Your organisation has a culture, and so will each of your teams.
But what exactly is it? Can we actually wrap our arms around it?
At it's heart, culture is about belonging. That primal need to be safe as part of a tribe. So people tend to unconsciously adopt the behaviours that exist in an organisation or team to fit in. They may fight the things that don't resonate, improve them, or give up and even move on if hope is lost.
Culture continues to exist even after a full turnover of staff, as the unwritten norms are passed from one person to the next like an invisible baton.
But culture is more than just mindsets, behaviours and norms. It's also the systems, processes, structures that support 'how things are done around here'. It's what's tolerated and rewarded.
You can try to shift ways of working and behaviours, but if they butt up against a frustrating and time-consuming administrative process, or a system that just doesn't work, people become resigned and revert back into doing things the way they've always been done.
So if you're wanting to shift culture, it's worthwhile unpacking what is currently at play in term of both tangible and intangible factors. Once you've uncovered these, a tactical plan of action can emerge to enhance your culture.
What are you tolerating, or rewarding that doesn't not support the culture you're trying to create?
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