“The culture of a workplace – an organization’s values, norms and practices – has a huge impact on our happiness and success.” – Adam Grant
What most impacts your happiness and success? I have found that my interactions with others has a big influence on this for me. If my interactions with family, friends, or coworkers is strained, I tend to feel stress, anxiety, frustration, hurt, etc. As I talk with other leaders, I also find that often their discontent can stem from interactions with others. This is an important reason for culture to be nurtured and maintained.
In the previous article, we explored the important components of culture that included the who, how and why. Here are some practical tips for implementing culture:
Define Core Values Together
Core values are a foundation for culture. If you don’t have a set of core values, here is a practical tip: Make sure you include team members’ input as you seek to define your group’s core values. It can seem efficient as a leader to just write a list of what you see as the core values. However, for core values to truly set the tone of a culture, everyone must own them. When you don’t already have a set of core values established, facilitating the team’s voice about values will create ownership and buy-in. Sometimes it can be helpful to use an outside facilitator.
Continual, Intentional Discussions of Core Values
When you have a set of defined core values, you can’t just stop there. You need to keep continual awareness. This is where you can be creative and flow with what organically works well for your own group. Here are some ideas:
- Discuss individual team member’s core values and how they fit with the organization’s core values.
- Share a blog post, video, book quote, etc. with team members that represents a core value to encourage them
- Pick one core value to discuss at a staff meeting. Have another team member lead the discussion.
- What creative way have you intentionally nurtured culture? Would love to hear your experiences!
Refer to Core Values in Decision Making Discussions
I was talking with a leader who was having a disagreement with one of his staff members about how to proceed on a strategy to raise funds for their organization. We discussed how including core values in their decision making could give clarity and agreement on how to proceed.
Include Core Values in Performance Reviews
A common practice in the work place is to have discussions about job performance. We talk about what goals are in process and being accomplished. We focus on results, but a great addition is to also address culture. Ask what goals they have accomplished. Then also ask what core values have they lived and to give an example of how they acted out that core value.
Encourage Core Values Seen in Everyday Life
Make sure to acknowledge and complement when core values are lived out in specific behaviors. For example, if you have a core value of excellence, compliment a team member when they served a client well. Or, if you have a value of generosity, thank a team member when they gave their time to help another person on a project. Be careful of thinking that core values are just expected and should not be acknowledged. Encouragement fans the momentum of culture.
Transparency
I have been working with an organization who has been being diligent in nurturing their culture. Now, they are facing a major transition. With this, big decisions are needing to be made. The unity of the team is important. To build a strong culture, they have needed to engage in transparency and vulnerability. This has paid off in building a foundation of trust. They have done this in multiple ways:
- Team discussions about understanding their different communication, behavioral styles, and personal backgrounds
- Doing surveys to ask for feedback from team members about themselves and asking for feedback directly
- Sharing their individual development plans with each other
- The leader modeling the way by being transparent and vulnerable in all the above
Is building a great culture worth the investment to you? What steps are you going to take today to nurture your culture?