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Ideas drive innovation, and in today’s largely hybrid workplace, the ability to share ideas freely across an organization is paramount. Considering the technology and collaboration tools at our disposal, sharing should be easy, but too often, communication barriers, physical disconnects and organizational chaos lead to tangled threads. And when employees don’t feel like their contributions and opinions count, it leads to disengagement.
The good news is there are ways to circumvent these problems.
How Ideas Wither — and What to Do About It
Hybrid working environments can be challenging to share ideas. This is largely due to the fact that in-person employees and those working remotely often face inequities in how they relay information, which can lead to idea loss.
In-office workers have the obvious advantage of being able to collaborate and speak freely with others in the room or office with them.
“We're used to brainstorming in person, and we've always relied on human contact to create trust, commitment and interpersonal bonding,” said Sherazad Adib, senior director of corporate engagement at Catalyst.
Similarly, she said, those participating in meetings virtually may find it easier to disengage than to actively participate. “In virtual mode, it's not unusual to see people keeping their cameras closed or remaining silent. Reactions are also more difficult to interpret.”
That’s not to say remote workers don’t have advantages, said Jim Kalbach, chief evangelist at Mural.
“Sometimes they have more power because they can access the internet and resources more easily,” he said. “They can chat with one another virtually, during meetings, and those in the room speaking might miss it.”
Instead, the disengagement may be caused by a lack of motivation to share, which in turn stems from the overall disconnection that many employees feel toward their organizations. Recent research has shown that just 34% of employees say they feel connected to their company’s purpose and mission. And another report found that employees who don’t feel they’re receiving recognition for ideas and contributions are less likely to work hard.
Kalbach also pointed to another potential roadblock: hierarchical corporate cultures. “The loudest person in the room dominates. While they might ask for everyone’s opinion, they don’t actually want it,” he said.
Finally, there’s the impact of fear. According to a study by McKinsey, fear of criticism was the third biggest hurdle to innovation among companies surveyed. Only 11% of companies with “high-fear cultures” are leading innovators versus 58% of companies with “low-fear cultures.”
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Creating Digital Shared Spaces
To keep ideas alive in a hybrid setting, Kalbach recommends recommitting to digital collaboration by creating shared digital spaces.
“To make it equitable for [in-office employees] and remote ones, we all need to be represented digitally,” Kalbach said. “We can’t ditch digital tools. We still have to think about how we show up digitally even if we’re in person.”
While there are plenty of collaboration tools available to enable real-time collaboration and ideation, and even specific idea management software platforms, Kalbach said it’s not necessarily about what you use. The key, he said, is to level-set ahead of time.
“We need to determine the mechanics of how we will share, whether you use Mural, Powerpoint, Google Sheets or even just put ideas in a chat box,” Kalbach said. “You need to set that up so people not only feel empowered to share their ideas but have a way to actually do so. A lot of people have no plan on how to collect those ideas.”
There’s also plenty of next-generation technology that show promise in improving idea-sharing. AI meeting assistants, for instance, can enable the timely collection of ideas, and performance tracking tools can encourage those who haven’t spoken up to add to the conversation (while warning the oversharers against it).
However, Adib warned against an overreliance on technology to fix problems.
“Digital tools are a means that can enable us to create greater efficiency and obtain better information,” she said. “But the human connections that underpin collaboration and the exchange of ideas cannot yet be generated by technology but by a work culture that values people in all their diversity, experience and potential.”
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Building a Sharing Culture
Rethinking team dynamics and encouraging inclusive leadership can clear the way for an environment of trust and openness, which promotes the exchange of the ideas, Adib said.
While it might seem like a pedestrian exercise, Kalbach said that simply starting off meetings with ice-breakers (or warm ups) can create psychological safety and set the stage for improved idea-sharing.
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In fact, the McKinsey study found that top innovators typically establish routines and rituals that encourage and uphold experimentation. One executive surveyed said that when an idea is shared, the next five comments should “be supportive and build on it.”
Adib highlighted the importance of having solid leaders who can “engage and value employees, so that they can collaborate better and put their ideas to good use.” This includes reevaluating biases toward ideas from higher-ranking employees and ensuring individual contributors receive fair judgment of their ideas.
Being virtual shouldn’t hinder idea sharing, she said. “The virtual way of working is no more complicated or less effective for generating and exchanging ideas, but it does have its own way of working and requires more effort to create a working environment that encourages commitment and the sharing of ideas."
“In a way, the virtual mode pushes us to become more inclusive,” she said.
