Always Encourage Input and Ideas to Create a Dynamic Business…

Most leaders of the SME’s we meet are aware of the need to encourage ideas and input from their team but rarely create the environment that can allow this to happen – productively.

The thing is that ‘honesty’ and ‘openness’ can take on a very negative course if it is not managed and facilitated in the right way. Very often the people who are happy to speak up have grievances and they feel that ‘sharing these’ will get group support – and things CAN go rapidly downhill from there!

So, what’s the answer?

Should you stop people ‘speaking their mind’, forcing people to stay silent on issues or introduce other types of draconian controls that make this input impossible? Of course, the answer is no – it is healthy for a business if they tap into the knowledge of their team and recognise that all of the best ideas do not always emanate from the ‘heads of the Directors’. If this process of allowing input and the sharing of ideas is encouraged and dealt with in the right way, it can be so beneficial to the business.

It is always helpful to ensure that you have the right people on board and to also make sure that you have shared both your vision and the purpose of your business with all of your team. So, encourage input from that point, but manage and control that input by asking that any ideas/ thoughts should be offered with one thing in mind – to better deliver on our vision and our purpose and improve our service to our customers or clients.

This channels people’s minds into at worst constructive criticism – which all businesses should be comfortable in hearing. It also limits input to things that (those people feel) will deliver what the business is all about in a better way – from this, great ideas can be initiated, then implemented and new business levels and opportunities opened up.

Encourage input, allow people to use their minds to offer new and better ways to deliver what you want to in your marketplace – but facilitate this by ensuring that all input is constructive with the aim of moving the business forward. This is the only rule that you need to put in place because if any input doesn’t tick these boxes, it simply isn’t considered and there is nothing wrong with that!

The higher a leader goes the more the possibility of them ending up in an ‘echo chamber’ only listening to people and even only hiring people who think like them and always agree with them. This is poor management – having the right people doesn’t mean people who go along with a leader’s every thought and word – the right people want to challenge, they want to provide thought and ideas and as long as their input is positive, constructive and in line with the company’s vision and purpose let the input flow!

Do you need some help creating a Dynamic Business? get in touch with us at ignite@tinderboxbusinessdevelopment.co.uk or call us on 0116 232 5231.

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The Tinderbox Team