Edwards Electronic Systems, Inc.

Encourage Thinking Outside the Box

8/10/2020

At times, workplace creativity needs to be unleashed in order to experience a professional culture of trust, productivity, and overall excellence! Being creative is how individuals, and ultimately societies, are able to move forward. We can all agree that without creativeness, we wouldn't have many of the niceties we have today. At Edwards Electronic Systems, we use creativity to identify unique solutions to problems, increase co-worker engagement, and distinguish our company from others through innovative workmanship. Here are 4 ways to encourage thinking outside the box in your business or organization!

1. Allow people to share ideas in a variety of ways. We are all familiar with the charismatic employee who has an idea to share at every meeting. While these employees are great and shouldn't be stifled, we must not let this personality type take over. Do those less talkative in your work arena have a place to comfortably share their novel ideas? Perhaps creating a "Ideas?" bulletin board or providing an idea jar would allow for more innovation and collaboration, and get creative energies flowing in your office space!

2. Limit bureaucracy. No one enjoys jumping through hoops, especially unnecessary hoops. Removing the number of people an idea needs to be shared with before change happens is crucial to autonomous thinking! Making managers, directors, and CEOs available to employees will promote a culture where everyone feels the motivation to think for themselves, solve problems independently, and share ideas openly. Finding a way to streamline ideas and make positive changes is vital to creating a culture of improvement.

3. Invest in professional development. An environment of acquisition and curiosity directs employees towards engagement and self-awareness more so than a stagnant environment of repetitiveness and bleak forward-looking opportunities. Investing in an employee's education via conferences, in-house learning sessions, online training, classes, etc., encourages employees to stay motivated, alert, involved, and interested in the well-being of the company or organization they are a part of.

4. Reward creativity! Criticizing failure is not productive since (1) most people already know why they failed, and (2) failure is only a small part of the overall innovation process. Be sure not to demean the pursuit of progress when failure happens. Conversely, acknowledgment of an individual or group's creative attempts encourages continual critical thinking, advancement in workmanship, cohesion, and professional development. Validation of a job well done is huge in terms of relationship building, trust, and employee satisfaction!

As you continue on your endeavor to create a work culture of creativity, take into account other aspects that may limit one's ability to think outside the box. Perhaps work discipline and productivity is lacking, thus, leaving no time for extra cognitive activities. Maybe the expectations for production are unreasonable and should be reconsidered. It could be that there has been a long time culture of stagnation that needs some rekindling. Regardless of the circumstance, finding and removing obstacles are important as you discover ways to introduce more creativity into your work environment!

If you're going to communicate, do it well!

11/24/2019

As you may know, every person has a unique way to communicate. The way people interact and exchange information with others has the power to motivate success, discourage productivity, empower positive changes, or enable stagnation. There are 4 well-known primary types of communication: passive, aggressive, passive-aggressive and assertive. Let's take a quick look at each communication style and improve our communication techniques.

Employee Surveys Are Important!

8/22/2019

Surveys are essential to employee engagement, manager-employee relationships, and business growth. Happy and engaged employees create happy and engaged customers, both of which tend to stick around!

There are several kinds of surveys that could benefit your organization or business. For example:

New Hire Survey
360 Review Survey
Benefits Survey
Manager's Survey
Business Culture Survey
Employee Engagement Survey

Be a Professional Powerhouse!

7/17/2019

Nearly everyone has encountered individuals who hide behind the comfort zone of expertise. Not only is this fatiguing to others, it is professionally constraining to that individual. Thankfully these damaging behaviors can be defeated by simply being transparent, honest, and sincere as these permit an individual to lead others courageously and without fear.

It is no secret that the livelihood of a business is found in its employee's leadership. Most people are aware of their strengths and abilities, using them often and with profound expertise. On the other hand, many employees are unaware of their weaknesses or simply ignore their shortcomings. Regardless, working in oblivion is detrimental to a company or organization’s growth and advancement.

Think this isn't for you because you aren't in a position of authority? Don’t be fooled. Every employee has the opportunity for positive influence over something or someone!

Compassion at Work

6/12/2019

Is compassion an action or an emotion? Some religions consider compassion an emotion, like feeling empathy for another person. In modern psychology, compassion is regarded as an action aimed at ridding others of their troubles or consoling them in their suffering (Chowdhury, 2019). Regardless of these two differing positions, compassion is not a give or take scenario. People who show compassion do not expect to receive the same or get something in return. Compassion is simply kindness in action!

Exit the Office for Employee Engagement!

5/8/2019

Have you struggled to get employees engaged at work? Increased employee engagement has proven to be helpful with both work performance and organizational success. When someone is engaged at work, it shows in their workmanship, productivity, and communication. Engaged employees are more responsive as opposed to reactive. They are ready and willing to work individually yet with the team! Engaged employees will go over and beyond to do a great job as opposed to just meeting the minimum requirements. An engaged team will get your workplace running smoother and being more productive in no time! Read more to see a clip from our employee game day below!

Excellent Leaders Do These 3 Things!

4/10/2019

Excellent leaders do not withhold information! Some people are limited by their own fear of promoting others under their management to a position above them. This is a debilitating fear that often ends in a self-fulfilled prophecy. Generously sharing knowledge and processes to those under one's management separates a good leader from an excellent leader.

Excellent leaders make those under their management excellent leaders! That's right, leaders don't create a following, they create more leaders. This can be done by involving the team and creating ownership in decisions made. People are more interested in the outcome when ownership is incorporated. Asking subordinates questions will increase engagement and appreciating positive work results will keep employees committed.

Effective Workplace Communication

2/9/2019

Technology allows us to communicate with one another at a whim’s notice. As with most things, there are both positives and negatives associated with privileges. Some negatives to this virtual workplace communication are that messages can be misunderstood, misread or even undervalued. It is important that employees know how to take advantage of this advanced form of communication and use it for productivity in the workplace! Here are 5 easy dos and don'ts for leading your office in an upward spiral towards effectively communicating with one another. Enjoy!