Team Creativity: The individual strengths of Solari Creative’s team have been one of the most critical factors to our continued long-term success.

Many of us have the tendency to take a project from start to finish without ever asking for outside help or opinions. But what happens when you run into a creative roadblock or encounter an area that you’re unfamiliar with? That’s when relying on your team becomes essential.

A person working on their own isn’t likely to have all the answers needed to solve a complex problem. One of the greatest joys I’ve found while working with our employees is learning about different approaches to problem solving. Sometimes I can be so stuck on a particular issue that I completely forget that there might be an alternate solution. I realize that everyone is unique and comes with a different skillset, background and experience. These are the people who can help me get past my roadblock and see things from a different angle. When all our team members excel in their own roles, our chance of success is that much greater.

One thing I’ve learned while building our team is that you shouldn’t simply surround yourself with individuals who agree with you. Being challenged on decisions forces me to think about solutions in a different or unexpected way. Respectful disagreement frequently pushes our company forward and helps us evolve as a whole.

Empower your employees…

During our hiring process, we frequently make it known that we’re looking for people who are able to self-manage. What I mean by that is hiring people who can take the bull by the horns and make their own decisions without a lot of top-down micro-management.

Giving an employee autonomy over a project and relinquishing control sometimes requires a leap of faith. That employee might not get to the conclusion the same way you would have but the results are frequently the same or better.

When dealing with a new client I always make sure that the individual with the most experience in that particular area is involved in the meetings. I try to include the same employee in the decision-making process as much as possible along the way which frequently results in the opening of additional areas of work that I might have never thought of.

When we empower our employees, we are recognizing their individual abilities and skills. When people know they’re respected and valued, morale and productivity increase.

Treat employees like they make a difference and they will…

Behind every genius is a team. Even Elon Musk doesn’t manage the day-to-day activities of his numerous endeavors. He has people with much more knowledgeable than him that do it.

Everyone has different strengths and knowing that you can count on your team to fill in the gaps, helps to reduce stress and minimize production headaches. For example, writing a comprehensive proposal requires research, analytical skills, writing ability, accounting and subject matter expert input from each of our creative areas. No team member is going to be strong in each of these categories. As such, relying on the strengths of others creates a cohesive approach to this type of group work.

Even in the unlikely event that something goes wrong on a project, instead of pointing fingers, we encourage the team to think about the errors in a constructive way to avoid it happening again in the future.

Conclusion…

Our team at Solari Creative continues to complement leadership’s strengths and make up for our weaknesses. We all have our built-in blind spots. Recognizing that we may not always have the best solution is a sign of leadership, not failure. Opening up complex problems to our team boosts creativity and enhances our chances of success.

Within Solari, we strive to create a culture of appreciation and capitalize on everyone’s strengths, perspectives and contributions by frequently calling out their individual achievements. Showing appreciation for work well done makes it more likely that he or she will do it again. It also lets our team know that their expertise and contributions are the single greatest factor that enabled Solari Creative get to where we are today.