TEAM INNOVATION ACTIVITIES

The Innovative Team

Innovation does not happen by accident. Strong leaders make innovation happen by providing encouragement and an environment where creativity, prudent risk taking, and collaboration lead to great things.

This page is dedicated to resources for supervisors and managers to strengthen teams and build skills that lead to safer worksites, engaged employees and cost savings.

Team Activities

These brief activities are designed to be quick and easy for a supervisor to include in their crew and team meetings. Activities are organized by their purpose.

1: Celebrate Success, Give Recognition, Show Respect (click to expand)

Good things, both large and small, are happening on your team. Taking a few minutes to submit an innovation about the way your team is saving money and time, improving customer service, making the workplace safer or impacting our strategic goals is a great way to highlight their accomplishments and give them the recognition they deserve.


Remember, every innovation submission is considered a nomination for one of the four UDOT Innovation Awards.


Suggestions


2: Adopt an Innovation (click to expand)

Don’t reinvent the wheel! Adopt and enhance an already existing innovation to increase your team's efficiency. Every team that realizes cost or labor savings by adopting an innovation is recognized in the efficiencies report. The innovation does not need to be your idea.


Suggestions


3: Solve a Problem (click to expand)

This four-part activity takes a team through the Innovation Process to solve a real-world challenge. Worksheets are designed to assist teams to complete the process on their own or you may contact the Innovation Program Team for support. We would love to consult with you and are available to facilitate the process in team meetings.


Activity


4: Build an Innovative Team (click to expand)

The systematic pursuit of innovation is a great way to develop skills and build a strong cohesive team. The activities below leverage UDOT's leadership tools; Strengths Based Leadership, Employee Needs (Q12), Five C's of Team Building, and the Five Conversations.


Activity 1: Becoming an Innovative Team - This three-part series is an excellent way to kick things off. These activities are designed to be downloaded by supervisors and completed during three regular team meetings and should take about 10-15 minutes each. Another option is to include all three activities in a team retreat.


Activity 2: Innovation Inspiration - Mix and match these fun activities to motivate and build interest in innovation.


Activity 3: Team Building Exercises - These activities build trust, respect, and teamwork through fun activities. They are great for team retreats or regular team meetings.


5: Grow an Employee (click to expand)

Coaching, Employee Development & Performance Planning


Coaching Activities - Looking for opportunities to build leadership skills in your team members? These activities are designed to be assigned to team members to present in your meetings.


TIP: Supervisors can assign many of the activities on this page as performance plan goals. Innovation is a great way for an employee to show that they exceed expectations.

Resources & Support

The Innovation Team is ready to help. We are available to facilitate innovation projects and activities. Click the "Get Help" button below.