A Culture of Creativity
One way to improve employee engagement and improve morale is to bring a little fun into the workplace and foster an environment where creativity and engagement is the norm rather than the exception.
When Martha Bartlett Piland, owner of MB Piland Advertising+ Marketing, facilitates a strategic planning session, she always begins with a creative activity to get participants’ brains clicking on all cylinders.
These activities are designed to engage as many senses as possible. For example, they may create something out of Play-Doh, which engages the sense of touch as they knead it, the sense of smell, the sense of sight in the bright colors, the sense of hearing as people chatter about what they are doing.
Participants have their sense of taste engaged because food is part of every team building or planning session Martha holds.
“Everyone can relate to food,” Martha said. “It is the ultimate ice breaker and easiest way to find common ground.”
Finding that common ground is essential to productivity, Martha’s team takes that same creative approach into every corporate event, whether it is workshops, retreats, or strategic planning. They often send home work for participants to complete prior to a team building/planning session to help guide the facilitation and gauge the temperature of the room.
“These questionnaires can help see where people are aligned and where their differences lie,” Martha said. “This creates a more productive work session because we know what our focus needs to be right from the start.”
Companies often bring in outside facilitators to help with strategic planning or problem solving because it is hard for participants to be objective when they are all invested in the outcome. It is often easier for an outsider to push the envelope and make things a little uncomfortable than for a leader who must continue to manage the team once the session is complete.
LONGTERM RESULTS
Martha says the benefits of team building and training last long after the event.
“A culture that takes a team-first approach not only helps with retention, but it is a great tool for attracting new talent,” Martha said. “When that feeling of camaraderie is authentic and built into the culture, people can just sense it.”
Building camaraderie often is most effective when people are having fun. That is why in addition to helping other companies with team building and planning a variety of appreciation events, MB Piland Advertising + Marketing holds its own internal activities and celebrations.
“We can talk the talk because we walk the walk,” Martha said.
Her team fosters a culture of creativity by scheduling team building activities, holding happy hours and contests, and throwing over-the-top themed birthday celebrations.
“We recently held a “Margy Gras” celebration for Margy Walter. We decorated the office in purple and greens like Mardi Gras, complete with a King cake, jazz music and beads,” Martha said. “The staff had a great time planning the party and making it a special occasion for Margy.”
CULTIVATING ENGAGEMENT
Just like any other behavior, innovative engagement is something that must be trained and cultivated. Wanting to help foster that creative growth, Martha created TRANSFORMOTION in a Box, a subscription-based activity box to help people think differently and solve challenges in unexpected ways. Each box contains a set of exercises and helpful hints designed to ignite creative thought. A variety of items are included to go along with each exercise. For example, one box might contain chunky applesauce and a set of chopsticks with an exercise designed to make you think differently about how you might eat applesauce.
“People often say ‘I’m not creative,’ but when they do these exercises, they realize that they are actually incredibly creative,” Martha said.
