Take action: How to form teams to innovate

Recruit 300 employees for a new 100-bed facility in 30 days. That’s the challenge the United Nations presented the International Rescue Committee earlier this year following the Ebola outbreak in West Africa. And at this month’s Career Development Roundtable in Oslo, Norway, Allan Freedman asked participants to gather in groups and brainstorm strategy to tackle the same challenge — encouraging each team to develop the maximum number of ideas without editing or censoring. Quick response to a humanitarian crisis requires an innovative team that can immediately identify what competencies are required and put them into action, according to Freedman, who advises IRC on public-private partnerships and innovation. And if the United Nations comes back seeking a more nimble response to the outbreak — one that involves smaller and more numerous treatment units with fewer beds — teams have to be able to adapt just as quickly, he noted. Here are six key tips for building innovative teams to solve global development challenges: 1. Prototype early. By “getting to the doing,” you will get an immediate answer on whether your ideas work or not, Freedman said. And if you fail – move on. Get out of the thinking box and try your ideas, he added; it’s more efficient than spending time on lengthy assessments. 2. Embrace diversity in the workplace. Diversity, in this situation, means diversity of experience and context. The idea is to identify and use all of a team’s combined assets to be able to create innovative solutions. A team leader has to know the assets of each team member and make good use of them. “We often dismiss people who can provide the most interesting solutions,” Freedman said. Freedman pointed to a meeting he attended at Ikea, where one of the presenters was a professional dancer who showed how people physically interact with the items in their homes. While Freedman admitted he was skeptical at first, “she was incredibly professional, and at the end of the day was one of the most interesting people in the room.” 3. Build networks and partnerships. Organizations get many of their better ideas from outside their agency through what Freedman described as an “innovation funnel,” where ideas flow from members and partners. “Think about who you want to partner with: Who can add value to what you do?” he asked, citing an experience IRC had in Nigeria, where a local partner was able to come up with a successful solution after a procurement failed. 4. Learn the procedures and make them work for you. Rules and red tape can restrain creativity and lead to idleness or a “cowboy model” where rules aren’t respected. The trick is to make procedures work for you. If people understand the network and the rules, they will come up with solutions and get things done, Freedman said. And if the rules aren’t right, leadership should be open to suggested changes. 5. Consider the timing. The time to put innovative ideas into action isn’t necessarily right now. Take small steps to improve your organization. “You don’t want to bring ideas of innovation into a destructive environment,” Freedman said. “An ongoing humanitarian crisis is a bad occasion for innovation.” Instead, look at you internal process and slowly make improvements. 6. Be adaptable and flexible. Maybe you’ve created your innovative team and come up with a great idea to be put into practice. But a change of conditions might mean your solution doesn’t fit the purpose anymore. After the initial request by the United Nations to IRC to set up the treatment facility to care for Ebola victims, the idea of the 100 beds was quickly dropped in favor of a solution that involved a smaller and mobile treatment facility using resources available onsite. To avoid frustration, it’s important to remain flexible and quickly adapt to new realities, Freedman said. An innovation culture based on “try, fail and move on” requires a supportive environment that steps away from a perfection culture. “Being flexible, creating truly diverse teams and prototyping early — these are all practices that will help better respond to the people we serve,” Freedman said. Ideas have little value until they’re translated into action. So, the quality of global development institution not its ability to come up with great ideas — it’s about taking action. How is your organization supporting innovation in the workplace? Let us know by leaving a comment below. Whether you’re a seasoned expert or budding development professional — check out more news, analysis and advice online to guide your career and professional development, and subscribe to Doing Good to receive top international development career and recruitment news every week.