How do you encourage your team to share their ideas openly and constructively?

Here’s how I encourage my team to share their ideas: •I ensure everyone understands the project’s objectives and expectations, so they can align their ideas with the bigger picture. •I foster an atmosphere of respect and openness, where team members feel comfortable sharing without fear. •I stress the importance of listening to each other, ensuring everyone’s voice is heard and valued. •I focus on collaboration over competition, where team members build on each other’s ideas and learn together.

You want to create a conducive and inclusive environment for the free exchange and debate of ideas for your team. As a leader, you should set the tone in creating this safe space. You can do this by offering up an idea for discussion first thereby demonstrating to your team the type of environment they can expect to engage in. This encourages participation and fosters a culture of respect, open-mindedness, and curiosity.

It may seem counterintuitive, but STRUCTURE is absolutely the best way to get teams percolating & having fun! We created a process for our team that gets more great concepts out on the table in the shortest amount of time possible. It's not anything remarkably new, just a mash-up that works for us. The main ingredients: 1. Dedicated group time 2. Creative briefs & other info shared before meeting 3. During group time: a mix of quiet, individual thinking and group discussion 4. 1st Rnd.: each person presents - NO CRITIQUES (we throw nerf balls at critics) 5. Rnd. 2 - borrow/steal/build-on ideas presented 6. Each presents again. 7. Fave concepts discussed 8. Later, Writer/AD/CD work the list to refine or reinvent

Disney Imagineering excels in fostering a culture of open and constructive idea sharing and their example has been a big inspiration for me. Here's how they do it, which can serve as inspiration for your team: Blue Sky Sessions: Disney Imagineering hosts "Blue Sky" sessions where creativity knows no bounds. They create a safe space for free idea expression. Leadership Example: Just like Walt Disney himself, the leadership at Disney Imagineering actively participates in idea sharing, setting an example for the team. No Bad Ideas: They embrace the philosophy that there are no bad ideas during brainstorming, making everyone feel valued. Positive Feedback: Constructive feedback is emphasised, focusing on improvement rather than criticism.

(This may not relate necessarily to this section, but imo, the first step is to have a culture in which you actually "don't need" to encourage anyone to share their ideas... and that happens by default, organically, without me or anyone else having to ask for it.) With that out of the way, I think the key at the beginning is to make sure ideation is separated from analysis. Not discovering any big mystery here if you have conducted ideation sessions in the past. To me judging and analyzing or overanalyzing is one of the main factors that kill the free flow of good, bad, useful or not ideas in all directions. (This comment probably lives somewhere between these listening and feedback sections you have established here, but hope it helps.)

Feedback will also demonstrate your acknowledgement towards the idea and what you think about it. It also encourages team members to think for the good of all. Feedback also provides people the foundation to align their thinking with business needs and requirements.

I have heard many people use the phrase "ideas can come from anywhere/anyone", but rarely have seen that in action. If you truly believe it, you will live it, make it happen, encourage it and always be alert to it. And, on diversity and inclusion, I think it all comes down to how much you truly believe that will help ideation...or not. I have been invited to countless meetings, especially here in the US, where no matter what you say, it is all a facade. You are there to fulfill a quota, for someone to be able to say "we had this or that person representing this or that community" but there was not a true intention to listen or care much for what I or others were saying, regardless of how good or bad those ideas were. Do it like you mean it.

One of the reasons we developed a brainstorming process for our team was specifically so we could include EVERYONE and not just so-called "creatives". A good PROCESS levels the playing field and gives everyone a chance to participate and learn from others over time. If you're in a creative business and concept development is a key deliverable, you MUST have a better method than just letting the whole team talk for an hour. If we're honest, those meetings are usually dominated by one or two people and after an hour or two of discussion, you only come away with Concept 1 and Concept 1A. Our record for well-conceived, presentable video concepts is 12 from two creative sessions. Our goal is always at least 3.

Fundamentally, if you want to create a space where people feel safe to share ideas, you have to create an environment of mutual respect and trust — not just between manager and directs but at a peer level, too. This takes time, energy, and commitment well before you start ideating. Integrating it into your day-to-day activities including stand-ups, project meetings, staff meetings, and one-on-ones is imperative.