# data[].attributes.body
Keeping Your Customers Satisfied? - 7 Questions Every Business Should Ask Themselves.

Every business should always make the effort to discover their customers' wants and needs. When customers are satisfied with a product or service, they are more likely to tell others what you have to offer. By knowing what customers want, businesses can improve their strategies to better fit their customers' demands.

1. Do you realize how value of your current customers?

2. Do you communicate to all your customers that they are important?

3. Do you encourage customers to return to your business?

4. Do you provide unique services and products that your customers would find difficult to duplicate somewhere else?

5. Do your customers feel that you are concerned about their interests and well being?

6. Do you attempt to learn as much as possible about your customers?

7. Do you follow up on complaints to make sure the resolution was acceptable to the customer?

# data[].attributes.body
4 Examples of How to Humanize the Workplace

1. Think before you speak
Anticipate the possible reaction when giving feedback or delivering a decision.

2. Stretch your empathy muscle
Don't finish the workday without getting back to someone about a concern they shared with you.

3. Think before thinking out loud or giving direction
In today's workplace, priorities can change radically, sometimes multiple times in one week. This depletes employees' trust and also diminishes how they view their contributions.

₄. Examine your own needs
This is perhaps one of the most difficult points because you may need to dig deep. It may be the easiest place to start because we can't give what we don't have.

# data[].attributes.body
3 Ways to Improve Problem Solving Skills

1. Acquire more technical knowledge in your industry
Depending on your position, it may be easier to solve problems if you have a stronger grasp of the software your company operates on. This can be done through additional coursework, training, and/or practice.

2. Seek opportunities to problem solve
By putting yourself into new situations, you are more likely to be exposed to opportunities to problem-solve. You may find there are opportunities to volunteer for new projects in your current role, on another team or outside the workplace for another organization.

3. Observe how others problem solve
You may have colleagues who are skilled problem solvers. Observing how those colleagues solve problems can help you improve your own skills. Asking relevant questions can be helpful in applying them in your own career.

# data[].attributes.body
Human relations is the way an organization's employees and leaders feel about each other, interact and solve problems. A company may have a set of processes, procedures and individuals that support the needs of employees and the employer in the workplace.

Strong human relations can help recruit and retain quality employees, deliver their wages and benefits in a streamlined way and support their fair and equitable treatment. Employers who promote positive workplace relationships, open communication, and build trust amongst employees tend to develop a competitive advantage in their industry.

# data[].attributes.body
Why is Teamwork in the Workplace so Important?

Promoting teamwork in the workplace can bring forth many positive aspects to a company. Things such as productivity, creativity, innovation and job satisfaction have shown to improve with effective teamwork.

Studies have shown that teamwork is highly correlated with increased employee productivity and satisfaction. As a result, turnover and absenteeism are noticeably decreased. Employees who work on a team rather than alone generally perform better on tasks while also showing more genuine interest in their work.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
Why is teamwork in the workplace important?

Without effective teamwork, productivity and quality of work will likely suffer, even with a group composed of multiple brilliant individuals. Likewise, without effective teams, companies will struggle to keep pace with competitors who do have effective teams.

Multiple studies have shown that promoting good teamwork in the workplace will have positive effects on productivity, quality of work, creativity, innovation and job satisfaction, all of which benefit the company itself.

In a recent study by Stanford, participants who were working on a team as opposed to working alone persevered longer on difficult tasks, showed more interest and enjoyment in working on the tasks, required less self-regulatory effort to complete tasks, and generally performed better on the tasks. The participants who were part of a team even decided to do more tasks related to those performed in the study in a personal setting 1-2 weeks after the study.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
8 Useful Ways to Enhance Teamwork in the Workplace

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
Why is teamwork in the workplace important? Without effective teamwork, productivity and quality of work will likely suffer, even with a group composed of multiple brilliant individuals.

# data[].attributes.body
Overview
Workplace conflict is inevitable when employees of various backgrounds and different work styles are brought together for a professional purpose. Conflict can be expressed in numerous ways such as insults, noncooperation, bullying and anger. The negative effects of workplace conflict can include work disruptions, decreased productivity, project failure, absenteeism, turnover and termination.

Causes of Workplace Conflict

Conflicting Priorities. Some disputes are over resources such as budgets. Other disagreements stem from things such as goals or structural changes in the company.

Conflicting Perspectives. In an increasing global and diverse workplace, often times the root of the problem comes from employees whom differ in age, gender, ethnicity, religion political views, and/or personality types.

