Freelancers get more ideas

The following text was also published in Entré No 4, 2013:

A good manager encourages risk-taking and initiative, which leads to innovative staff and more exciting ideas. If there is also a supportive organization to lean on, things get even better. This is according to Leif Denti, who researches the innovative capacity of development and research environments that specifically work to produce new patents.

– I have been in different organizations within Volvo Cars and Trucks, and other companies such as Stora Enso and ABB. I’ve looked at how leaders influence the innovative capacity of their staff. What influence does the attitude of the manager or project leader have?

Leif Denti believes that it is in these types of heavy industrial companies that Swedish innovation capacity is found. It is therefore important to define the factors that influence it. “The working relationship between the manager and the employee is important. It should be something more than just the manager making sure there is money in the paycheck. Denti’s research shows that if the quality of the working relationship is higher, the results are better.

– A higher quality of the relationship is found to benefit especially those who are already initiators. Employees who are initiators produced more innovations. They produced more products, patents, research publications and white papers. Having a supportive leader was also found to be positive for initiative.

A quality working relationship is based on respect and mutual commitment to what you will achieve together.

– It means that managers trust their employees and give them more responsibility. Staff respond more enthusiastically and put in extra time and energy. Innovations are created by real people, who want to drive ideas and start projects.

– It’s important that you have the backing of your boss, that your boss trusts that you can implement your ideas. Trust turns out to be especially important in high-quality relationships,” says Denti.

In other words, he argues that the manager/employee relationship needs to be deepened in order for the workplace to become more innovative.

– The manager needs to say that it is okay to make mistakes and to take some risks: “I trust you to get this done!” What happens then is that the employee responds by trying harder. That is the essence of the relationship. When the manager has this higher level of working relationship with their employee, the employee is more likely to take initiative. More ideas get implemented.

According to Denti, an improved working relationship not only affects the innovation process, but has many more positive effects.

– On the one hand, people are more engaged at work, and on the other, they feel more like citizens of the organization. This makes them more loyal and leads to less staff turnover.

These highly educated people want to figure out how to solve their tasks themselves. Without the opportunity to take their own initiatives in the organization, they quickly get bored and think: “There’s no point in trying to change anything here, so I’ll just do what I’m told.”

– It is devastating for an organization when people start thinking like that, especially in terms of innovation. A manager who wants to increase the quality of the working relationship must take the first step.

Good managers are those who actually make the effort to create this high quality in their working relationships.

– It’s not about making friends with your employees, but about building trust. Giving employees responsibility, respecting them and allowing them to fail. Standing behind them and giving them encouragement without being too controlling. A good manager supports when needed and makes sure the goal is achieved, without telling them how to do the work.

In order for the manager to do this, a supportive organization is also needed to lean on.

– If the organization supports innovation, the link between leadership and initiative becomes stronger.

The organization does this best through encouragement, resources and freedom. When the development team is given a high degree of freedom, innovation increases.

– “My research shows that both individuals and project teams who were encouraged to solve their own problems and tasks, based on what they themselves thought was reasonable, became more innovative,” says Leif Denti.

Easily accessible information is an important resource for the innovation process. Information can include technical specifications, white papers and documentation that are accessible on, for example, an intranet.

– Resources are not only about time and money, but also about information. If you don’t know how to patent a particular technology, a patent expert you can call is a very good resource.

– The third way is to encourage innovation, both in words and in actions. Saying you want innovation sends a clear signal to staff. But you also need to encourage it in action, for example by introducing an innovation policy or recruiting people who are recognized as innovative.

Of course, there are a lot of pitfalls too.

– Bad leaders are very good at limiting the freedom of their employees. They micromanage, for example. They don’t do this to be mean, they might just be very interested in the project and can’t keep their hands off it. But it blocks employees’ creativity.

Some managers ‘give up’ their project management responsibilities and make themselves unavailable. When the project manager is not present, employees often become frustrated – and motivation drops.

– Project managers who neglect their project management responsibilities often have a one-way communication with the project team. They are keen to get information, but without telling the project team what the situation is.

Thus, a good manager in a supportive organization are key ingredients for creating an innovative work environment. Policy documents that encourage self-initiative can also be helpful.

– A good manager understands the need to have, and follow, policy documents. They are also important for the organization to be clear about what it is that applies when it comes to risk-taking and transparency. That you have a policy that lets everyone have their say. Then, of course, it is up to the manager to ensure that it is followed.

Leif Denti sees that there is a lot of initiative in our Swedish companies, but he believes that we can be better at utilizing it.

– We need to remove barriers and bureaucracy. Swedish companies have a lot to gain by reviewing their procedures. I think we are bursting with good ideas. We just need to make sure that those who dare to take risks are rewarded.

Contact leif.denti@gu.se

How managers create innovation space

Encourage. In an environment where reasonable risks and new proposals are encouraged, innovations are more likely to emerge.

Make resources visible. Where documentation, expert assistance and technical specifications are readily available during development, work proceeds smoothly. This also facilitates the innovation process.

Give freedom. When people are given a high degree of freedom to make their own decisions, innovation increases. Having the opportunity to find your own solutions to a problem increases creativity.