It’s spring. The world is waking up from its winter season. And it’s near impossible to not look around at the environment and really notice what’s going on in our world, including what’s thriving and beautiful, as well as what needs tending.
Right in line with that, it’s also a great time of year to shift your focus toward your workplace culture. It’s an ideal season for noticing what’s working, what’s not, and what activities can make your organization’s environment a healthier, happier one.
On the surface, struggling work cultures have performance and productivity issues. Under the “topsoil”, one or more red flags(and their prevalence) indicate toxicity, or specifically what harms workplace culture. All a cry for help, some red flags include:
* Customer service issues and complaints
* Protectiveness of “silos”
* Lack of good decision-making
* Stifled curiosity and innovation
* Possessiveness of information
* Frequent communication squabbles
You certainly may not have all those issues or red flags, signaling challenges with workplace culture. But no organization is immune from challenges and, more importantly, opportunities to invest in and nurture a growth mindset around workplace culture. The idea is to consistently strive to make it better in ways big and small. If you feel your workplace culture needs some serious improvement or just some ongoing TLC, here are a few tips:
1. Build stronger communications around the company’s vision , values and mission. If people don’t know what these are, everyone will struggle with understanding what they’re really trying to do and how their activities relate to others’ duties as well as a shared, common purpose. Make sure the vision, values and mission are outlined and transparent in all recruiting, onboarding, training and regular performance reviews. Every goal, strategy, tactic and mindset should align with and reflect those defining elements of your organization.
2. Nurture teamwork. In helping 15K+ since 1960, we’ve noticed that in times of external and internal organizational stress, teamwork can quickly fall apart as people scramble, in their own ways, with different approaches to survive amid turmoil. Yet regularly revisiting and reinforcing teamwork through accountability strategies quickly nourishes and revives cultural health. And that starts with you, the leader; looking perhaps at ways you’ve become less of a team player (e.g., micromanaging), then shifting habits to be accountable to the behavior you want your people to follow and use.
3. Focus on what’s positive and healthy. The more you notice what’s working and ask great questions around how to scale it out in sustainable ways, the faster you’ll find the motivation and interest to address the toxicity that has been undermining your company culture. Focusing on what’s right, you’ll build engagement, which is the springboard to good discussions and brainstorming around the goals and controls for a more productive, performance-positive and accountable workplace environment.
Want more tips and lasting accountability solutions to nurture your workplace culture? MAP today!
Originally published at https://www.mapconsulting.com on April 22, 2022.
