Creativity is the pinnacle of brand storytelling. Behind every good story is a creative storyteller, one who understands the power storytelling can have on their audience.
Organisations are beginning to put more and more resources into creative materials and processes within their workplaces. Adobe’s 2016 global survey on creativity showed that businesses are putting creativity to the forefront on their list of priorities. The majority of respondents agreed that creativity makes them better leaders, a trait that is common amongst creators across all industries. Also, those who identified as creators tend to have a higher level of income than those who are not.
The question you should be asking yourself is not “why?” but “how?”.
How can you invest in creativity? How are other businesses getting the most out of their wonderfully creative employees? What can you do as an employer in order to create truly captivating stories and push for creative strides in your business?
We here at All Good Tales know a thing or two about effective storytelling, something which has taken time and investment over the past couple of years. So here are some ways in which we have invested in creativity that you might find to be useful.
1. Create your perfect workplace culture
Spending the time and money in order to cultivate your ideal workplace culture is one of the better ways in which you can invest in workplace creativity.
Your culture should be a reflection of who you are and the kind of brand you want to be. The ideal workplace culture should encourage employees to ask questions when necessary, without fear of being questioned themselves, and it should also encourage plenty of thought leadership.
By giving people the freedom to suggest ideas and highlight issues, you open the floor to a fresh pair of eyes and in turn, new and innovative solutions.
2. Award your creatives
Building on from your accepting workplace culture, one way to get those creative juices flowing is to reward the generation of ideas, regardless if they work or not.
If people feel like they can contribute their ideas without having to ensure that they are flawless first, they will be more likely to open with their thoughts and potentially profitable ideas.
The key here is reward the thought creation, not the thought itself.
3. Structure your brainstorming
It’s important to invest in each idea brought to the table, not just the first few ideas that you hear. Sometimes the little gems of wisdom can get lost beneath the opening ideas during a brainstorming session.
Instead of just looking at each idea as an individual one, why not look at combining a few of them. Or, maybe get everyone to reveal their ideas all at once which will mean each thought will be given equal attention.
By viewing them all at the same time, it is easier to spot the connections some may have with one another which could lead to one fantastic opportunity rather than two separate ones.
4. Budget for creative spaces
This involves actual investment which is why this might be the most effective.
Sit down with your employees and see what kind of environment suits them. Would they prefer an open plan office? Is there a demand for more greenery? Would they use breakout rooms? Is it worth investing in a brand story newsroom?
Creativity struggles to flow in the traditional, stiff working environment. Employees should be able to get inspiration from their surroundings in order to create high-quality content or come up with innovative business prospects and products.
Here at All Good Tales we believe in the power of creativity and encourage creativity. We are doing great work for brands like Kingspan, Glandore, Ancestry.com, and daa, to name just a few. We are building brand newsrooms, executing exciting PR strategies, and training key staff how to source, structure and tell great stories. For more information please click here or call Gaye on (01) 254 1845.
