January 6, 2022 (Updated April 3rd, 2024)
Rekindling the creative sparks of teams in 2022
2022 is officially here and in full swing! As such, there’s no better time to take stock and create new, positive habits. It’s hard to believe that most of us have almost lived through two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, a global event which has changed the nature of teamwork in ways we never could have foreseen.
While we may now be used to our “new normal” there is still plenty we can do to keep adapting to a changing world and ultimately rekindle collaborative creativity in a hybrid work environment. From face-to-face meetings exchanged for remote video calls, to the office workspace swapped out for a kitchen table and chair, we’ve all had to readjust to certain elements of daily working life when completing our jobs from home.
That isn’t to say that the impact of remote work has been all bad, far from it, but like everything in life it comes with both pros and cons. From Zoom fatigue to disconnection from team members and colleagues, remote work can often be a sap for enthusiasm and creativity. The good news is that this doesn’t have to be the case! Keep reading to find out how your team can rekindle their creative spark in 2022.
The problem
Before we go into the solution, we first have to better understand the problem. Remote work handled correctly can help to improve work-life balance and empower employees to work at the times that work best for them. However, endless video call meetings and long email chains without genuine human interaction can also have a detrimental effect on mental health and creative motivation. One survey revealed that nearly half of all professionals have experienced Zoom fatigue. Another survey reported on by Forbes found that while working from home generally led to an increase in productivity, it also seemed to cause a decline in innovation levels. The reasons for this may be numerous, but the most pressing problem is surely that person-to-person collaboration with peers and mentors is damaged by the necessities of remote work. So if you’d like to rekindle some creative spark in your team this year, keep reading for our top innovation-stimulating tips.
Let’s talk
Communication is a pillar of teamwork and collaboration is a pillar of creativity. Is it any wonder therefore that when our interactions become dull and energy-sapping, that our ideas become dull and uninspired too? While teams might not be able to control when working in the office is safe and possible thanks to pandemic uncertainty, they can control how they talk and work together throughout the working week. If much of your conversation with your team and manager happens over email and group video call, it’s time to try and shake things up a bit. Whether that means firing messages back and forth over a work-appropriate instant messenger or using a tool to give focus to collaborative conversations. Innovative tools that are built for creativity provide a great, actionable way to breathe life back into brainstorming sessions. With live brainstorming capabilities, multi-view flexibility, a number of ways to delegate and share work and even seamlessly capture breakthrough comments into visual ideas on mind maps – Ayoa provides a perfect vehicle for rekindling that creative flame in a way that is engaging for everyone.
Work differently
If you were looking to feel inspired, would you seek out a boring setting or a beautiful one? I think we both know the answer. Similarly. working creatively requires you to engage with teamwork in a way which feels inspiring and stimulating. Our typical modes of working – across spreadsheets, documents and emails – is hardly going to set those light bulbs flashing in your mind. Instead, why not try relying on tried and tested innovation methods to get your team’s creative flair back on track? In the same way that many people turn to productivity methods for increased work efficiency, beginning to use not only mind maps (a research-backed method for idea generation) but thinking frameworks designed by experts, (such as world renowned creativity expert Chris Griffiths), is a sure-fire way to inject creativity back into the everyday. With a beautiful, accessible and highly visual interface, Ayoa is the perfect tool for brightening up daily work management and idea generation. Plus, if you’re looking for a place to get started, why not jump right in with a template? From Combinational Creativity to a Concept Map to Critical Thinking, there are countless templates your team can jump in and start using straight away, for an immediate kickstart to your collaborative creativity.
Taking action
Of course, sometimes it takes more than a few adjustments to daily work to truly get the best out of a team. Team bonding and training days have existed for a long time for a reason, but if you really want to get the heart of why your team feels lacklustre and unmotivated, you have to address the lack of creativity at its heart. Being creative has been linked to feeling happier and healthier, so if you’re looking for a new way to recapture the creative energy which has been lost from your team during this pandemic, why not kickstart the new year with an Ayoa workshop? With virtual events, strategy days and options for team brainstorming sessions, trust the training used by the likes of Stanford University and other global corporations. With comments like “profound” “inspirational” and “life changing” – the feedback speaks for itself. Click here to find out more about Ayoa creativity workshops to reignite the innovation in your team today.
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Caragh Medlicott
Caragh Medlicott is a freelance writer and interim Editor of Wales Arts Review. After graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in English Literature and an MA in Creative Writing from Cardiff University she began a full-time writing career in Wales. She is the author of several published short stories and was shortlisted for the Lunate 500 award in December 2020, and a finalist in Narrative’s 30 Below competition in 2021. She is a regular contributor to BBC Wales' The Review Show.