Build and Sustain an innovative work

environment
 Learning objectives

Lead innovation by example

Establish work practices that

support innovation

Promote innovation

Create a physical environment

which supports innovation

Provide learning opportunities

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An ancient Chinese proverb seems more relevant than ever in todays fast changing world:
‘Learning is like rowing upstream. Not to advance is to drop back’
The world is constantly changing and the only way to survive and thrive is to move with, or better
still, ahead of the changes. To do this, organisations need to develop their skills. That cant happen
without a learning culture.
In learning cultures, building skills and knowledge is part of the way individuals and team works.
People are willing to get out of their comfort zones and try things out, and they use mistakes as
feedback.
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Make Innovation an Integral Part of Leadership and

Management Activities
Innovation:
Innovation is the process of coming up with new ideas or new uses for
old ideas.

To be innovative, an idea must add value. It may lead, for example, to

new or improved products, services, systems and/or work procedures. In
the retail environment, this may be as simple as displaying products in a
new way that attracts more customers into the store.
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Innovation and the Economy

Innovation is recognized as the single most important ingredient in a successful modern

economy.

Innovation and research and development (R&D) benefits the economy by:

Driving economic growth

Attracting global investment
Keeping and attracting skilled and talented people
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A Framework for Innovation

Innovation is an important part of your business strategy and should

be integrated into it in a planned way.

Start by considering all aspects of your marketplace. You should:

Look closely at your competition

Study trends reports

Have a strong relationship with your customers

Involve your suppliers and other business partners

Follow news in your sector, including reports in trade and

Professional
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Demonstrate Positive Reception of Ideas From Others and Provide Constructive

Advice

Fostering innovation in your business:

In order reap the benefits of innovation, you must be prepared to set up an

environment that encourages and rewards innovative behaviour at every level of your
business.
Some ways to foster innovation include:
Encouraging a creative and inclusive culture
Allocating resources for innovation
Encouraging knowledge creation and transfer
Encourage customer feedback and two-way customer relations
Collaboration through networking
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Establish and Maintain Relationships Based on Mutual Respect and Trust

Character traits:

It doesn’t matter who is trying to build trust within business, you need to perform in the same way and
in a professional manner with everyone.

Some of the qualities you will need to display will include:

Integrity
Credibility
Accountability
Reliability
Transparency
Courtesy
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Building Trust and Respect

In order for you to build good relationships with your colleagues and earn their trust, you must
monitor your working practices and behaviours, you should set an example by behaving in a
manner that you would expect them to behave in. you should also ensure that you do the
following:
Always communicate information clearly and consistently in a timely manner when asked
for it
Work together with other members of your team to support the whole team in the
completion of a task
Ask questions if you are unsure of the outcome you are trying to achieve
Say no to things that you know you are unable to do
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Take Considered Risks to Open Up Opportunities for Innovation

Risk taking in business can be achieved by being a transformational leader. Any risk taking, of
course, should be done with caution and a great deal of thought, but risk-taking is vital if you
want to move ahead and transform your organisation in a healthy way.

Leaders must help their people find innovative ways of working. If they don't meet this
challenge, they risk losing the intelligence they want to keep and risk being left behind by their
competitors.
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Four Common Pitfalls

To create a culture that fosters innovation and risk-taking, leaders need to reward for
failure as well as success.
The four most common pitfalls that stifle innovation include:
Today's work gets in the way
The start-up effort is overwhelming
Fear of failure looms large
Innovators are disconnected from the business strategy
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Regularly Evaluate Own Approaches for Consistency with the Wider Organisational or
Project Context

Evaluating your own approach is a vital aspect of your role as a Manager.

What does it mean to monitor your progress?

Monitoring your progress can help you weigh your actions against the results to see if you are
meeting the goals of the organisation and your initiative.
Monitoring the system can also help you:
Better understand the initiative
Make decisions concerning the programming of the initiative
Promote awareness of accomplishments
Recruit support
Secure funding
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Why Do You Need to Monitor Your Progress?

