Keeping Teams Creative Essay Examples

Introduction

Creativity is an essential aspect that can spur innovativeness in a business entity. By encouraging the staff of an organization to actively put their ideas forward, business leaders will be putting their firms on an innovation path. The inculcation of creativity in teams enables them to be effective, and it increases their potential thus enhancing performance (Gilson et al., p. 522). Building creative teams involves having the right people in terms of skills, cultural orientation and the right level of staffing. Moreover, a business leader is expected to formulate the right process focused on making the team members more efficient and productive. Thirdly the team being built should be guided with the right leadership and an excellent leadership approach. Moreover, the business leader has to come up with the right environment within which the creative team can thrive. Additionally, the envisaged creative team should be provided with a strategic direction and right vision so that its success rate can be enhanced. Furthermore, a balance has to be found between building creative teams and sustaining the creativity of the team. Creative teams can be built quickly, but the creativity will quickly die away off if one does not use the right methods to foster creativity while keeping the group dynamics strong.
In organizations, there can be two types of teams: the standard and the creative teams. A standard team refers to a team that is focused on executing tasks using the accepted, customary or normal practice. The goal of a standard team is to reduce any variations that are associated with any task, therefore, improving effectiveness of the task (Gilson et al., 524). On the hand, a creative team refers to teams that have strong willingness to explore new ways of doing things, are ready to try out new work processes, and are focused on improving the processes that make work to be accomplished (Feurer et al., 6).
Creative teams can have a wide array of uses to business organizations. Creative teams can come up with novel ideas that can have the potential to be applied to various tasks. Moreover, creative team environments have immense potential to meet customers’ needs (Ancona and Henrik n.p). Creative outcomes that emanate as a result of the work of creative teams translate into satisfying products for customers. In addition, creative teams enhance the performance of organizations through inculcation of novel ideas in the tasks of the business.
With the availability of right conditions, creative teams can be quickly built. To sustain the creativity, the business leaders should ensure that they communicate the objectives of the organization to the creative teams so that they realign their ambitions with these objectives. Fostering unity, providing incentives to the staff, and offering advancement opportunities to them are sure ways of ensuring that the teams stay creative (Kratzer et al., 67). To foster creativity in teams requires the enhancement of teamwork, supporting staff, training staff on innovation techniques, rewarding creativity profusely, and utilizing cross-fertilization technique to broaden their experiences.
The sustenance and fostering of creativity are necessary owing to its many benefits. Creativity is crucial in enhancing operational or product excellence (Riccard et al., 23). Moreover, creativity ensures that firms shore up their capacity to handle the ever changing markets, competition, and technological advancements. Creativity is essential in ensuring that firms remain flexible, meet the needs of their customers, and ensure effectiveness in the work processes.
The preceding analysis details the essence of inculcating creativity in the processes of a firm. The importance of creative teams in an organization cannot be underestimated. It is necessary that organizations build creative teams and inculcate ways of ensuring that the teams stay creative for the long haul. This will, ultimately, put the firm on a path of continuous success.

Works Cited

Ancona, Deborah G., and Henrik Bresman.X-teams: How to Build Teams That Lead, Innovate, and Succeed. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School, 2007. Print.
Feurer, Rainer, KazemChaharbaghi, and John Wargin. “Developing Creative Teams for Operational Excellence."International Journal of Operations & Production Management 16.1 (1996): 5-18. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Gilson, Lucy L., John E. Mathieu, Christina E. Shalley, and Thomas M. Ruddy. "Creativity And Standardization: Complementary or Conflicting Drivers Of Team Effectiveness?" Academy of Management Journal 48.3 (2005): 521-31. JSTOR.Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Kratzer, Jan, Oger Th. A. J. Leenders, and Jo M. L. Van Engelen. “Stimulating the Potential: Creative Performance and Communication in Innovation Teams."Creativity and Innovation Management 13.1 (2004): 63-71. Web. 25 Feb. 2015.
Rickards, Tudor, and Susan Moger. Handbook for Creative Team Leaders. Brookfield, VT, USA: Gower, 1999. Print.