Why You Should Always Share Your Ideas and Best Practices
Having great ideas and sharing them with your colleagues at work, or with peers in your industry, can benefit you in several ways. Research has shown that sharing your ideas or best practices can build respect, boost your reputation as a thought leader, fill knowledge gaps, and even improve your own personal job satisfaction. Let’s examine some of the greatest impacts of sharing ideas with others.
You can create a learning culture
Sharing ideas is one of the best ways to instigate a learning environment. You tend to learn more from your mistakes than you do from your successes. In his book Give and Take, Adam Grant stresses that the most successful people in business are givers, people who are willing to admit their mistakes and learn from them.
One way to learn more about something is to explain it to someone else. You can do this through written content, a podcast, or presenting at a conference. The first step is to identify what you can share. In other words, look at your skills and talents, your knowledge and expertise, and figure out what you have that you can share with others.
For example, if you are an expert at using a particular software package, might be a good idea to teach others how to use it, or to develop a guide that teaches them how to use it. Being able to explain something to someone else in a way that they can understand is a great way to learn more yourself because you have to think about it from a different perspective.
Once you’ve taught someone else to do something, you’ve also given them the ability to pass it on to others.
Based on a study conducted by the Center for Creative Leadership, most people learn best when they collaborate with others to share their collective knowledge and learn from others in the process. However, many people don’t take advantage of their opportunities to share their knowledge and learn from others. If you’re one of those people, you
may want to take a close look at your work environment and identify what opportunities are available for you to share ideas.
You will see other perspectives
The next time you are feeling stuck at work, try this: Ask your colleagues to share their opinions with you about a
project you are working on. Studies have shown that this simple act can help foster healthy, creative thinking. In fact, one study found that people who had diverse social networks made better decisions about their personal investments. Why? Because they were able to see their decision from more than one perspective.
Another study found that when people were asked to get outside of their own heads and imagine how their friends and family members would handle a problem, they had a better chance of coming up with creative solutions.
Employees will offer their feedback to others
Sharing ideas at work is especially important. As a leader in your company, it is important to create an environment where others are comfortable sharing their views. In fact, studies show that empowering employees to offer their suggestions and ideas encourages their productivity, decreases employee turnover, and increases employee engagement. The best way to make this happen is to encourage everyone to speak up, even the quiet ones.
So, let’s say you have an idea that you think would make your workplace run better and more happily. You want to share it with your co-workers. But is it worth it? Many people are nervous about sharing ideas, wondering, “What if no one likes it?” or “What if they think it’s stupid?” While it’s totally normal to be nervous or hesitant to share your ideas, remember: It’s not about you. It’s about helping your workplace, and the people in it, be as awesome as they can be.
You can motivate and inspire others
Talking to other industry-specific colleagues at a conference or seminar could result in the development of innovative ideas, which not only benefits you personally. It can also strengthen an emerging industry as a whole.
Finally, sharing your ideas may inspire others to do the same. This builds a more positive and collaborate environment. Your professional success often depends on your ability to share valuable information with others. If you have a great idea, don’t keep it to yourself. Sharing ideas allows you to broaden your reach with your network of connections.
Conclusion
Sharing your ideas and knowledge with others can help them gain an in-depth knowledge that they can apply in other work-related tasks. Likewise, knowledge sharing enables you to receive feedback from those who may be more skilled or have a different set of competencies. At revcyclematch.com, the vendors and providers in our network are always sharing their ideas, whether it’s in the form of a case study, a thought leadership piece, dedicated forums, or various councils and committees.
We’ve re-imagined and replaced revenue cycle management partnerships with a sophisticated matching platform that makes tedious marketing and client acquisition practices obsolete. With the click of a button, our matching platform connects healthcare revenue cycle leaders to compatible software and service vendors. This innovative method is the first of its kind, offering a simple, stress-free approach to building partnerships. Our matching protocol means providers receive responses, or “matches,” from subscribed vendors who can meet their specific business requirements.
