How to tend to your organization's culture
I have had the joy of doing a lot of organizational culture work these days. In fact, one organization I worked with this last year just won best place to work on the west coast in its industry and size.
It is so energizing and fulfilling to work with leaders who invest in culture building with their heads, hearts, hands and dollars. And so is being a part of helping people co-create more positive, life-giving workplaces.
Culture is kind of a mysterious thing. We all know its importance and impact. And yet, it is tricky to work on. Well, I believe we have made it tricky to work on and that it doesn’t really need to be. I’ll be talking about how to make it less tricky and practical over the coming months.
👀 If you know others who are looking for support in tending to their cultures, please share this with them.
Tending to your organization’s culture is like tending to a friendship or romantic relationship or family -- you have to take the time to talk about how things are going together.
Having these kinds of conversations takes some practice. They aren’t exactly comfortable. I just had a conversation like this yesterday so I’m feeling really in touch with the experience. 🙂
It can be challenging to really listen to understand (vs retort), to stay open to and curious about the other person’s experience and perspective, to sit with a sense of non-closure about how to make things better.
This is all especially true if you are the leader -- of the team, the department, or the organization. I’ve been there, too. Oofda! As people shared their experiences, all I could hear was:
how I was falling short
how my intentions were being misunderstood
how entirely missed I felt my efforts were
how people needed things I couldn’t see how to provide
😧😬😠 I felt “all the things”.
I work hard to do right by people and feel a tremendous sense of responsibility as a team or project leader.
I know you do, too -- whether you are a leader, manager, or team member.
The good news is we can build our capacity to invite such conversations about culture and how things are going together.
I bet you were hoping I would say that the good news is that such conversations get easier. I’m not sure that’s really true.
I -- and my clients -- have found that it being uncomfortable gets easier. That we can build our capacity to feel “all the things” and have all the thoughts I shared above without being consumed or “taken out” by them. We can notice, breathe, turn down the volume on our reactions, and be more open and curious.
Capacity is like emotional intelligence but deeper and more grounded in the body.
So, that brings us back to where we started -- change your culture through conversations about how things are going together. Get your conversation practice going!
Here is one idea to try at an upcoming meeting. I’d love to know how it goes. If you’d like help facilitating such a thing, let me know. That’s exactly the kind of support I love to provide.
Changing Your Culture Through Conversation
Facilitation Guide
Keep it simple. Start small. Here is one idea that takes 20-30 minutes. Try it at one of your already scheduled, regular meetings. Or, better yet, do this instead of a status update. 😴
It's a good ole’ stop-start-continue but with a culture shifting process.
Framing: Say something like, “I’d like to start by checking in about how things are going. Think about the last 3 months or so that we’ve been working together. Think about how things have felt as we have been going about our work together.
Process: So, by yourself, in silence, write down:
one thing you like about how we work that you believe is important for us to continue doing,that contributes to us having a good vibe around here.
one thing you’d like us to start doing -- i.e. try, experiment with -- that you think would help us have an even better vibe.
And, one thing you’d like us stop doing. Again, all in the name of us creating a good culture together.”
After people have a minute to jot down their thoughts, put them in pairs or triads (in breakout rooms if virtual or hybrid) and have people share their answers. If you are the leader, participate in the conversations but go last.
Come back together and have one group share 1 continue, 1 start, and 1 stop.
After everyone has shared, thank people. That’s it. No consensus or action items needed. Don’t even ask clarifying questions because so often we are not really asking clarifying questions.
Close by saying something like, “Believe it or not, we are just going to leave this conversation here and move on. Let’s trust each other to take action on what we have heard in the name of creating a good work environment or culture together. It feels kinda weird to just leave it here but let’s see what happens.”
There is a lot about this process that is culture shifting so as they say, “trust the process”. Key to this process is the small group conversations in pairs or dyads. It creates safety and anonymity for what people share. Do not skip that part!
And, use your discernment about how ready your team is for this kind of conversation. Perhaps things are a little tense, which is impacting how safe people feel. If that’s the case, just do the “continue” part. If the team seems a little stagnant, just do the “start” part.
Keep it simple. Start small. Small is often stunningly significant.