CREATIVE PEOPLE UNDER MANAGEMENT
In a fast-moving, dynamic and competitive business environment, one of the biggest issues facing businesses is how to successfully manage “creative people”. This includes not only PR, advertising, marketing and design people, but also other employees who have the ability to feed constructive ideas back into the business. Companies are placing a higher importance on the fostering of innovation and are putting processes in place to ensure great ideas are not missed, even when they present themselves in abstract ways.
A 2004 study by the International Labor Office (ILO) found that Australian’s are currently working the longest amount of hours in any developed company, with one in five full-time employees working more than 50 hours a week. The average hours worked per week in developed countries is just 1,643, compared to Australia’s rate of 1,855 hours a year.
However, All Business (www.allbusiness.com), who specialise in Workforce Management suggest that hours worked aren’t necessarily a true measure of creative work and that there are 10 simple rules to promote creativity in a business:
Cultivate a creativity-inducing space. As much as possible, provide your employees with an environment that is conducive to their creativity. Some people perform best when allowed to work on their own, while others need the stimulation that comes from being part of a group. Observe your employees
Give creatives some structure. Let them know when it is time to complete the task and move on to something new.
Give employees time to dream. Remember that creative employees need downtime to recharge. Make sure your employees are given time and room to think, explore, question, even play.
Stress the importance of balance. Left to themselves, many creative people will neglect the less interesting, routine aspects of their work. But such tasks are important, too — work must be documented in reports, paperwork must be completed, customers must be attended to.
Trust the process. At the same time, creative people need to spend time working without being micromanaged. Yes, reports are important — but so is trust in the process. This means allowing them the freedom to spend time developing wild, off-the-wall ideas without having to constantly report on their progress.
Direct them at your actual problems. Define a real problem your organisation is facing and turn them loose — the results may surprise you.
Be generous with praise. It may appear that employees who are engaged in creative work have all the reward they need from the work they do, but in fact they need support as much as anyone else.
Allow for employee input. Make sure that every employee has the opportunity to contribute, to feel challenged and motivated.
Build a team. Employees want the respect of their peers; peer recognition and the power of the team are great motivators. Make certain that people’s productivity is measured in terms of more meaningful criteria than mere hours spent working.
Be open to new ways of working. As much as possible, creative people should have the freedom to work on their own terms and on their own schedule. (Some companies even allow employees to spend a percentage of their work hours on their own personal projects.) Allow them to be responsible. This does not mean there is no accountability, but the accountability is not necessarily measured in hours hunched over a desk. Rather, the accountability is seen in quantifiable results — that brilliant new idea, amazing new design, or anything else they can dream up.
