We’ve all heard about the downtime companies like 3M and Google give their staff to pursue passion-projects. Undoubtedly, it’s resulted in some great inventions, like Post-It and Gmail. But is this a magic formula that works for any business? If you’ve been wondering whether your team needs “innovation time”, this article may help you decide. Here are some factors to carefully consider:

1. Productivity

Will this move negatively affect overall team productivity? This is a tough one to measure right away. If business productivity is being affected, it could prove to be an expensive proposition. The trick is to find the right balance between achieving business productivity and affording enough downtime for your staff to innovate. Google’s 20 percent downtime need not be a benchmark. Find a number that works for you and your business.

2. Culture for innovation

Can you successfully create a culture for innovation? Suddenly telling your staff to work a four-day week and spend a day doing whatever they like will be a huge culture shift not just for employees but also for management. You will first need your management to commit to the idea of encouraging “innovation time” before you expect your staff to. Don’t forget about investors and shareholders who need to be on-board with the idea too.

3. Ecosystem for innovation

Do you have what it takes to help your employees innovate? Simply providing them the time to come up with great ideas won’t amount to much if you can’t provide them with the support and resources to develop their ideas into workable solutions. You should be able to provide an incubator for great ideas rather than a warehouse for a backlog of ideas. While it may take one person to come up with a great idea, it takes much more resources to develop that into a great product.

4. Sustaining the culture

Can you make sure innovative culture is there to stay? Providing “innovation time” may seem absolutely unstructured at first to everybody – staff and management. You need to be able to navigate through the chaos and establish a way in which to build and sustain the culture. Harder still will be to maintain this culture when times get tough. Downtime may be the first thing to be cut when the business is in trouble. Be prepared for times like these. Culture is long-term, and if it’s an innovative culture you want to incorporate in your business, be prepared for the long haul.

5. Rewarding innovation

Can you make sure your employees feel recognised enough for their successful innovations? A lot rests on management to ensure innovative employees keep innovating. Giving employees the recognition they deserve is absolutely important. Not only will it motivate a positive culture, but it also helps business in the long term. We’ve seen the benefits of creative downtime, but only a rewarding culture can breed good ideas.