Conflicting Tolerances. Employees have different levels of comfort with addressing conflict. Too often, discomfort causes confrontation to be avoided entirely which can lead to real blowups when one person can't hold it in any longer.

Employer's Role
Employers have the responsibility to develop and implement workplace conflict policies and procedures and to create and manage conflict-resolution programs. Additionally, it's important that companies train employees to handle day-to-day issues on their own, think, independently, analyze problems, come up with solutions and take steps to implement them.

# data[].attributes.body
Why is Creativity so Important?

Creativity is important across all industries because challenges require inventive solutions. It serves several purposes. It not only combats stagnation, but it facilitates growth and development.

Design Thinking

While creativity is highly important in business, it tends to be an abstract process that works best with a concrete structure. This is where design thinking comes into play. Design thinking is a process that is broken down into 4 stages: clarify, ideate, develop, and implement.

1. Clarify
The goal during this stage is to gain an understanding of the situation and individuals impacted by it.

2. Ideate
This stage is abstract and involves creativity and idea generation. This phase promotes the freedom to brainstorm and think through all possible solutions.

3. Develop
This stage involves trial and error through constant experimentation. Critiquing and assessing each solutions is important because the ideas that are generated will be formed into testable solutions.

4. Implement
This stage involves communicating the chosen solution(s) value and overcoming preexisting biases.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
When you think of creativity, job titles such as graphic designer or marketer may come to mind. Yet, creativity and innovation are important across all industries because business challenges require inventive solutions.

Here's an overview of creativity's importance in business, how it pairs with design thinking, and how to encourage it in the workplace.

Why Is Creativity Important?

Creativity serves several purposes. It not only combats stagnation but facilitates growth and innovation. Here are five reasons why creativity is important in business.

1. It Accompanies Innovation

For something to be innovative, there are two requirements: It must be novel and useful. While creativity is crucial to generate ideas that are both unique and original, they're not always inherently useful. Innovative solutions can't exist, however, without a component of creativity.

2. It Increases Productivity

Creativity gives you the space to work smarter instead of harder, which can increase productivity and combat stagnation in the workplace. Routine and structure are incredibly important but shouldn't be implemented at the expense of improvement and growth. When a creative and innovative environment is established, a business's productivity level can spike upward.

3. It Allows for Adaptability

Sometimes events-both internal and external-can disrupt an organization's structure. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically changed how the present-day business world functions. In such instances, imaginative thinking and innovation are critical to maintaining business operations.

Creatively approaching challenges requires adaptability but doesn't always necessitate significantly adjusting your business model. For example, you might develop a new product or service or slightly modify the structure of your operations to improve efficiency. Big problems don't always require big solutions, so don't reject an idea because it doesn't match a problem's scale.

Change is inevitable in the business world, and creative solutions are vital to adapting to it.

4. It's Necessary for Growth

One of the main hindrances to a business's growth is cognitive fixedness, or the idea that there's only one way to interpret or approach a situation or challenge.

Cognitive fixedness is an easy trap to fall into, as it can be tempting to approach every situation similar to how you have in the past. But every situation is different.

If a business's leaders don't take the time to clearly understand the circumstances they face, encourage creative thinking, and act on findings, their company can stagnate-one of the biggest barriers to growth.

5. It's an In-Demand Skill

Creativity and innovation are skills commonly sought after in top industries, including health care and manufacturing. This is largely because every industry has complex challenges that require creative solutions.

Learning skills such as design thinking and creative problem-solving can help job seekers set themselves apart when applying to roles.

Creativity and Design Thinking

While creativity is highly important in business, it's an abstract process that works best with a concrete structure. This is where design thinking comes into play.

Design thinking-a concept gaining popularity in the business world-is a solutions-based process that ventures between the concrete and abstract. Creativity and innovation are key to the design thinking process.

In Harvard Business School Dean Srikant Datar's course Design Thinking and Innovation, the process is broken down into four iterative stages:

Clarify: In this stage, observation and empathy are critical. Observations can be either concrete and based on metrics and facts or abstract and gleaned from understanding and empathy. The goal during this stage is to gain an understanding of the situation and individuals impacted.

Ideate: The ideation stage is abstract and involves creativity and idea generation. Creativity is a major focus, as the ideation phase provides the freedom to brainstorm and think through solutions.

Develop: The development phase is a concrete stage that involves experimentation and trial and error. Critiquing and prototyping are important because the ideas generated from the ideation stage are formed into testable solutions.

