Broadly speaking, culture can be defined as “the way we do things around here.”
Enter Covid-19, turning our worlds upside down, how has that translated into how things are done in your workplace?
Has your culture changed? In what ways? For the better? The worse? A bit of both?
But it has changed things: The way we work, collaborate, lead, engage with our clients. Even down to what we say, wear, do and don’t do.
So will you allow a new culture to simply emerge or will you take a more proactive approach and define the changes and what you want it to be? Will we create culture? Or will we allow it to create us?
So if you are interested in creating culture rather than just reacting to it, here are some factors to consider:
PURPOSE & VISION
A company purpose (or mission) is its reason for being. It is what unites us regardless of what we do - whether my job is marketing and your job is finance. A vision is a compelling picture of an organisation’s future which we should all be united in working towards.
In this season, has your purpose and vision had to shift, or is it rock solid the same? Does your team have a purpose and a vision? Are they united in collaborating and working towards it?
TIPS: Ensure you reinforce your company and team purpose and vision and how each person is integral to upholding and helping to achieve it. And if it needs to be re-thought (or developed) then, well, you know what you need to do!
VALUES & BEHAVIOURS
Values represent what is important. Most organisations will have articulated values. A poster perhaps. Outlined on the website. Maybe in performance development plans. Values are a critical part of helping to define culture.
But more telling about an organisation’s values, are the behaviours of its people. Do behaviours reflect these values? Or are they in contradiction, yet accepted, nonetheless?
No doubt that in our move to operating in a virtual environment, we may have seen some of these behaviours change. What is for the better? What is for the worse?
TIP: Review your values as a team and then define the expected behaviours. Agree how you can support each other to reflect those behaviours and importantly, the steps to be taken if unacceptable behaviours are witnessed. Be proactive. Define this and regularly review as a team.
STYLE
You’ve heard the saying, it’s not what you wear, it’s the way that you wear it! So is culture! Yes, it is the purpose, the vision, the values, the processes and procedures. But it is about how we do the things we do!
So, think of a continuum. Formal to Informal. Structured to Unstructured. Professional to Personal. What is the appropriate style of working? And what lasting effect do you want? Is this style just for a time, or will it change things forever?
TIPS: Have a discussion as a team about what you are enjoying about your culture. What has improved the way your team works together? What are you finding challenging? Is it more informal? Structured? Personal? What is working, what’s not? How do we want to connect and collaborate?
ENGAGING WITH CLIENTS
How do you engage with clients to reflect your values and their values in an authentic way? You are going through changes and it is no secret – so are they! How do you adapt your engagement approach in this new way of working?
TIPS: Talk to your clients about what is changing for them and their culture. Are they valuing personal connection more? Are they strictly adhering to a professional approach? Are pets and kids joining in on meetings? Or is that strictly a no-go. As with all client engagement, we must seek to understand first and then authentically adapt our styles to match theirs.
CONCLUSION
Covid-19 may have turned our collective worlds upside down. But the show must go on. Our lives still need to be lived. Businesses still have a job to do. And as for company culture? Do you want to let it emerge or do you want to proactively create it?
I would love to hear your views on culture and other things to take into consideration when building culture in the time of Corona.