Fuel Your Team’s Curiosity

November 18, 2013 It can be hard to find time for reflection and thoughtful conversation at the office, but work is more rewarding when it involves some level of discovery. Here are a few tips to encourage your team’s desire to learn:  Write agendas as questions. People are more likely to engage in discussions when they know they can affect the outcome. Presenting your agenda in question form invites everyone at the meeting to contribute. Avoid blame. Instead, try to find ideas for improvement. Without reprimanding your employee, ask him what he thinks should be done to get a project back on track. This allows him to take accountability and add value. Embrace all learning. Employees usually feel that they should only ask for educational resources that are explicitly work-related, but all learning is valuable. Practicing curiosity can benefit your organization in unexpected ways; an employee requesting funds for a photography class, for example, may save you the expense of hiring outside photographers down the road. Adapted from “Four Ways to Cultivate a Culture of Curiosity,” by Katie Smith Milway and Alex Goldmark