Your employees have lots of ideas. So, be sure you provide the forums and mechanisms for your employees to share their ideas with you. Hold at least a few brainstorming sessions each year, as well.
And, when you are brainstorming with your employees, try these five tips:
- Encourage ALL ideas.
- Don't evaluate or criticize ideas when they are first suggested.
- Ask for wild ideas. Often, the craziest ideas end up being the most useful.
- Shoot for quantity not quality during brainstorming.
- Encourage everyone to offer new combinations and improvements of old ideas.
