everyone works together in real-time. It’s effective and instant. No need to email documents back and forth and wait for it to download. Once you find the perfect collaboration software for your team, the creativity will be flowing like never before.
Encourage Creativity
Creativity in the workplace is important no matter the job. Employees can become bored and disengaged which will diminish their creativity. Don’t be afraid to shake things up. Introduce new software and challenge everyone to push themselves. Offer incentives, contests, and prizes to get them going.
Most software is free and the time investment will pay off in the long run.