Last week I wrote a post Don’t Be Clueless about Your Corporate Culture which brought some questions and some good comments. The questions were primarily about how to shape your culture. So let me give you a simple technique that I’ve used in the past that works well.
- Ask the members of your team what words they would use to describe their ideal work culture or environment. As they call out different words write them on a marker board. All words are fair game. Come up with as many as 15 to 20 if you’d like.
- Once everyone has had a chance to share, work together to agree upon the top 4-5 words.
- Next put a letter grade A, B, C, D, F on each of the words grading how you are currently doing with each word. For Example Communication B, High Accountability D, Innovative C+, Fun A -, Relational B –
- Now have the team discuss which one needs to be worked on the most and write out a plan for strengthening that value in your culture.
- Post the words on a wall in your meeting room where you can see them regularly.
- Three months later re-grade each of the words and see if you have made progress in shaping your culture. Put a reminder in your Outlook so you won’t forget.
- Rinse and Repeat
What are some ways you can intentionally shape your corporate culture this week?
This is a great excercise and I will use it with my team. Thank you.