Boost collaboration when returning to the office
Practical tips to boost collaboration when you return to the office
Hybrid working is redefining the role of the workplace as a space where people come together to solve challenging problems, co-create and experiment with ideas.
Many studies show that people want to embrace flexible working. Each organisation and team is figuring out the hybrid model that works for them.
We've all missed the benefits of being in a room together to solve tricky problems and incubate imaginative solutions to challenges.
Indeed, the need to come together now has never been more critical. Covid has upended how we interact with our customers, and the economic circumstances means customers are challenging the value they get from brands and services.
Here are two practical tips to help you make the most of your time as a team when together in the office to solve critical challenges.
Focus on the big problems
Tough challenges need diverse viewpoints, lots of inspiration to spark divergent ideas, plus time and space to kick the tyres on a problem. These challenges are well suited to workshops and in-person sessions.
So whether you need to pivot the business model, interrogate the customer journey for new opportunities or look for efficiencies and significant productivity wins, use your time together to focus on the big topics.
Plan your time wisely. Prepare quality inputs (insights, analytics, case studies etc.) and ensure you bring in a mix of expertise to maximise the problem-solving power of the team.
Create a space to experiment, turning concepts into practical ideas
Create a space in the office where people can come together to experiment with ideas.
Too often, people come up with an idea — a practical solution — and run with it. They don't pause and think: what is the concept? What alternative concepts should we consider? How could we do this better?
Edward DeBono — the father of lateral thinking — stresses the importance of creativity when solving tricky problems. Central to his thinking is the notion of the concept. A concept is the parent of practical ideas. A concept can lead to many different practical solutions. For instance, if your goal was to reduce water consumption, you might have contrasting concepts: increasing efficiency, less wastage, and discouraging use. And each concept would lead to a set of different practical ideas.
The very nature of deliberately moving back and forth between concepts and ideas leads to imaginative solutions and unexpected breakthroughs.
And the power of doing this together, in person, means you can quickly sketch, mockup and showcase alternative ideas, debate and challenge each other.
And if you have a physical room of ideas posted on the wall and ‘low-resolution’ prototypes to share, you can invite other people in — external to your team — to comment and help optimise your solutions.
Make time for these creative problem-solving sessions when in the office to ensure you've pushed the boundaries of what's possible and make the most of your time together.