It will tell you:
Whether you are achieving your organisational goals
If you are performing your role as well as you should
What strategies work and don’t work
What changes need to be made to achieve greater results

How to Get Feedback

Feedback from others is very important when you are evaluating your approach to a task. You
can get feedback from:
Colleagues
Managers
Stakeholders
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Performance Appraisals and Job Analysis Relationship

Job Analysis - Describe the work and personnel requirement of a
particular job

Performance Standards - Translate job requirements into levels of

acceptable or unacceptable performance

Performance Appraisals - Describe the job-relevant strengths and

weaknesses of each individual
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Objectives of Performance Appraisals

Performance Appraisals are generally used for:
Promotions
Confirmations
Training and Development
Compensation reviews
Competency building
Improve communication
Evaluation of HR Programs
Feedback & Grievances
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Goals of Performance Appraisals

General Goals Specific Goals

• Individual needs
• Performance feedback
Developmental Use
• Transfers and Placements
• Strengths and Development needs

• Salary
• Promotion
• Retention/Termination
Administrative Decisions / Uses
• Recognition
• Layoffs
• Poor Performers identification

• HR Planning
• Training Needs
• Organisational Goal achievements
Organisational Maintenance
• Goal Identification
• HR Systems Evaluation
• Reinforcement of organisational needs

• Validation Research
Documentation • For HR Decisions
• Legal Requirements
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Consult on and Establish Working Conditions That Reflect and Encourage

Innovative Practice
Innovation, quite simply, means change. While change can be forced upon
people, the best changes, come from the heart of a person. Great innovation
comes from within. You cannot legislate those kinds of changes.
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Culture of Innovation

Below is a list of a few things that you could do to encourage colleagues to be more
innovative and creative:
Get away from the office routinely as a team
Have a brainstorming session with open-ended questions
Reward new ideas, recognise new thoughts, celebrate success
Encourage thinking time
Have times together as a team that are simply fun
Remove obstacles to innovative thought, such as communication barriers between
team members and management
Talk about current culture and how changes can impact your organisation’s culture
Be accessible. It encourages team members to share new ideas with you more often
Welcome diversity of thoughts and opinions, even if they are different than yours
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Introduce and Maintain Workplace Procedures That Foster Innovation and

Allow for Rigorous Evaluation of Innovative Ideas

There are many policies and procedures that you can introduce that will encourage
and foster innovation in your workplace, including:
Briefing processes
Client relations
Performance management
Project management
Staff meetings
Training
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Facilitate and Participate in Collaborative Work Arrangements
to Foster Innovation
The keys essential to a well-functioning collaboration are:
Clarify the purpose
Let form follow function
Involve the right people
Get it in writing
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Key #1: Clarify the Purpose

Many people think that anytime they're working

together, they're collaborating. They also assume
that everyone has a similar notion of what
collaboration means.
Cooperation Coordination Collaboration

lower intensity
higher intensity

Shorter-term, informal Longer-term effort More durable and

relationships around a project or task pervasive relationships

All partners contribute

Shared information only Some shared resources,
resources and share
rewards, and risks
rewards and leadership

Separate goals, New structure with

Some planning and
resources, and commitment to
division of roles
structures common goals
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Key #2: Let Form Follow Function

Just as there are different ways of working together, there are also different
types of collaboration. Simple is better
Degree of Intensity Development/
Administration Service Delivery
High Advocacy

Centralized purchasing, New funding streams Region-wide service delivery

benefits programs system

Board/staff development Community forum Staff exchanges

Shared staff (proposal writer, Packaged funding requests Niche specialties shared
bookkeeper) through contracts

Asset management Media/marketing campaigns Coordinated intake and

referral

Co-location Advocacy on policy issues e.g., New program development

welfare reform, community
violence
Low

Difficulty, Time, Impact

Low High
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Key #3: Involve the Right People

When deciding on the type of people you need for
an initiative you need to think about the initiative
itself.

When choosing partners consider the following

questions:
Do you share the same goals?
Do they have the required capabilities and
resources?
Do they have credibility in the community?
Do you have a trusting relationship?
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Key #4: Get it in Writing
Uncertainty about operating norms is the most common reason for a
collaboration breakdown.

You should ensure you decide on the operational conditions before

commencing and they need to be outlined with each person involved. To
do this you mat decide to use a charter.
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Getting the Results You're After

Collaboration is a powerful way to accomplish what no single
organisation can. It's also a complex way to work. Following these four
keys will increase the likelihood of your success - and of ultimately getting
the results you're after. So take heart and remember - struggle precedes
growth!
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Build and Lead Teams to Work in Ways That

Maximise Opportunities for Innovation
There are many ways that you can build and lead
teams to work in ways that maximise opportunities for
innovation.

