So you have an idea, eh?

A select few employees were invited to brainstorm on building my then organization, as a great place to work. Build a culture that was future ready, millennial ready. We went around the table gathering ideas and opinions.

My suggestion was a 4 day work week option. It stemmed from enhanced productivity by having more efficient working days. In metros especially, an employee spends on average at least two hours commuting. Peak-hours make this situation worse. Longer working hours can compensate for the 1 day, ensuring the tally on cumulative hours. Besides, employers, in my opinion should be increasingly concerned with results, efficiency & effectiveness, not the hours clocked. After all, most of us are reachable post work hours and work through weekends when required, don't we? Trust, is a key attribute in rolling-out such policies. These policies akin to work from home are optional and applicable more to some teams than to others. It can be a tremendous differentiator and foster loyalty. It can mean cost savings by optimizing infrastructure and operations. Such systems end up being eco-friendly and our environment, more than ever, needs green-citizens and responsible corporates.

Enough said. There are several pro and cons to a 4 day work week, akin to any other idea. Unfortunately, we never got to that. A discussion or consideration is not what ensued.

The idea was shot down instinctively. This is not an exceptional situation. We too are guilty of such behaviour when we call for brainstorming, seek ideas, invite innovative solutions.

There are traps that a moderator of such discussions should steer clear of. Here are some practices I recommend:

#1 Set Ground Rules:

Embrace constraints or limitations, list them upfront. Else embrace blue-sky thinking. Communicate qualifying factors that will be used to shortlist ideas be it a timeline, a budget or something else. In fact, I believe constraints can enhance creativity and genius.

#2 Practice Active Listening:

Engage, build rapport and a comfortable environment for everyone to express. Allow the person to complete. Acknowledge. Understand. Respond don't react. Rest your head on the pillow.

#3 Cross the Bridge when you come to it:

Have you caught yourself thinking ahead, thinking execution and rejected the idea in your head itself? Its a trap.

#4 Identify Personal Biases

We tend to be more agreeable to those who mirror our way of thinking. Align to our beliefs. Sometimes, we are already committed to an idea and are looking for a different mouthpiece or validation. Which is why we not only listen to what we would like to but also interpret it in a way that works for us. These are unconscious biases that need to be weeded-out. It takes self-awareness & practice.

#5 Every Idea Counts

Don't trash an input. Collect ideas. Revisit them. After all, change is the only constant and relevance is situational.

Take work-from-home, for example. For many organizations, both big and small, work from home was unthinkable until recently. It is a reality today. Businesses have seen unprecedented ramp-up in technology, processes and people management to make it happen in record time. Some teams were better prepared than others-why?