Implement: The fourth stage is solution implementation. This involves communicating the solution's value and overcoming preexisting biases.

The value of design thinking is that it connects creativity and routine structure by encouraging using both the operational and innovation worlds. But what are these worlds, and how do they interact?

The Operational World

The operational world is the concrete, structured side of business. This world focuses on improving key metrics and achieving results. Those results are typically achieved through routine, structure, and decision-making.

The operational world has many analytical tools needed for the functional side of business, but not the innovative side. Furthermore, creativity and curiosity are typically valued less than in the innovation world. Employees who initiate unsuccessful, risky endeavors are more likely to be reprimanded than promoted.

The Innovation World

The innovation world requires curiosity, speculation, creativity, and experimentation. This world is important for a company's growth and can bring about the aforementioned benefits of creativity in business.

This world focuses more on open-ended thinking and exploration rather than a company's functional side. Although risky endeavors are encouraged, there's little structure to ensure a business runs efficiently and successfully.

Connecting the Two Worlds

Although the operational world and innovation world are equally important to a business's success, they're separate. Business leaders must be ambidextrous when navigating between them and provide environments for each to flourish.

Creativity should be encouraged and innovation fostered, but never at the expense of a business's functionality. The design thinking process is an excellent way to leverage both worlds and provides an environment for each to succeed.

Since the design thinking process moves between the concrete and abstract, it navigates the tension between operations and innovation. Remember: The operational world is the implementation of the innovative world, and innovation can often be inspired by observations from the operational world.

How to Encourage Creativity and Innovation

If you want to facilitate an innovative workplace, here are seven tips for encouraging creativity.

1. Don't Be Afraid to Take Risks

Creativity often entails moving past your comfort zone. While you don't want to take risks that could potentially cripple your business, risk-taking is a necessary ingredient of innovation and growth. Therefore, providing an environment where it's encouraged can be highly beneficial.

2. Don't Punish Failure

Provide your team with the freedom to innovate without fear of reprisal if their ideas don't work. Some of the best innovations in history were the product of many failures. View failure as an opportunity to learn and improve for the future rather than defeat.

3. Provide the Resources Necessary to Innovate

While it can be tempting to simply tell your team to innovate, creativity is more than just a state of mind. If your colleagues have the opportunity to be creative, you need to provide the resources to promote innovation. Whether that entails a financial investment, tools, or training materials, it's in your best interest to invest in your team to produce innovative results.

4. Don't Try to Measure Results Too Quickly

If an innovative idea doesn't produce desirable results within a few months, you may consider discarding it entirely. Doing so could result in a lost opportunity because some ideas take longer to yield positive outcomes.

Patience is an important element of creativity, so don't try to measure results too quickly. Give your team the freedom to improve and experiment without the pressure of strict time constraints.

5. Maintain an Open Mind

One of the most important components of an environment that fosters creativity and innovation is keeping an open mind. Innovation requires constantly working against your biases. Continually ask questions, be open to the answers you receive, and don't require fully conceptualized ideas before proceeding with innovation.

6. Foster Collaboration

Collaborative environments are vital for innovation. When teams work together in pursuit of a common goal, innovation flourishes. To achieve this, ensure everyone has a voice. One way to do so is by hosting brainstorming sessions where each member contributes and shares ideas.

7. Encourage Diversity

Diversity fosters creativity and combats groupthink, as each individual brings a unique outlook to the table. Consider forming teams with members from different cultural backgrounds who haven't previously worked together. Getting people to step outside their comfort zones is an effective way to encourage innovation.

Learning to Be Creative in Business

Creativity and innovation are immensely important skills whether you're a job seeker, employer, or aspiring entrepreneur.

Want to learn more about design thinking? Start by finding fellow professionals willing to discuss and debate solutions using its framework. Take advantage of these interactions to consider how you can best leverage design thinking and devise different approaches to business challenges.

This exposure to real-world scenarios is crucial to deciding whether learning about design thinking is right for you. Another option is to take an online course to learn about design thinking with like-minded peers.
If you're ready to take your innovation skills to the next level, explore our online course Design Thinking and Innovation, one of our online entrepreneurship and innovation courses. If you aren't sure which course is the right fit, download our free course flowchart to determine which best aligns with your goals.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
The Importance of Creativity in Business | HBS Online

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
When you think of creativity, job titles such as graphic designer or marketer may come to mind. Yet, creativity and innovation are important across all industries because business challenges require inventive solutions. Here's an overview of creativity's importance in business, how it pairs with design thinking, and how to encourage it in the workplace.