Team Culture, How Are You Involved?
What happens inside the organization? Not what is the public perception, what is the internal vibe? The climate inside develops from team culture.
The team has arrival times, break times, or perhaps different, they skip breaks and look busy at all costs.
There might also be the language of the culture. Words chosen, repeated, and inside jokes about behavioral aspects of the people. What gets the boss fired up, who are the weirdos, and who will never go anywhere within the company.
You can’t rule out the price of admission. Joining the culture has a price. It has a predetermined minimum requirement. In some cases it is an education requirement, a box checked, or a resume that illustrates years of experience.
Joining is about adoption of the culture, yet each person contributes. Some for, and some against.
The culture is about what people within the organization do. It’s behavioral and it’s published.
Team Culture
Newbies join, others exit. The newbie doesn’t really bring in many outside ideas, their job is to conform and adapt.
This is how it’s done around here.
You’re not paid to think, you’re paid to work.
Don’t make waves, no one around here really cares.
The CEO is often asked about culture, or voices an opinion of how it should change.
Culture develops from stories told, yet at the same time is unlikely to be defined by a single story represented as a future forecast.
Shaping culture isn’t a task. It’s not a job duty.
Culture is created by the people. People in agreeance, people in dissonance. All aspects of social interactions are inclusive. The people decide. Knowingly or unknowingly, they’re involved.
All-Inclusive
The best way to examine the culture is to understand the focal points.
Are the focal points based on clock watchers? Is it the language that seems to take center stage? Does quality matter and how well respected is the employee population or the customer base?
Every business or organization is going to get more of what they focus on. Focus develops from messaging and observable behaviors.
People are part of everything that defines the culture.
You are involved.
One way or another.
-DEG
Dennis E. Gilbert is a business consultant, speaker (CSPTM), and culture expert. He is a five-time author and the founder of Appreciative Strategies, LLC. His business focuses on positive human performance improvement solutions through Appreciative Strategies®. Reach him through his website at Dennis-Gilbert.com or by calling +1 646.546.5553.
