As organizations across the country went virtual with the pandemic, work and collaboration continued but often in very different and innovative ways. Team meetings went online, and eventually people went on video! Workshops required new facilitation techniques and new technology to support “break out” sessions. Remote happy hours and interactive Kahoots made work more fun, even at a time when we could not see colleagues in person for extended periods.

The Government is just one of the organizations that fundamentally changed how it is operating. The pace of learning and adopting new technology are only two things that are moving at an unprecedented speed. However, some work, notably specially projects or organizational transformations needed to go on hold as we adjusted to our day-to-day work. Now, we see organizations looking to take on new projects and the requirements include a faster pace of change, initiatives to support communications and rapid change management, and changes to culture to reward innovation.

What can leaders do to help their workforce innovate in a remote world?

• Make Innovation a Central Element of Your Strategy – Strategy? Who has time for strategy you say? With the pace of change, Government organizations cannot afford to wait for the end of a pandemic and need to launch a new strategy. Agile techniques such as longer-term strategy, an annual Leadership Intent document that communications one-year priorities, and agile management of shorter, more outcome-oriented initiatives can help strengthen strategies

• Launch an Innovation Playbook – To teach innovation, you need to enable the workforce with practical techniques and tools that enable them to innovate. Create a set of plays, tailored to innovation within your organization, with ideas, processes, tools, and success stories. Teach your organization how to innovate, and constantly reinforce and support this

• Sponsor Innovation Contests – There is no better way to learn than to do. Tee up critical challenges in your organization. Allow teams to form and present innovative ideas to solve these challenges to a panel of executives and reward team members by allowing them to participate when leaders implement the ideas

• Recognize Innovation Results – Tell stories about innovation success. When leaders describe a successful case study and explain where the ideas came from and how the organization implemented them, these stories stick. They also give employees the courage to suggest ideas and try something new. A special recognition program that allows for frequent recognition of innovation (we suggest monthly) can help leaders keep innovation on the top of mind for the workforce

Creating an innovation mindset is not a one-time thing. It requires constant leadership attention, techniques for innovation, change management to change the culture around innovation, and reinforcement through recognition and stories. So, leaders, tell your innovation stories.