In today's business world, group problem solving or team creativity stands out as beneficial, reachable, and teachable. Creativity mentoring and coaching can facilitate and empower your teams to increase sales, efficiency, and customer satisfaction. Experience has shown that one person's idea will spark a new idea in someone else. Though most are familiar with the common form of team creativity, brain storming, using the New Creativity Game as a catalyst can enhance and target team problem-solving. And with the game as a catalyst, the problem-solving session becomes a Creativity Workshop.
The best way to have Creativity Workshops in your organization is to have an in-house facilitator - someone trained in using the game to facilitate a group. Initially, that someone could be me. But the aim would be to have 2 staff members within your organization work closely with me in the initial workshop, and then conduct future in-house workshops alone, or preferably, in pairs. After the first workshop, I would be available by phone or email to assist and answer questions and to mentor the in-house facilitators thereafter. My goal is to make your organization self-sufficient quickly, effectively, and efficiently.
Below is more detailed information about Creativity Workshops. To schedule one for your organization, please contact me by email or phone (719-649-6318).
Stress tends to stifle creativity. As a result, those under pressure to solve a problem are at a creative disadvantage. Meanwhile, those not directly responsible have much less (or no) pressure and are freely creative. So, having a small but diverse team to work issues and problems together enhances the likelihood of coming up with a problem solution - a creative solution.
A small team also brings diversity and variety, a critical ingredient for creative problem-solving. Everyone has a unique perspective of the world as well as a unique mixture of interests, talents, and background. This unique make-up gives each of us creative tendencies or a creative style. Some tend more toward spacial relationships, others toward emotional sensitivities. Some of us are visual, others are auditory, still others are more kinesthetic. Some are visionary while others are locked into the "here and now." This diversity provides a strong base of variety which fuels the creative process.
As you participate in a Creative Team, the differences of style become more apparent, and soon you absorb a bit of the other styles, thus expanding your own. With time, all team members become more creatively versatile, and overall problem-solving is enhanced.
An added benefit is "Creative Courage" fostered within a team. With solutions "passing muster" by the team, the members then provide the encouragement and support needed to enact the creative solution. In fact, the team usually facilitates the planning and implementation of the solution, too.
The best size for a team is between 4 and 10 people. Smaller groups are not diversified enough. Plus, more pressure seems to exist for each member of small teams to contribute. (The added pressure is not beneficial.) Larger teams become unwieldy with some members not feeling that they are participating.
The 1-day Creativity Workshop example below covers how to become more creative and how to build a Creative Team for future problem-solving. It begins with a background of creativity - what it is, why it is, where it is needed, and techniques for exercising and improving it. The workshop also has "facilitator" training which presents ideas and techniques for getting the most productivity from a Creative Team. The workshop is customizable, but a typical agenda follows:
Each hour is separated by a short break of about 10 minutes, and the entire program will typically run from about 9am to 4:30pm (assuming about an hour or so for lunch).
The above program also provides quantitative metrics - measurable results showing growth in creativity and problem-solving skills. The first hour includes an initial creative assessment of each participant which will be used for comparison in the fourth hour reassessment where creative growth will be shown. These two assessments test each individual alone. During the last hour, a team assessment is given to show the strength and advantage of team creativity and problem-solving. Again, hard metrics will be shown for the creative growth of staff participants.
Along with the general materials, specific course materials will be provided beforehand to your organization's chosen creativity facilitators. These staff members will be briefed before the program as well as after the program to build their confidence in performing the same programs in-house as well as modified versions to suit your organization's needs.
To schedule a Creative Workshop for your organization, please contact me by email or phone (719-649-6318).
I look forward to hearing from you!
-JAK