Want to enhance your creativity and improve employee engagement? Try these top tips from our recent creativity in internal communications webinar.
Missed it? Don’t panic. Scroll down to watch the webinar in full. And be the first to hear about the next in the series of AB’s Creativity now! webinars. Sign up to the AB Thinks newsletter
Know it’s OK to fail. Things can fall flat. Know it will happen. Plan for it. Embrace it.
Start with something funny… Add a bit of comedy, a game or a quiz to the start of your brainstorm to get the creative energy and ideas flowing. Humour really enhances those eureka moments.
Brainstorm in small groups. Encourage the introverts to have their say.
Bring in a non-creative. Ask them to offer ideas and creative thinking while playing the role of the audience.
Don’t dive in. Read the brief again and again before jumping into creative solutions.
Look back – or out. Get inspiration from your past or personal life. For AB’s creative director Joel O’Connor, it’s skateboarding.
Do a personality test. Our favourite? The Creative Types quiz from Adobe. Are you a dreamer, too?
Know the creative process is meant to be painful. “Genius is one per cent inspiration, 99 per cent perspiration,” said Thomas Edison. That sudden flash of inspiration rarely comes from nowhere. No pain, no gain.
It takes two… brainstorms. First for playful ideas. Second to elevate them.
Give your brain space to work organically. Take the pressure off. Go for a run. Take a shower. Let the ideas come to you.
Start by thinking beyond your budget. Think BIG. Then fettle to fit.
Look for creative role models. Be inspired by those doing the unexpected and turning art into experience.
Use your child-brain to unlock creative pathways and imagine the impossible. We like the LEGO Group’s Rebuild the World, which helps you think beyond the realms of reality.
Find your creative allies. Half of those who responded to our survey identified a lack of stakeholder buy-in. Run a pilot with an ally and share it. Wait for others to chime in with an ‘I want one of those!’
Enter awards internally and externally. Encourage others to replicate success.
Write for the audience, not the approver. (Hope that’s OK, ed?)
Review your briefing template. Is it fit for purpose? Will it help build that single-minded point of view? If no, refresh.
Make measurement simple. Set fewer KPIs. Focus on the things that matter.
Don’t be put off by a small budget. It can be a far more interesting challenge – a more creative challenge – when working with fewer £s.
Know that you can’t do everything. Focus your approval process on your strategic goals.
Build a content framework. Use it to push back on feedback that’s not relevant to agreed goals and objectives.
Get out of your own head. Inspiration comes from speaking to new people and new experiences. Go outside.
Prioritise time for creativity – but be realistic. You’re unlikely to get all of Friday off for creative thinking. An hour here or there can still help.
Avoid groupthink. Invite diverse voices and different opinions from the get-go.
