Written by apmayy | 13 July 2010
Posted in creativity

Small businesses, especially those in the service industries, are typically started and managed by creative and innovative people.

The manager of a contract shop must be creative in developing new ways to do things, and innovative in applying new ideas in order to survive and secure adequate volume to maintain growth in a competitive marketplace.

Some contract shops, founded on a solid need and serving appreciative customers, continue to do the same things for years. Those shops usually don't grow, and often disappear because the competition continues to diversify and grow by applying new equipment and processes, and by developing new markets and services.

Looking inside those successful shops, one finds an atmosphere of trust and tolerance for mistakes. People will easily seek and secure feedback from peers and managers when they are encouraged and recognized for their ideas and efforts, even when the ideas don't work and the effort is ineffective.

The kinds of creativity and innovation needed in the contract shop is different from what is required by the artist or writer. Creative people start out with a blank sheet of paper and fill it with something that is new. Manufacturing creativity or innovation typically is generated for a specific purpose; a more efficient way to produce something. This requires that the creator find ways to apply new ideas to an existing problem. Therefore, the first requirement for success is to fully understand the need, and comprehend the problem.

The creative contract shop manager must understand the situation, and be aware of all available solutions. Sometimes, realizing that one of these solutions is, indeed, the best solution, is enough. Judgement is important at this stage in the creative process.

People seem to become more creative when working as a team. Some team members are aware of many known ways to accomplish something; others are aware of seemingly unrelated processes; still others are often able to make the connections, to intuitively reorganize the different situations into a new approach. In the contract shop such teams often form in very informal settings.

Perhaps an estimator brings a new request-for-quotation out to the shop floor to talk it over with a foreman, and finds the foreman talking with a machine operator. The three individuals discuss the new opportunity, call over for a fourth and fifth person to join them, and ideas start to flow. An informal group leader emerges in the team to describe the problem and to summarize ideas. Eventually, someone comes up with an idea that strikes everyone as "the right way" to do the job. It is important that such teams operate in a non-threatening manner. Nobody laughs at the inappropriate idea; someone keeps encouraging the flow of new approaches; and someone expresses appreciation for all of the ideas and gives credit to people who express them.

Eventually, someone decides on the appropriate action to take, and then makes sure the job gets done. Feedback is important; when the job is complete the manager should report results back to the people who generated the ideas.

Contract shop managers who foster innovation and creativity find that they stimulate productivity and growth. They find more enjoyment in their own jobs, and discover that people participate more fully in solving problems.

Article Source: findarticles.com

Publish This Article On Your WebSite or Blog