Setting the Stage for Success
2026 is brimming with opportunities to energize your team, spark fresh ideas, and embrace new ways of working. To make the most of those opportunities, we will focus on three core areas: resetting your team’s energy and creativity, integrating AI and emerging technology into daily work, and building adaptability and resilience. This practical guide gives your team a roadmap to boost team creativity and resilience, collaborate confidently, experiment boldly, and take on the year with curiosity and clarity.
1. Reset & Spark Creativity
Teams perform at their best when they feel safe, supported, and grounded, a foundation that is essential for resetting team energy and boosting team creativity. Research shows that psychological safety significantly improves team learning, collaboration, and overall productivity (Patil et al., 2023). Before introducing new tools, processes, or systems, take time to reconnect, clarify expectations, and build trust. When team members feel safe to speak up, share ideas, ask questions, or experiment without fear, teams can innovate confidently, collaborate effectively, and achieve stronger results (Patil et al., 2023).
Innovation is not a one-time effort; it’s a daily habit. By combining human-centered reset practices with small creative routines, teams can embed fresh ideas into their everyday workflow (Scott et al., 2004).
Ways to reset and spark creativity together:
- Revisit shared working norms and expectations
- Create a space for questions, experimentation, and tool-testing
- Start meetings with a 5‑minute brainstorming challenge
- Rotate who leads short idea-generation exercises
- Celebrate experiments, even the ones that don’t succeed
2. Bring AI & Emerging Technology Into Daily Work
AI and other emerging technologies are transforming how teams collaborate, solve problems, and make decisions. The key isn’t just access to powerful tools, it’s feeling confident and supported using them. When teams adopt tools in a safe, exploratory way, technology becomes a natural ally instead of an intimidating obstacle (Daugherty & Wilson, 2018).
Ways to integrate tech into your team:
- Use AI for drafting ideas, quick research, or exploring possibilities
- Host short “tech playtime” sessions where team members try new tools together
- Encourage sharing: have team members bring back their favourite discoveries, tips, or AI “hacks”
Weaving technology into the daily workflow boosts creativity, efficiency, and collaboration, making AI a tool for sustainable innovation.
3. Build Adaptability & Resilience for a Dynamic Year
A fast-changing world rewards teams that view uncertainty as opportunity. Resilience isn’t just “bouncing back”; it’s about using small, intentional practices to make strength and flexibility part of your team’s DNA. Individuals who bounce back best from stress use positive emotions to regulate responses and find meaning (Tugade & Fredrickson, 2004).
Ways to build resilience in your team:
- Try new approaches together in low-stakes scenarios
- Do brief “lessons-learned” debriefs after projects to capture insights
- Ask every team member to suggest one process improvement after each project
By making these practices part of your regular rhythm, your team can develop a “we’ve got this” mindset, ready to adapt, experiment, and grow together in 2026.
Starting strong in 2026 isn’t just about planning a kickoff, it’s about building habits and structures that keep your team innovative, adaptable, and resilient throughout the year. By focusing on resetting energy, embracing technology, and cultivating flexibility, you set your team up to collaborate effectively, experiment boldly, and achieve meaningful results every step of the way.
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References / Bibliography
- Patil, R., Raheja, D. K., Nair, L., Deshpande, A., & Mittal, A. (2023). The Power of Psychological Safety: Investigating its Impact on Team Learning, Team Efficacy, and Team Productivity. The Open Psychology Journal, 16, 150–167.
- Tugade, M. M., & Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). Resilient Individuals Use Positive Emotions to Bounce Back From Negative Emotional Experiences. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 86(2), 320–333. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
- Daugherty, P., & Wilson, H. J. (2018). Human + Machine: Reimagining Work in the Age of AI. Harvard Business Review Press.
- Scott, G., Leritz, L. E., & Mumford, M. D. (2004). The effectiveness of creativity training: A quantitative review. Creativity Research Journal, 16(4), 361–388