Listed below are 7 typical methods of innovative

thinking that can assist you to encourage staff to
think outside the box:
Collaborating
Collecting data
Creative thinking
Future scanning
Getting feedback
Making suggestions
Networking
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Collaborating
What is Collaboration? - Collaboration is a working
practice whereby individuals work together to a
common purpose to achieve business benefit. Key
features of collaboration tools are:
Synchronous collaboration such as online
meetings and instant messaging
Asynchronous collaboration such as shared
workspaces and annotations
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Data Collection

Data collection is the process of gathering and

measuring information on variables of interest,
in an established systematic fashion that
enables one to answer stated research
questions, test hypotheses, and evaluate
outcomes.
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What is creativity? - Creativity is the bringing into being of

something which did not exist before, either as a product, a
process or a thought.
You would be demonstrating creativity if you:

Invent something which has never existed before

Invent something which exists elsewhere but you are not

aware of

Invent a new process for doing something

Reapply an existing process or product into a new or

different market

Develop a new way of looking at something (bringing a

new idea into existence)
Change the way someone else looks at something
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Future Scanning

Future scanning, or what is also known as environmental

scanning, allows organisations to manoeuvre more quickly
due to increased intelligence.
Former US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, termed
them the “known unknowns”. They include:
The political dynamic
The economy (local and global)
Population demographics and social shifts
Climate and the environment
Technology and innovation
Government policy and industry regulations, tax laws,
etc.
Structural change within the wider industry sector (e.g. a
changed retail dynamic)
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Making Suggestions

Nothing speaks louder when it comes to innovation

than making suggestions. Many people make
suggestions only to have them ignored or worse still,
criticised. Listen to suggestions, don’t criticise and
maybe you will learn something new.

Networking
Business networking is a socio-economic business
activity by which groups of like-minded business
people recognise, create, or act upon business
opportunities.
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Acknowledge Suggestions, Improvements and

Innovations From All Colleagues

Encourage and recognise new ideas and

entrepreneurial behaviour:
After you have used creative thinking techniques to
generate a range of systems ideas, you need to
evaluate the ideas to select one or more that could
be developed into new systems for the organisation.
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Managing Ideas
The trick to managing ideas is to recognise them
when they happen and grab hold and make sure
they are developed.

Let people express themselves. Some people take a

lot longer to articulate their ideas than others. Give
them time and options – drawing, talking,
demonstrating their idea. This way the idea has a
chance to be developed.
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Entrepreneurs assemble resources including innovations, finance and business
acumen in an effort to transform innovations into economic goods. This may
result in new organisations or may be part of revitalising mature organisations in
response to a perceived opportunity or necessity.

Entrepreneurial skills:
There are several skills that are vital to the entrepreneur. They will need to be:
Self-Starter
Positive Thinker
Disciplined
Lifelong Learner
Objective
Time management skills
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Find Appropriate Ways of Celebrating and Promoting

Innovation

Establish a culture to handle failure and celebrate success:

In some cases, team members may come up with ideas that are
after the trial phase are not compatible with the business.

Even if you think an idea is unworkable, or if a new idea changes

significantly through the trial process, it is important to recognise
its beginnings as well as the process it has been through.
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Giving Feedback on Ideas
You can show your respect for the ideas your staff
bring to you by the feedback you give them.
Appropriate feedback will also show staff they can
trust you to be fair and respectful when they offer
ideas.

As a team leader, you need to give constructive

feedback so, no matter what the outcome, the
person will still be willing to present more ideas down
the track.
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Failure of Innovations
Failure is an inevitable part of the innovation process
and most successful organisations factor in an
appropriate level of risk.

The impact of failure goes beyond the simple loss of

investment. Failure can also lead to loss of morale
among employees, an increase in cynicism and
even higher resistance to change in the future.
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Analyzing Causes of Failure

Here are the some reasons for innovation failure:

Not creating a culture that supports innovation
Not getting buy-in and ownership from Managers
Not having a widely understood, system-wide
process
Not allocating resources to the process
Not tying projects to company strategy
Not spending enough time and energy on the
fuzzy front-end
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Accepting Failure
The best way to accept failure is to assess the
damage, and figure out how you would do it
differently in the future and not make the same
mistake twice.

If you look at failure as a learning experience (as all

the inventors did), then you will welcome failure as a
growing experience. Also, if there is any collateral
damage to your failure, be sure you admit to others
your mistake and do what you can to make amends,
fix it, or take responsibility for it in any way
appropriate. And above all, TRY AGAIN! The biggest
failure is giving up
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Celebrate Success
Innovation succeeds from strategic structures that
engage the individual to the organisation's benefit.

Introducing innovation can be challenging and

requires commitment and an investment in time and
effort on behalf of employees

Success in implementing innovation can be related

to:
Measuring quantity
Measuring efficiency
Evaluating quality
Employee satisfaction
Motivation to participate in continuous
improvement
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Public Recognition
Where the team has experienced success, it is a good idea to
spread the good news story to other parts of the organisation.

You should speak to the appropriate people in the organisation and

organise for the good news story to be included in the organisation’s
newsletter or placed on the organisation’s web page.
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Promote and Reinforce the Value of Innovation According to the

Vision and Objectives of the Organisation or Project and Promote and
Support the Evaluation of Innovative Ideas Within the Wider
Organisational or Project Context

What are innovation values?

