Changing Workplace Culture; Start Small and Be Consistent!
If your team’s engagement level is low and you are experiencing flurries of preventable errors, you have a leadership problem in your organization and the workplace culture needs improvement. YOU need to act! If ‘improving workplace culture’ seems too big, start small by committing to more consistently do the things that you already know make a difference. Small changes, implemented consistently and steadily, move mountains, carve canyons, and alter workplace culture.
First, let’s think about ‘what is workplace culture’? We could drag out the dictionary or consult Nobel Prize Winners, but instead let’s define it simply, in language everyone gets! Workplace culture is the behavior that we tolerate and promote with our words, actions, silence, and inaction. Simply put - we as leaders set culture!
Based on that definition, the changes we implement to improve culture don’t need to be radical or revolutionary - they simply need to be in the right direction and consistently done. This is not difficult! Simple, plus consistent, equals powerful change! Put another way, consistent blocking and tackling basics, wins games. We need to start by being aware that we are setting culture every day - in what we say and do - and also, with what we fail to say or do! Simply being more consistent with what we already know is important, will help move the culture forward.
Can’t think of a way to get started? Well, perhaps a good place to start today is to be less negative around your team, or maybe being more mentally present and ‘available’ when walking through your operation. These may seem obvious - but are you doing them? Consistently? Really? Or are you, like many leaders, absorbed with your thoughts and not really ‘seeing’ all that is happening in your operation when you pass through? Are you, even unconsciously, spreading the negativity toxin thereby undermining your team’s efforts? Be honest. All of us could do simple things better - simple things that impact workplace culture. You don’t need a Nobel Prize Winner to tell you what needs to be done.
Everyone knows that it’s important to be mentally present and observant. Everyone knows that negativity is a toxin to the ability of the team to triumph over obstacles, and therefore that a positive outlook is important. Knowing these things isn’t the challenge. DOING THEM CONSISTENTLY is the challenge, and doing them consistently will move the culture forward! Try it! It works!
Your mission today, (should you choose to accept it):
Think about the definition of workplace culture and make a short list of actions you can take to move culture forward.
Ideas: maybe less negativity, maybe being more mentally present and observant when walking through your operations, maybe it’s to ensure you address behaviors of team members you may have been ignoring but that you know need to be corrected. Anything that promotes the culture you want to see will be good.
Choose one simple thing from your list to do differently and start doing it today. Write it down and hold yourself accountable to follow through! Do it consistently! Every day!
If you lead a team of Supervisors or Managers, lead a short discussion with them about what actions and behaviors leaders can do to demonstrate the culture you all want. Generate some energy around the topic by brainstorming simple actions leaders can take. Then have them choose one behavior each and commit to doing it consistently - and watch the results!
Tip: Don’t tell your ‘people leaders’ what to do differently. That would imply that you know everything and their opinion about how to ‘fix it’ doesn’t matter! Instead, empower them to choose something to do differently that resonates with them based on your brainstorming about workplace culture! Their buy-in and commitment will be much higher as they will see their participation as focused on something they know to be important - not something they are told to do.
I led this exercise with a group of about 25 Supervisors at a 500+ person manufacturing facility recently. The individual commitments from the Supervisors were outstanding and right on target! They already knew what was important and they became re-committed to do more of it - to consistently behave in a manner that would promote a favorable change in workplace culture. This simple exercise stimulated ongoing discussions about how to sustain the behaviors as well. Following this process avoided blaming anyone for the culture that existed, it simply focused everyone on what they could do to favorably impact culture.
Remember, small changes implemented consistently and steadily, move mountains, carve canyons, and alter workplace culture. Start making the simple changes today and do them consistently, every day!
