Innovation is now the key to the successful development and prosperity of any business. Ergonomics is no exception.
In the dynamic 21st century world, businesses need to exploit new ideas and embrace change to flourish.
Innovation in Ergonomics: The Key to Success
Innovation in ergonomics seeks to do just that, to flourish. If we don’t look ahead, we can’t improve the services we offer and the comfort we aim to help people achieve.
The core drive in ergonomics is to solve a wide range of workplace issues that cause pain and discomfort, reduce productivity, lower quality of work, and trigger job dissatisfaction.
This diverse set of problems has an even broader range of potential solutions, ranging from providing a simple footrest to designing a complex industrial workstation.
The role of innovation in ergonomics is twofold; it creates more effective solutions and a deeper understanding of the problems.
The latest innovative research and tech has astounding potential to reduce costs while optimizing performance and comfort.
From designing a new ergonomic product to developing a new app promoting micro breaks, honing new assessment methods to engaging your clients in new ways.
At EWI Works, innovation has led to the development of the internet’s leading ergonomics apps, ergonomics and wellness blog, and free tools like our break reminder.
In any case, there are two main contributors to the effectiveness of any prosperous initiative: the innovative idea and the ongoing innovation culture in the organization.
Innovative Ideas
Innovation starts with creativity, in essence coming up with ideas to do things better. If there is no great new idea to drive innovation, nothing is going to change.
So do good ideas just happen? Definitely not! Do we have to employ experts and creative individuals to help us find new ideas in every situation?! Absolutely not!
Firstly, no one is as informed about our work and the challenges and opportunities it brings as ourselves. And secondly, we all have enough creativity inside us to come up with brilliant ideas; we just have to activate our inner innovative self!
So here are 10 general tips and techniques for boosting our innovation and start making change happen:
1.Start looking at the same problems/situations from new perspectives.
2. Don’t focus on repeating the same process; look at different scenarios in tackling the situation.
3. Get as much information as possible regarding the details of the case you are trying to innovate.
4. Take advantage of other people’s input on issues you are trying to solve.
5. Don’t look for the perfect answer from beginning. Look for as many answers as possible; the perfect one will stand out!
6. Start with the ideal solution/product/design; reverse engineer it to get to the idea.
7. Practice being creative by challenging your way of doing everyday things.
8. Do not rush implementing your ideas! Sit on your ideas until they are matured.
9. Think outside the box. Imagine there are no limitations when coming up with ideas; you will rationalize them later.
10. Trick your brain into believing that there has to be a better way. There almost always is!
A Culture of Innovation
Even if you have lots of great ideas but there is no fitting innovation culture, chances are things are not going to change much!
An organization’s attitude towards implementing change has a major impact on the success of any innovation program. These tips will help promote innovation culture in your organization as a team manager:
1.Be a risk taker! If you don’t get used to trying new things you will never know if what you are doing can be improved! Also keep in mind that taking risks keeps getting easier after the first couple of times. Flexibility is the key!
2. Allocate time and money for innovation and stop seeing it as a waste! The outputs will surprise you; you just need to be patient!
3. Do not wait for problems to start innovation, rethink the way you do everyday things and try to improve them.
4. Everyone in your team should believe in their ability to innovate. It’s not one person’s responsibility.
5. Spend time once in a while with your team to brainstorm on new ideas. Make it a fun experience too!
6. Ask everyone for their ideas, no matter their pay grade or job title!
7. Spend time frequently with every member of your team asking them about how they think their job can be made easier. (This will get you much more than innovation!)
8.Encourage learning among your team. Learning drives innovation!
9.Make innovation an ongoing endeavour in your organization, not a temporary undertaking.
10.Promote the culture of seeing every problem as an opportunity to improve.
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