All businesses, no matter which industry or sector they work in, require creativity in some form, especially to stay profitable in a turbulent economy. Even if you think it doesn’t, creativity already plays a part in your work in some way or other. Every great innovation in business was the result of creativity and doing something differently than every other company. Most companies fail due to a lack of creative thinking, hoping to rely upon a safe and easy formula instead.
Communication is not only an essential part of keeping companies together but also in generating and enhancing this creativity, in ways that you wouldn’t think. Thankfully, new technology developments such as online conferencing make communication and hence creativity easier than ever. Here are just a few reasons why and how they can help your business:
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Seeing Another Person’s Perspective
Creativity is a reflection of an individual’s thoughts, feelings, and beliefs, but remaining isolated and failing to communicate with others makes it difficult to consider things from another person’s perspective. Seeing things from another’s view point enhances creativity even further. Life coach Sharon Good says that proper communication prevents people from becoming too preoccupied with only their own thoughts and makes it less likely to rely upon their personal judgement and prejudices. If a company learns how to consider things from another’s perspective, it will become much easier to understand their customer or client’s needs and desires and how best they can reach them. Businesses function better if teams can function well together, but doing this is more difficult if individuals are focused only on their own thoughts and feelings or unwilling to listen to another’s ideas. For instance, if you learn to understand when another team member is becoming frustrated or stressed, you can take measures to help them so that they can contribute to the team effectively.
The growth in online conferencing is a good step to bridging this gap, as it opens up the channels of communication with people from across the world, allowing individuals and businesses to discover other cultural viewpoints and ways of working.
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Problem Solving
This openness to the opinions of others can also help with creative problem solving, such as finding creative ways to beat competitors or come up with new marketing strategies. Say you have been working on a project by yourself and have run into a problem you don’t know how to solve. You could use video communication systems such as BlueJeans to contact somebody in a different location who has a specialist knowledge you don’t possess. They may have the skills and insight you need to solve your problem. An environment which fosters open communication, even in a remote working situation, is much more likely to encourage collaboration to solve issues. Working in isolation is necessary in some circumstances, but at other times, it is necessary to collaborate with others and combine your skills in order to solve a problem. It is only through proper communication that complex problems can be solved.
Businesses also exist to solve problems and provide solutions for their clients or customers. This increased ability to listen to and understand consumers will go a long way to making businesses more equipped than ever to discovering and solving these problems.
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Sharing Video
Creative agency Engine Creative has found that the boom in distributing information through online video, such as through the use of streaming video during online conferences, provides an ideal opportunity to spread creativity. It is only in recent years since internet speeds have increased and conferencing equipment has become more versatile that this has been possible, but those who have used it have already seen the benefits. Among the reasons is that a video is more personal than text communication and creates a bigger and more memorable lasting impact. This is why even traditional board room meetings are installing video screens and conferencing software, using video clips more and more to make expressing their points or making a pitch easier. Marketing is another positive example. Customers are much more likely to consider purchase after watching a video clip than if they had just read some text or listened to a person talk, and it makes for some much more creative marketing materials. It is often said that people make a judgment about a person or object within only a few seconds, and considering that visual information is processed in the brain much faster than text, it makes sense to use it to your advantage.
These are just a few ways that improved communication, especially though the use of online conferencing, has led to enhanced creativity amongst corporations, and therefore increased sales. Nurture the relationship between communication and creativity in your office and you will see improved results too.
The post 3 Reasons Why Improved Communication Leads to Enhanced Creativity appeared first on Smashing Buzz.