OpenUp2Innovate

EP5 – Open Innovation and Team Management

How does a team with flat hierarchies help to encourage an open innovation culture?

We invited Julija Storz from freenet to talk to us about her views on team management. Here are some of the main lessons from the interview.

• People are coming together with different business-backgrounds and different mindsets. It is always a challenge to adapt to a lot of diverse people with various backgrounds.

• Nobody is an absolute expert in any field. There is a huge dependence on external knowledge.

• As everybody can easily take the lead and be more independent. But that means, that single employees tend to have more responsibility, which could be overwhelming at first. 

• Always listen to your employees and be aware of which tools they feel comfortable with. 

• The main goal is to always exchange knowledge.

1. Trusting and have an open mindset regarding other people. 

2. Give people their freedom as a team and individually, especially regarding personal skillset and experience. 

3. Always give and be able to receive feedback, whether it is within the team or with stakeholders.

Julija Storz on Linkedin