8 Benefits of Creative Decision-Making (With Examples and Tips)

Companies across industries appreciate team members who bring different perspectives and creative solutions to the workplace. Creative decision-making might include alternative marketing ideas, ways to resolve competition or applying data in a unique way that brings more profit. The ability to combine analytical and creative thinking for efficient decision-making can improve your contributions in the workplace. In this article, we explore what creative decision-making is, ways to foster it, benefits of creative decision-making and examples of the process.

Read more: The Importance of Confident Decision-Making

What is creative decision-making?

Creative decision-making is the ability to consider all perspectives and solve a problem in a new way. It can establish new or better alternatives, offer a new method or even help discover a new product or service for a business to offer. Balancing creative decision-making with an analytical outlook helps businesses consider all options when solving an issue or carrying out a task.

Creative decision-making involves other attributes and skills, including:

• Critical thinking

• Curiosity

• Problem solving

• Communication

• Organization

8 benefits of creative decision-making

Creative decision-making in business has many benefits, including:

Fostering collaboration and partnerships

Creative thinking as a team can generate even more ideas, particularly when one person's thought prompts someone else to think of a solution. It encourages the entire group to collaborate and innovate, strengthening team building while exploring creative solutions.

Driving progress and originality

Creative decision-making promotes productivity, progress and innovation. In environments where leaders encourage creativity, employees are free to utilize more than just the standard or previous problem-solving methods. Having the ability to explore new ways to accomplish a task or find a solution can bring about ideas that also improve efficiency.

Encouraging positivity

Those who approach a challenge with positivity often view it as an opportunity for growth rather than a problem, and this outlook can lead to creative ideas. Fostering an environment of creative decision-making establishes the idea that every proposed solution is worth exploring. This can improve company morale, as it can make team members feel valued.

Strengthening commitment

Employees trust a process, leader or company when they have clarity and a sense of contribution. Knowing that creative decision-making influenced an outcome and that the teams explored all options in a logical way can help garner employee support.

Improving the quality of decisions

Most problems have more than a single solution, and creative decision-making can generate more options to choose from. When there are more alternatives to choose from, this can increase the quality of the decisions your team makes.

Developing logical reasoning and critical thinking

Creative decision-making can prevent overthinking by inviting productive ways to explore the situation. When you feel free to examine a topic from multiple perspectives, this can reinforce the logic and reasoning behind your final decision.

Increasing company growth

Companies that foster creative decision-making may see improved clarity regarding roles, purpose and processes. This clarity can help guide priorities, which can later lead to improved sales, revenue or hiring growth.

Building a positive reputation

An employee or leader who promotes creative thinking can build a reputation for being an inclusive, thoughtful contributor who generates ideas. As you practice creative decision making, continue to develop concepts for solutions and share them with team members and stakeholders. This can help you develop and maintain a reputation as a creative helper.

Examples of creative decision-making

Here are some example scenarios of how creative decision-making can help in business:

Staying in business

A storm damages the dining area of a well-known neighborhood restaurant, and customers aren't able to enjoy a dine-in experience, though the kitchen remains fully operational. The restaurant owner encourages the staff to brainstorm creative solutions that can keep revenue coming in and allow employees to continue working during repairs.

The employees develop several solutions, including:

• Creating new lunch and dinner specials

• Expanding takeout hours

• Offering free delivery and more drivers

• Updating the restaurant's website with service information

• Using social media accounts to advertise the changes

This application of creative decision-making strengthens the commitment of employees, allowing them to feel invested in the outcome and motivated to find thoughtful solutions. Additionally, some of these ideas might later prove to be good business practices to continue using even after the restaurant's repairs and renovations are complete.

Saving money or increasing revenue

An airline wants to increase profits without raising the cost of airfare or investing in more airplanes to operate. Leaders across multiple departments ask teams to collaborate, run organizational efficiency studies and find areas of improvement that can affect cost savings or increase revenue.

Teams explore a variety of creative ways to save money, increase revenue and improve efficiencies, including:

• Operating larger airplanes on the most popular routes to generate more ticket sales

• Conducting analysis for service level agreements with business partners

• Adding ancillary revenue opportunities from goods or services other than airfare

• Sourcing alternative partnerships for onboard products, like beverages and snacks

• Running a time study of how long an airplane stays on the ground between flights

• Preventing common reasons for mechanical delays

• Performing analysis on the weight of various equipment and finding lighter options

• Reviewing the organizational structure of the company to eliminate position redundancies

• Discovering excess materials or supplies and improving ordering processes

With this interdepartmental research and creative decision-making, the airline is able to increase revenue while saving on costs.

Related: Decision-Making Methods for the Workplace

Developing a documentation system to increase efficiency

A small proprietorship has several employees who work in different time zones, often working on the same project or tasks. The team expresses an overlap in production, with difficulty knowing who is working on what task and at which time others are working on similar tasks. The business owner wants to find a solution that is accessible across time zones and allows for productive collaboration.

The business owner researches affordable software and invests in one that safely and securely allows teams to:

• Have authorized access to separate projects

• Track project deadlines and milestones

• Update a task completion spreadsheet

• Edit documents or presentations remotely

• Organize vacation time or days off

• Message colleagues on internal platform

• Access a library of documents and records

The solution applies creative decision-making, improves efficiencies, promotes collaboration and improves employee moral.

Tips for making creative decisions

Here are some tips to help encourage creative decision-making at work:

• Explore all the options: Accept each idea as one worth following up on and explore its viability.

• Relax your brain: Scientists say that people are more likely to have insightful thoughts when they feel relaxed. Before a brainstorming session, work to relax through light exercise or meditation.

• Be courageous: Share new ideas, even if they seem unusual.

Related: 15 Ways To Improve Your Decision-Making Skills

Ways to promote creative decision-making

You can foster a creative mindset through doing creative activities. Here are a few suggestions:

• Explore nature: Visit a park, take a hike or visit the zoo. Stepping away from distractions and everyday commotion can foster creativity.

• Do something artistic: Whether it's drawing, painting, singing or sculpting, try giving your mind an art-centered perspective.

• Keep a journal: Writing is a form of expression, and expression can drive creativity through free thought.