Ideas are everywhere, but many companies, and leaders struggle to get their teams to speak up and share ideas. Why? Some employees may feel it isn’t worth it, that their ideas are not good enough or valuable. Or that surely, someone “smarter” than them would have already done it or suggested it. Perhaps, they don’t feel comfortable making suggestions or challenging the process.
As a leader there are several things you can do to solicit ideas. Here are a few:
- Ask. Sound simple? It is. Try it. But when you get a good idea, find a way to celebrate it – publicly. When you get a bad idea, or one that could never be implemented, don’t shut it down. Ask more questions. Understand the idea or spirit behind it. Let the presenter be heard. And Celebrate it – publicly!
- Suggestion box (really just another from of asking) – I have seen companies set up digital and analog versions of this. Some work, others don’t. Just setting up the box isn’t good enough, and the downfall of the process when it doesn’t work. You need to design a vetting process – maybe as simple as a select group of people to filter each idea, ask the presenter more questions and formalize the process of getting a sponsor somewhere in the organization. Creating a vetting process helps everyone involved feel engaged and a part of the future.
- Focus group meetings – Schedule a meeting with a handful of staff to meet with at least one member of management. Encourage feedback on processes and procedures. Maybe something isn’t working quite as well as you hoped, this might be a good time to figure out why. We met with the owner of one of the top ski resorts here it Utah. Once a month, he schedules a group of his line staff to come in and meet with management. At least one member of management is required to be there. If he is traveling, he makes sure to send someone else, etc. He told us that some of the best ideas have come from those meetings.
When an employee is hired, they bring their whole body and mind with them. It is up to us as leaders to get that out of them, and to have them use all the tools they bring with them. If ideas aren’t floating around and being harnessed, encouraged, vetted and implemented it is time to look at culture. What is missing?
Authored by: Zack Clark, MBA
Zack is a Senior Consultant and one of the founding partners at Five Degrees Consulting. This is a blog we share between several of the Consultants at Five Degrees, guest authors and colleagues. We work with companies large and small on People and Organization strategies. Our work specializes in organizational development, leadership effectiveness and executive development. With a focus on working with leaders at all levels to create an intentional corporate culture, we help organizations increase employee engagement, energize working teams, develop critical leadership competencies and enhance strategic communications for more information about our services, please connect with us.