In a society that craves novelty and new technology, staying on the cutting edge is paramount to an organization’s survival. What better way to stay one step ahead in the product line than to have a strong creative team tinkering away behind the scenes.

Creative employees are essential to company innovation. Unfortunately, they’re not always the easiest personality type to manage. Here are a few pointers for fostering a creative atmosphere that your top innovators will appreciate:

1. Give them time, space, and resources – creativity is enhanced by giving people more freedom and flexibility at work
2. Surround them with (sort of) boring people – innovators work best alongside colleagues who are too conventional to challenge their ideas, but unconventional enough to collaborate with them
3. Motivate them without money – rather than monetary rewards, give them meaningful work
4. Set goals – many creatives are pressure motivated
5. Give bad managers the boot – in the end, all of the factors that negatively impact creativity are the result of poor management

Learn how to get the most out of your most innovative resource – your creative team – in our ebook, “5 Ways to Manage Creativity and Drive Innovation.”