Creativity is not always viewed as a positive trait in the medical field. After all, much of medicine is an exact science, and deviating from that is not always seen as positive. There are ways to be creative in the healthcare industry and have it be a positive thing. Here are seven tips for promoting creativity among your employees that will promote personal growth, improve morale, and better the care you provide patients.
1. Give direction. When you provide a foundation for the expectations, your team knows where to start and can use their creativity to not only reach the goal but do even more.
2. Be available for questions and input. At the end of a workday, you might not feel like hearing new ideas or giving advice, but when your team comes to you with questions, it’s your chance to let them be creative. Your employee may have been waiting for the right time to discuss an idea with you, and shutting them down without a conversation can be very demoralizing.
3. Allow for mistakes. When you give some space, there might be mistakes. As a leader, you want to minimize the mistakes, but they are bound to happen. Making sure the mistakes that happen won’t be devastating is a way you can help your team explore and “spread their wings.”
4. Eliminate the plans. While your team needs to know the goal, how they reach it can be completely left to their own creativity. By taking away the need for exact steps and micromanaging, you provide the necessary freedom for new ideas to come to life.
5. Encourage collaboration. Eliminate the cutthroat approach to new ideas and innovation that can sometimes occur with individual competition. Group efforts and organic ideas will allow for the most effective plans.
6. Hire a diverse team. With a variety of personalities and backgrounds, you will ensure your team will be naturally creative. When your team understands the goal, they can use their strengths to be creative, within the parameters set. Let your team know they each have value and a place within the organization.
7. Communicate an open attitude. Your team will come to you with ideas if they feel you are approachable. Watch always replying immediately to ideas with words such as, “but” and “I don’t think it will work.” Adopt a yes attitude and ask them to come back with details and their approach. You don’t want to dismiss their ideas every time they come to you with a new one.
As a leader in the medical field, you want to maintain order but also allow for creativity. Setting up clear goals and objectives for your team is crucial; however, allow them to figure out ways to achieve the goals.
If you need to diversify your team, cultivate more creativity and add to your existing staff, contact WSi Healthcare. We have the ability to complete your team.