8 Ways To Foster Creativity in the Workplace

As businesses increasingly rely on technology, one thing remains clear: there’s no substitute for good old-fashioned human creativity. Artificial intelligence and other tools may improve efficiency, but they’re not coming up with truly out-of-the-box inventions and solutions anytime soon.

It’s no surprise, then, that more employers are actively nurturing creativity in the workplace. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Jobs report, creative thinking is the number one “skill on the rise,” with 73% of businesses believing its value is growing.

Of course, promoting creativity isn’t as simple as putting a blank piece of paper in front of your team and telling them to start brainstorming. To help your employees flex their imagination, you’ll need the right mindset and activities to cultivate it. Read on to learn how to foster creativity in the workplace. 🧠

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1. Manifest goals with a vision board

Vision boards are a great way to picture personal or professional goals and envision different pathways to achieving them.

Our engaging Vision Board Workshop involves two steps to encourage creative thinking. First, your team members will reflect on their dreams and goals through guided meditation and journaling. This activity helps them open their minds to new possibilities and visualize what they want to accomplish.

Once everyone has identified their goals, it’s time for the fun part: creating a vision board. Participants can sketch, collage images, or add inspirational quotes — anything goes when visualizing your future.

For example, an aspiring team leader might collage motivational phrases and photos representing their core values. Meanwhile, someone looking to improve their communication skills could add books on public speaking and images of resources they plan to use.

This low-stakes activity boosts creativity by inviting participants to design a visual roadmap of their future. Who knows? As they create their boards, your team may come up with fresh ways to address challenges or discover new opportunities for personal growth.

How to get started 👉 Channel your team's imagination in a Vision Board Workshop!

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2. Let loose with an art class

Allow participants to express themselves and explore new perspectives. Plus, an art workshop can shake up the daily routine and help your team overcome creative ruts.

Are you looking to tap into your team’s visual imagination? Our Painting Class might be exactly what you need. An experienced instructor will introduce basic painting techniques and guide participants as they create their own acrylic or watercolor masterpieces. Whether they’re painting an adorable cat or a moody cityscape, everyone will get their creative juices flowing.

Or maybe your team craves something a little more adventurous. Why not try a Wood Burning Class? Participants will stretch their creative muscles as they burn custom designs onto wooden coasters. The best part? When they’re done, they’ll have all the supplies they need to keep wood burning on their own.

Art workshops encourage your team members to step outside their comfort zones and experiment with new techniques. These sessions can also give participants more confidence and help them get comfortable taking risks — two vital aspects of creative thinking.

How to get started 👉 Unleash your team's inner Picasso with a hands-on art session!

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3. Harmonize with a songwriting workshop

When it comes to stimulating innovative thinking, nothing beats the power of music. According to a 2023 study, listening to background music can significantly improve creativity and cognitive processing.

In our Songwriting Lab, participants will collaborate with a professional musician to design every part of an original song, from the lyrics to the melody. Don’t worry — no musical experience is required to contribute! At the end, everyone will enjoy a live performance of their collective creation.

Songwriting is a fun and unconventional way to strengthen creativity and problem-solving skills. Plus, it’s an excellent bonding activity to help your team practice collaborating effectively.

How to get started 👉 Take your team's creativity to the next level with a Songwriting Lab!

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4. Organize regular brainstorming sessions

Brainstorming is a classic creative exercise, and for good reason. This activity helps your team quickly generate new ideas and innovative solutions. According to a 2021 study, brainstorming can also improve abstract reasoning and cognitive flexibility, which makes it easier for people to think critically about challenges.

Make time for regular brainstorming sessions to keep the ideas flowing and proactively tackle challenges. For example, you could invite your team to brainstorm new products or pitch their dream partnerships. Encourage participants to consider every idea from multiple angles and build on each other’s contributions.

For the most productive sessions, consider beginning with anonymous brainstorming. Allow participants to submit their ideas on a piece of paper or digitally, then explore each one without names. This approach can reduce the risk of bias and give quieter team members a chance to share their thoughts freely.

