Bridging Creativity and Productivity in the Modern Workplace

It’s traditionally common to view creativity and productivity as two concepts that sit on opposing ends of the spectrum.

When creativity is mentioned, we tend to think of art, literature, and other creative works that have been lovingly created over time.

On the other hand, productivity conjures up images of the fast and efficient production of goods on an assembly line or factory floor.

A Modern Take on Things

However, in the modern workplace, there is a slightly different take on these two concepts, though they are still often seen as being mutually exclusive.

In traditional business operations, firms are usually limited to choosing one over the other. But in the increasingly competitive landscape of modern business, companies can no longer afford to focus on only one of the two.

 

A company that promotes a culture of creativity accesses the full capacity of its workers, from imagination to engagement. Those qualities have always been valuable, but in today’s business environment, they’re critical.

Gallup Workplace Article, 2018

Although embracing creativity and productivity at the same time may be a challenge, there are solutions that can help companies achieve this.

The answer lies in striking the right balance between creativity and productivity. When working on a project, it will be helpful to break down the required tasks into smaller individual bite-sized chunks and identify which of the two aspects each task requires.

For tasks involving creativity, flex your creative muscles by scheduling time to do some creative thinking. It can be 10 to 20 minutes or even up to a few hours, stimulate your creativity by engaging in activities that can inspire you to brainstorm new ideas and gain fresh perspectives.

While for tasks that require productivity, itemise the requirements and parameters that you need to meet. And set up a workflow so that you can chart out the entire process. This will allow you to optimise the task for greater efficiency.

The Best of Both Worlds

But as with most business challenges, technology can provide solutions that allow us to effectively utilise both creativity and productivity.

One such example is Microsoft’s Modern Workplace, a new way of working that uses the latest cloud-based tools and services from Microsoft 365. The innovative solution provides seamless integration and systems agility, with the capability to evolve in the face of changing business conditions.

Bridging Creativity and Productivity

While many organisations are already taking advantage of M365 Office for more robust communications via applications such as Outlook or Teams, most have not unlocked the full potential of the powerful platform.

Indeed, many businesses have yet to discover the powerful content, collaboration, and automation tools that are part of the overall Modern Workplace tool set. Nor have they leveraged the full potential of the IT management, IT automation, and security applications that are available.

The powerful collaboration applications and services in Modern Workplace can enhance both productivity and creativity for organisations of all sizes by:

Interconnecting your organisation

Enabling remote work

Increasing employee engagement

Efficient work management

Automating business processes and workflows

Empowering employees with data-informed insights.

Focus on Forward

Microsoft’s Modern Workplace empowers you to propel your business into an exciting new future by improving the balance between employee creativity and productivity.

Through our technology partnership with Microsoft, Ricoh has been helping businesses like yours strike a balance between creativity and productivity with Modern Workplace.

As always, our aim is to simplify tasks and amplify positive outcomes, so that you can focus on what matters most—keeping your customers happy and your business profitable.