Developing a Think Tank Work Culture

When was the last time you received unfiltered feedback from your team? Are you afraid of doing collaborative work because you might get some harsh criticism? There’s a lot at stake when it comes to group projects, so it’s no wonder that you might want to play it safe with your team. The only problem is that playing it safe won’t take your work quality to new highs. Combat your fears and improve your work performance by developing a think tank work culture.

Sometimes group discussions become heated. But the purpose of a discussion is to brainstorm and improve your projects. Shifting the focus from the team member to the project when giving feedback can seem like a simple idea, but it enables teams to be more successful. It’s the difference between being told that you’re bad at designing, and hearing that the graphic design needs a new colour swatch. How do you make these discussions possible in your workplace?

The key is to make collaboration addictive, rather than a competition between team members. Instead of turning conversations into a critical debate where team members are pitted against each other, allow everyone to have something to contribute, even if it’s simple conversation instead of feedback. Let everyone to equally contribute their thoughts to help solve each other’s problems. At the same time, give your team a place where they can help broaden one another’s perspective. With your whole team doing this, you’ll soon see how valuable this form of communication is for your business.

Keep an archive of messages containing ideas that you can revisit at any time. Encourage your team to jot down their ideas, develop the best solutions and offer fresh ideas for the project. The best part is that everyone can access these notes at any time.

Make your team dynamic more of a peer-set than a relationship that is top-down. You’ll find that this makes team conversations more honest because of how easy it is to do. Begin developing your think tank culture and boost collaborative efforts.