Innovation values are principles that embody an organisation’s attitudes and

beliefs about innovation.

They can underpin an organisation’s approach to the innovation process

and express what the organisation ‘feels’ towards innovation. Some
organisations choose to formalise these values in written form.
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How Do Innovation Values Help the Innovation Process?

Stakeholders, external parties and new staff may find it difficult to know the
attitudes and approach to innovation that an organisation takes.
Innovation values will likely support the innovation process the most in the
generation and selection of ideas:
Idea generation (finding, adapting or creating the ideas)
Idea selection (picking which ideas to use)
Idea implementation (putting the ideas into practice)
Sustaining ideas (keeping the ideas going)
Idea diffusion (spreading the ideas and the insights about them)
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Checklist
The following is a checklist of issues that might be considered before introducing
innovation values.
Prior to Introduction:
Do the proposed values fit with any existing unstated philosophy about
innovation in the organisation?
If the values are aspirational and do not reflect current behaviours and attitudes
towards innovation, are there strategies in place to help bring the organisational
culture and behaviours towards these new goals?
Do the values have the buy-in of the agency’s Executive? Do they support and
emphasise these values in how they approach innovation?
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Evaluate the Impact of the Physical Environment in Relation to

Innovation

Often the physical environment has an impact on people far greater than we
would like to think about. Impact of the physical environment may relate to:
Eating areas
Extent to which design or style links with declared philosophies or objectives
External areas
General ambience of the work environment
Location of different people
Presence and ambience of relaxation areas
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Characteristics of Innovative Workplaces

To be an effective strategic tool for the organisation and serve varying
occupant needs, workplaces must incorporate the GSA Hallmarks of the
Productive Workplace. These characteristics are described in detail below:
Spatial equity
Healthfulness
Flexibility
Comfort
Connectivity
Reliability
Sense of Place
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Collaborate with Colleagues About Ideas for Enhancing the Physical Work
Environment Before Taking Action and Consider Potential for Supporting Innovation
When Selecting Physical Resources and Equipment and Design, Fit-out and Decorate
Workspaces to Encourage Creative Mindsets, Collaborative Working and the
Development of Positive Workplace Relationships

The importance of the workplace environment:

Many managers and supervisors labour under the mistaken impression that the level of
employee performance on the job is proportional to the size of the employee’s pay packet.

Although this may be true in a minority of cases, numerous employee surveys have shown by
and large this to be untrue. In fact, salary increases and bonuses for performance, in many
instances, have a very limited short-term effect. The extra money soon comes to be regarded
not as an incentive but as an “entitlement”.
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Workplace Performance Factors

Goal-setting – goals must be set for employees so that they know
what is expected of them. These goals should be set with
consultation from those that do the job.
This can be done informally between the employee and their
immediate supervisor or as part of an organisation’s formal
performance management process. The main thing is that each
employee is actively engaged in the goal-setting process and takes
ownership of the final agreed goals and measures.
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Pro-Actively Share Relevant Information, Knowledge and Skills with

Colleagues
Sharing information and resources creates unity and good working
environment.

If you are a superior, it is essential to share some information with the rest of
the team, because this will allow them to see you as a fellow workmate, not
just the boss thus improving production.
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Effectively Utilising Uniqueness and Openness

Some important elements for effective team-based decision-making
include:
Create a structure for team discussion
Compose teams appropriately
Create a cooperative environment

In order for organisations to make the most of team-based formats, they

need to ensure members have access to as much relevant information as
possible.
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Provide or Encourage Formal and Informal Learning Opportunities to

Help Develop the Skills Needed for Innovation

Ongoing learning and development are essential for the health and
sustainability of any organisation.
There are both formal, and informal learning opportunities, and they may
include:
Coaching and mentoring
Conferences
Formal training courses/programs
Information seminars
Job rotation
Mentoring
Online learning
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Create Opportunities in Which Individuals Can Learn From the

Experience of Others and Foster a Creative Climate and
Organisational Learning for Workgroups
Creativity is a mental and social process involving the discovery of new
ideas or concepts, or new associations of the creative mind between
existing ideas or concepts.

Creativity is fueled by the process of either conscious or unconscious insight.

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Synergy
Synergy is when the combined effort of two or more people produces greater
results than the same two or more people would produce working as individuals.

In today's competitive environment, we all need to work smarter, faster and better
if we're going to stay in the marketplace.

By developing team dynamics and synergy in an organisation you will:

Connect people with the systems and procedures in the organisation and
encourage them to feel ownership of them
Make individuals more responsive
Stimulate innovation
Streamline processes
Aid the dissemination of knowledge within an organisation
Improve staff morale
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Any Questions ?