How to Have Better Ideas at Work

Posted December 3, 2018

Brainstorming sessions with your clients or virtual assistance colleagues can be extremely challenging. Not only do you have to overcome the hurdle of getting somebody to speak up first, it is also arguably more difficult to bounce ideas off of each other when you’re not talking face to face.

However, trying as they are, brainstorming sessions can really result in excellent ideas that can help improve your client’s business, and they are always part of a growing company. To help you, your colleagues, and your clients have more effective brainstorming sessions and generate better ideas, here are some tips you can follow.

Don’t be afraid to speak your mind.

They say that any idea, no matter how absurd, is always good to toss around in a brainstorming session. After all, each idea thrown out can be the catalyst to another much better idea from someone else. Don’t hesitate to speak your mind just because you think that your idea is stupid.

Make a “there are no stupid ideas” rule.

In line with the tip above, you should always start meetings with the premise that “there are no stupid ideas” or that “all ideas are welcome”. This atmosphere will encourage more people to speak up. Also, when your idea is turned down, don’t take it personally! Brush it off and offer a new one.

Look at what your competitors are doing.

Scoping out the competition is always important when it comes to coming up with better ideas. Aside from helping you avoid strategies that have already failed your competitors before, you can also see what ideas of theirs you can adapt and improve on. Be careful not to copy their ideas though! Always make them different enough to be counted as your own.

Read up.

Reading can really help get your creative juices flowing, and your reading material doesn’t even have to be strictly related to your work. Lots of people get work ideas from reading fiction, poetry, or even travel and lifestyle magazines! Don’t limit your sources of knowledge and you’ll find yourself opening up to more ways to enhance your creativity.

Change your atmosphere.

As a home based virtual assistant with a pretty comfortable workstation at home already set up, you might be reluctant to change your work atmosphere. However, working at a cafe or coworking space can really help your creativity when you’re stuck in a rut.

Talk to more people outside work.

Talking to other people can really help stimulate your creativity. But if you’re talking with the same people you work with all the time, you might find that all your ideas are going stale. Try to talk to friends and family members about your work every now and then and see if they have any useful input. You might just find a gem of an idea in one of your friends’ advice.

When you’re feeling like you’re running out of ideas at your remote staffing job, try to follow one or more of these tips. Who knows? They just might help you come up with your next great idea!