Culture Drives Team Alignment and Results
There are many great business books about creating a positive culture. The consistent standard of success includes a culture based on trust, respect and recognition. As a manager and leader, you are responsible for your team and their results. You can impact the culture of your team and your department. Culture lives in conversation. Culture happens in the daily moments among colleagues, in oral and written communications. You can observe your culture in daily and weekly interactions between your staff, customers, partners and others in your organization.
Trust, Respect, Recognition
As a manager you set the tone and live the example. How does your team feel after your scheduled team meeting or one-on-one?
Trust is granted in relationships. You can’t ask for or demand it. Where there’s trust and respect, employees feel supported and are willing to take risks. They also have each other’s backs and demonstrate collaboration to solve problems, rather than assigning blame. The new year is the perfect time to check in and see how your team feels about the current work environment and articulate your vision for the future.
What is your plan to achieve results in 2025? Success starts with these 4 steps:
1) Leaders communicating a defined vision that inspires their teams.
2) Inspiration enabling team alignment with a strategy for growth and change.
3) Defining SMART goals that will fulfill the strategy.
4) Measuring and reporting progress and success.
Actions to Impact Culture
If improving the working environment of your team is part of your vision and goals for 2025, schedule a meeting to communicate your vision, and begin the work on team alignment. As a manager you can start with:
Acknowledging lessons learned in the last year related to people, process, technology, and results.
Acknowledge you need their input, and ask the team to contribute other lessons learned.
Acknowledge team accomplishments as a group, where did the team excel in delivering to your organization?
Acknowledge individuals who made a difference and had a measurable impact on customers, colleagues and the department.
This approach will be the foundation to build trust and recognize the contributions of individuals and the team.
If this type of meeting is very different than your typical team meetings, you will want to also arrange one-on-one meetings with key staff to reinforce the positive changes you want to encourage. You will need to communicate your willingness to change your style to constructively impact the team. You can create a space where your staff feel safe to share ideas and learn from mistakes. During your one-on-one meetings, ask:
What do you want to learn this year?
What changes would you like to see to impact productivity, efficiency, collaboration, etc.?
How can I support you?
And then you need to walk the talk. Acknowledge what you heard and agree to mutually defined goals and projects. Then, create an action plan with resources and metrics to accomplish the goals and changes you – and your team – want to see. Yes, you will still be busy with daily work and other responsibilities. And yes, change means doing things differently.
A positive culture drives employee satisfaction, and results for your organization. Culture directs team alignment, clarity of purpose, and the need to embrace change. I have seen cultural changes happen in print mail operations. When they feel trusted and respected, people will step up and be willing to take on new tasks to achieve the desired results.
Read, Learn, Grow
Looking for more ideas on changing the culture of your organization? I recommend these books:
Leaders Eat Last by Simon Sinek
Leading Through Culture: How Real Leaders Create Cultures That Motivate People to Achieve Great Things by Ken Wilcox
The Five Dysfunctions of a Team by Patrick Lencioni
Everyday Respect by Steve Pemberton
Gina Armada, CEO of MHC made the statement above during a presentation on AI strategies at the Xplor conference in September. I hope it inspires you to think and act strategically this year. Wishing you success in creating a culture that drives results for your team.