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5. Play improv games

Improv games are all about thinking on your feet and adapting to the unexpected. They’re the ultimate creativity booster, challenging participants to come up with spontaneous responses on the spot. Plus, their fast-paced nature can help participants make mistakes and take more creative risks.

Here are a few of our favorite improv exercises:

Best of times, worst of times 🎭

This game encourages players to test their emotional range and strengthen their creative storytelling abilities. The concept is simple: participants act out the same scene twice — once as a happy best-case scenario and then again as a catastrophic worst-case scenario. For instance, players could imagine a best-case and worst-case first date or job interview.

Scenes from a hat 🧢

This activity is inspired by the popular TV show Whose Line Is It Anyway? The audience writes down scenarios, such as “worst excuses when you’re late for work” or “things you can say to your friend but not your client.” Players choose a prompt at random and act them out. For an extra creative challenge, participants could act out several scenes in quick succession.

Silent scene 🤫

Players perform a scene without any dialogue or sounds. For example, they might pretend to compete in a baking competition or play with an imaginary pet. Audience members can guess what’s happening or just sit back and enjoy the show. Along with fostering creativity, this activity is a fantastic way to build nonverbal communication skills.

How to get started 👉 Encourage your team to shake off their inhibitions in Think Faster!

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6. Make space for deep thinking

Most people can’t come up with brilliant ideas with the snap of their fingers — especially when they’re rushing to a meeting or stressed about a looming deadline. Add in everyday distractions like emails and social media, and you’ve got a recipe for stifled creativity.

Overcome these obstacles by encouraging your team to carve out a few hours a week for deep thinking. During these sessions, they should minimize interruptions and focus on developing novel ideas. This strategy can help them clear their minds and come up with innovative solutions that might not emerge otherwise.

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7. Create opportunities for collaboration across departments

We often celebrate lone innovators — think Steve Jobs or Marie Curie — but collaboration also leads to groundbreaking ideas.

Invite people from different departments to participate in a virtual Escape Quest. They’ll work together to solve puzzles and piece together hidden clues. With the clock ticking, participants will need quick thinking and creative problem-solving skills to escape. This thrilling activity teaches teams how to approach challenges from different perspectives and collaborate under pressure.

Traitorous Trivia is another exhilarating collaborative game. Two participants are secretly chosen as traitors who know all the correct answers. Their goal? To persuade the other players to pick the wrong answers without revealing themselves. This game allows the traitors to practice creative storytelling while the rest of the group sharpens their analytical thinking abilities.

How to get started 👉 Foster collaborative creativity with a Virtual Escape Quest!

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8. Embrace the risk of failure

Everyone likes to imagine that their ideas will become wild successes. But according to Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen, 95% of new products fail — including many launched by top companies. To encourage creativity, you’ll need to help your team get comfortable with the idea of failure.

Start by making risk-taking an essential part of your company culture. Allow employees to experiment with different approaches and ideas, even if they seem unconventional or implausible. This bold strategy can unlock innovations that you might miss by sticking to the surest bets and safest paths.

Failures can provide valuable learning opportunities, too. Invite your team to analyze setbacks and discuss what went wrong. For example, a marketing campaign may have had a low return on investment because your team misunderstood your target audience’s needs. Based on this insight, you can research your customers more thoroughly and create more effective campaigns in the future.

This reflection process will help you identify areas for improvement and celebrate your strengths. It can also improve your team’s resilience and motivate them to keep innovating, even if some projects are flops.

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Get inspired with virtual creativity-building activities with Confetti 🎨

Your team might not be able to gather in person for brainstorming sessions, but that doesn’t mean you can’t nurture creativity in the workplace. Our exercises are designed to ignite your team’s creativity and help them build confidence in their ideas.

Ready to get started? Explore our collection of energizing and fun creative activities. Whether you’re looking for an immersive art session or a fun songwriting lab, we’ve got exactly what you need to unleash your creativity.