Creative Office Possibilities with Tech
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“For innovation to flourish, organizations must create an environment that fosters creativity; bringing together multi-talented groups of people who work in close collaboration together — exchanging knowledge, ideas and shaping the direction of the future.” —Linda Naiman
What we once thought of as mundane work, is now the work of robots, more specifically software. We’re well into the era of technology and it leaves a lot of us doing less, but this time can be wasted if not driven in the right direction. Many workplaces are re-focusing on the human side of ‘work’, pushing creativity and wellbeing.
This is set to benefit us all, as creativity in the office leads to imaginative problem solving and more space for innovative ideas to bud. Studies show ‘companies that actively foster creative thinking outperform their rivals in revenue growth’ (BusinessNewsDaily.com). However, 66% of employees say they work in a creatively stifling environment. But, how can software help nourish our creative brains?
Tech and creativity, here’s the rub…
Odds are your business already has a good deal of tech to help your workflow, but we’ll bet you’ve never considered how they’re impacting your creative mind. Software and tech that makes your workload easier, actually allows you to rely on your own mind far less.
Don’t get excited; this doesn’t mean you’ll be doing less work, but it does mean you have more time to think. The ability to generate ideas is a wholly human one, but tech can give us an insight into when is the best time to be creative.
If you’re a morning lark then you’ll want to get a lot of your heavy thinking done earlier rather than later, as your brain is at full functionality for analytical thinking. For night owls it’s the later the better. This is also true for creativity, believe it or not. We all know that feeling when you’ve had that two for one pizza deal at lunch and come back to the office feeling well…This could be your moment! Research shows that ‘at off-peak times we are less focused, and may consider a broader range of information. This wider scope gives us access to more alternatives and diverse interpretations, thus fostering innovation and insight.’ This means your brain is more open to making new connections when you’re tired, so chill out creative you!
It’s still good to know that a machine can’t think of your idea, tech can’t feel the desire to make something better, or the satisfaction of being a valued creative employee. So, with all the boring stuff being taken care of by software, you can be free to do what your brain does best, creation.
Top tech to get the ideas flowing:
- BPM Software
Many vendors offer Business Process Management software, for a reason. Most use cloud-storage so that the entire company can access documents, as well as track deadlines and successes. They also make collaboration far easier, offering a live workspace that everyone can contribute to. Some programmes are more imaginative than others, but anything that promotes minds coming together is creative at its core. See Google Drive, Box, and Amazon Drive.
- Curb your disinterest
Inspiration is the best friend of creativity, but you can be easily zapped by stress and disorganisation. Apps like Trello and Slack make you stick to deadlines, keep tasks under control and plan your thinking time with others in your team. When you know what you need to get done, you can think about those extra possibilities.
- E-Signatures
This may seem irrelevant, but your signature is one of the most creative parts of your identity that you use every day. E-Signatures are an easy gateway to optimising your paperwork, without handing your job over to an A.I. E-Signatures allow you to pass those piles of documents you don’t want to deal with, to an online server like Signable. The algorithms send out your documents and get them signed instantly. Signable even follow-up on the slackers so you don’t have to. That’s one less thing to think about. See Signable’s trial page for more.
- VR
The world of VR has been expanding ever since Sega in the 90s, but with tech like the Microsoft HoloLens and Google Glass, it seems business is now being targeted. Many cutting-edge companies use VR to further their creative process, enabling them to create on a 3-D platform, enhancing their work experience. HoloLenses, for instance, are being implemented in the health sector to help design operating theatres. Collaboration brings out the creative in everyone.
Innovation isn’t always an easy road…
With more creative initiatives pushing the boundaries, there is inevitably a few failures, but bear with us, it may just be the idea that makes your business. Whether you’re up-to-date, or just entering the tech world, creativity is essential to the growth of your business. Software giant, Google, has emphasised the importance of creativity to innovation throughout their 80,000 strong team. They hold many interesting incentives, such as their infamous 20% programme, where employees spend 20% of their time working on projects that are of interest to them. As well as their inspiring office spaces.
Trial and error is a leap into the unknown for many older companies, but technology doesn’t just digitalise our old way of doing things, ‘they make new ways of doing things possible.’ (accenture.com)
