Why Creativity Is Essential To Project Management
To thrive in a competitive market, companies need to develop new ways to solve the problems their customers face. This is particularly true of the property sector, where solutions are designed months and years before they are developed. To predict how people will live and work in the future, we need to think creatively and look at the bigger picture.
New Ideas
Creativity is essential for developing solutions that will give your company the competitive advantage it needs in the market. According to the Disney Institute (the professional development arm of The Walt Disney Company) individuals need to be exposed to a range of different things to be truly creative. This may mean listening to new music, reading new books or travelling to new places. The more you see of the world, the bigger your perspective becomes. And as you start to think bigger, your ideas start to get better. On the other hand, if you have a limited world view, it’s tougher to stretch that imagination and create big ideas.
Enhanced Communication
Creativity can also improve communication between teams and improve its effectiveness. Some teams have standing meetings to make sure they never run over time, while others incorporate strategic thinking with a physical activity to get the blood flowing. This not only gets people thinking differently, but can also spark conversations between people who don’t always work together. In many cases, moving away from traditional tools like conference calls and emails can improve communication and build stronger relationships between teams.
At Linéaire Projects, we use a range of modern tools and technology to connect with our clients, consultants and contractors across Australia. We also think outside the box in terms of who is invited to join the project team, such as staff who will work in the building or customers who will use the service. Gathering insights from community members, industry experts and other stakeholders often help us better understand the problems we need to address and give us new ways of looking at the challenge. Listening and communicating effectively with stakeholders is also essential for avoiding potential risks down the track.
Managing Risks and Issues
It’s often when things don’t go to plan that teams are most creative. They are forced to look beyond traditional solutions and really think outside the box. However, you don’t need to wait until a crisis strikes before summoning your creativity. Thinking creatively can help you reduce risks and find a way to resolve issues quickly, before they impact the delivery of the project. This may involve questioning a particular approach, or using insights from other industries to find more efficient ways of working. Our team are constantly building their knowledge base of potential risks and issues, as well as creative solutions to address them if they do arise. This means you’ll spend less time worrying and more time working out what to do next.
Attracting, Retaining and Engaging Employees
Developing a creative culture can also improve the people you attract to your company and how satisfied they are in their role. Many companies encourage creativity through formal programs, while others simply give staff the space and flexibility they need to think outside the box. For example, Google has a 70/20/10 rule, where staff are required to spend 70 per cent of their time doing their job, 20 per cent of their on a project related to their job, and 10 per cent on projects that interest them. Many global successes like Google Earth are a result of that 10 per cent, where staff stopped thinking about what they should do and started thinking what they could do.
At Linéaire Projects, we know happier teams are more efficient and productive, which is why we provide a flexible and supportive workplace that gives staff the freedom to be creative. We also bring in experts with fresh ideas and different experiences, to help our clients break down traditional silos and avoid groupthink. This not only challenges our team and our clients’ teams to think differently, but helps us avoid the stagnation that often occurs in companies that work together over long periods of time. By inspiring and empowering our people to be creative, we can deliver better outcomes and apply that experience to a range of clients and projects.