5 Ways To Improve Processes For Increased Innovation

Skyrocket your productivity

If you’re like most office workers, you’re so busy with your daily to-dos that you hardly have time to get creative. The 2018 Workfront State of Work Report found that while half of the workers say that innovation is factored into their performance, just two in five say their companies encourage them to set aside time for it.

 

What’s more is that 42% of Millennials said their workplace does not foster innovation and they are more likely to report their productivity and innovation would improve with more time to focus.
 
Innovation requires time. But, when most of us are already swamped with emails, meetings, and administrative tasks, where can we find more time? In the same report, one-third of respondents said that “instituting better processes” was the biggest thing that would help them do more with less.
 
There are some things you can do as a human resources professional to make your processes smarter, more streamlined, and more effective, so your teams will have time to innovate again.

Solid communication is absolutely essential in creating an innovative office culture. Pat Bosworth, founder and CEO of Leadership Choice, believes that good communication makes people feel confident in sharing creative thoughts.
 
“A workplace that communicates more effectively establishes a ‘safe’ place for people to think creatively and express their ideas. It helps employees feel more comfortable taking ownership for challenges and projects, and typically results in more creative brainstorming or problem-solving initiatives,” he says.
 
Bad communications will lead to bad processes, which inhibit innovation. Consider adopting things like instant messaging and live status updates to simplify your processes.

When people are accountable, things get done, processes work the way they are supposed to, and people have more time to innovate. Jeff Miller, director of corporate learning and performance at Insperity, suggests leaders can improve accountability in five steps:
 
Have the difficult conversation where a mistake, or lack of follow through, is addressed.
Address the poor performance as soon as possible.
 

Automating tasks you do frequently will give you more time for innovation and has the added benefit of helping you clear your mind so you can let the creative ideas flow. The 2018 State of Work Report found that 86% of workers believe the rise of automation will help us think of work in new and innovative ways.
 
Streamline your processes by automating things like assigning tasks, generating progress reports, and notifying managers of status updates so your workers can use their irreplaceable, human skills to innovate. 

Things like overflowing inboxes, unnecessary meetings, distracting coworkers, and cluttered spreadsheets prevent us from finding the time we need to innovate. The 2018 State of Work Report found that workers are so distracted by things like this that only 40% of their workday is spent on their primary tasks.
 
With an operational system of record (OSR), you can keep all your communications, documents, tasks, and assignments in one place where everyone can access them, freeing up time that is better spent innovating. An OSR will also encourage innovation as people can review, brainstorm, and share ideas easier and faster. 

Over time, processes can become so complicated that they actually make work harder and more time-consuming. Eliminate clunky processes that make it hard for people to bring good ideas front and center.
 
Take a look at what kinds of things respondents to the 2018 State of Work Report survey said get in the way of their work:
 

 
Many of these are “process” problems, and when they are addressed people can actually do their jobs, giving them time to accomplish meaningful work and innovate.
 
With better processes in place, productivity will skyrocket and workers will have more time — time that was previously wasted on busy work and ineffective processes — to innovate.