Imagine your team members walking into work energized and excited to take on the day.

Imagine them being greeted by friendly faces, good coffee, and inspiration at every turn. Sound too good to be true? It doesn’t have to be… not these days anyway. If corporate cubicles are your thing, then you can definitely create that workspace pretty easily… just don’t expect it to foster creativity.

On the other hand…

If you want a workplace of inspiration, innovation, and creativity, then there are specific steps that you can take to make that real. Not only is it easier than you think, it’s also becoming a standard of new non-corporate businesses that want to make life at work not only productive, but also a lot of fun for people at work.

At Hello Innovation, we’re proud of our office culture, from the wheatgrass shots with orange chaser (I just took one and it was delicious) to the Andy Warhol art to the ping pong table and hammock if you need to de-stress. But while we’re proud of our own office culture and creating a space where people can thrive, we’re humble enough to know that there are other businesses out there also doing things the right way – and that we can learn from them, too.

So without further ado, let’s take a look at some tried and true practices to create that fun, exciting, and ever-creative company culture.

1. Make your values clear to every employee.

What does your company stand for? If you know the answer to this question, then you’re half-way there, because you still need to immerse these values into the heart of the expression of your brand. Every team-mate should be on the same page regarding the values you stand for. And if you’re going for creativity, you might want to consider values like innovation, disruption, and thinking different. They certainly work for us.

2. Keep hierarchies flat.

The worst way to build creativity is to make it clear to someone that they work for you. You don’t want people working for you… you want people working for the cause you believe in. Sure you’re the boss, but it doesn’t mean you need to lord it over someone. Have fun, stay foolish, and connect with your team. Delegate and give them opportunities to contribute. And most of all, make it clear that you value their contributions – because they’re helping everyone in the company move towards some badass goals.

3. Give your employees free time to create.

Creative people thrive when they have the opportunity to, well, create. That means you want to give your team time to build something that they think could serve the company and the world – even if it’s not on the day’s agenda. 3M instituted a 15% free time policy back in 1948, and it’s still going strong. They’ve developed tons of patents that have gone on to bring significant profits to the company through this program. And don’t forget about Google’s 20% free time program, which gave birth to such innovations as Gmail and Google Earth.

4. Bring people together for non-work fun.

Creativity requires free thinking. And free thinking requires a stress free environment. A great way to reduce stress is to give opportunities for your employees to mingle and mix. Whether it’s a biweekly talk somebody gives or a sponsored trip to a baseball game, getting your team together in a non-work capacity increases trust, and with more trust they’ll feel free to bring their creative edge to the forefront.

5. Let talented people do what they do best.

You’ve hired talented people. Now, let them bring their highest and best work into the world. The point here is that rather than stifling creative ideas, you should encourage them. Have a great designer for your new website? Let her go wild for a week, then take a look at her work and think about how you can integrate it into your vision for the project. The best work happens when talented people feel comfortable to create – so give your best people the free reign to deliver their finest work to you.

6. Celebrate good ideas.

Many unhealthy work environments suffer because people are afraid to express their opinions. On the other side of things, transparency is a hallmark of both trust and creativity. In meetings and around the workspace, encourage people to share what’s on their mind. Let them know that you’re not judging if they bring ideas to the table – and in fact, that you support it. Praise your team when they come up with creative ideas, whether they get implemented or not. What matters is that you’re supporting their creative contributions. Not every idea turns into a project, but the more you encourage the sharing of ideas, the more your team will come up with home run ideas that take your company to a higher level.

7. Fail fast, and fail forward.

Failure is a necessary part of the creative process. In nature, business, and in creative pursuits, you have to break through the old to get to the new. And part of that means that your employees will make mistakes. Rather than discouraging mistakes, encourage people to quickly learn from errors and then implement those learnings for the benefit of the company. Failing fast means you take action, even if you’re not 100% sure you’ll succeed. And failing forward means you learn from those mistakes and apply that new knowledge in your next steps.

If you could design the ideal office culture, either as CEO or team-member, what would you add to this list? Let us know in the comments below.

And if you want to join a company culture that fosters dynamism and disruption, creativity and carefree fun, then we’d love to meet you!