Five Ways to Build an Organizational Culture
An organization’s culture impacts the level of success it has both internally and externally. It establishes the team’s identity, how well coworkers collaborate, and how the team is perceived by clients. Building an organizational culture in the workplace provides many benefits, including increased productivity among employees, better decision-making on managing tasks and projects, and improved team morale to reduce burnout. Here at C1C, we make use of five key methods to promote a positive and collaborative environment to efficiently manage our processes.
Here at C1C, we make use of five key methods to promote a positive and collaborative environment to efficiently manage our processes.
Project Management Software. Before building an organizational culture, strong systems need to be in place to have a birds-eye view of the innerworkings of both the team and the organization itself. Managers may turn to project management software to manage projects effectively and efficiently for their team. A plethora of project management software exists online to improve planning and scheduling, provide transparency across projects, manage project budgets, and determine the time it takes to complete each task. Some features in project management software may include a list of which tasks are due for the week, the projected number of hours team members will work per day, and a calendar with the ability to manage paid time off. C1C recently made the switch to a formal project management software to manage our tasks daily and week over week. As a result of this switch, we were able to better streamline our team meetings and how we all work collaboratively.
Team Meetings. The first building block to establishing an organizational culture is to set regularly scheduled team meetings. Team meetings are important to allow coworkers and managers to be on the same page for what’s to come. Team meetings help establish alignment, allow coworkers to make collective decisions, and provide a means for discussion for any questions or concerns anyone may have. It is important that team meetings follow a clear agenda so that there are clear expectations for what will be discussed. Although team meetings are primarily used to share work-related information, it is also important to set aside some time to build relationships and rapport within a team to promote inclusion, become more personable with one another, and provide a safe space to destress from work. At C1C, we set aside time to ask a fun and quick question at the beginning of every team meeting to get everyone engaged before discussing what’s to come for the week. Some team members even join the meeting early to ask about each other’s weekends, what’s new in their lives, and any other personal updates that come to mind. After each team meeting, we transition into one-on-one meetings.
One-on-One Meetings. One-on-one meetings create a healthy and positive organizational culture by providing the opportunity for a direct report and their manager personal time to connect and check-in as opposed to doing so in a team meeting. These meetings allow a direct report to express any questions, comments, or concerns they may have regarding any project or task to their manager. To which, the manager can then offer any personalized suggestions, recommendations, or commentary that is specific to the direct report. Although providing feedback, be it positive or negative, can be uncomfortable, it is necessary to convey how the direct report is performing, what can be improved or changed, and set expectations. Team members at C1C review projects and tasks during one-on-one meetings to ensure everyone is aligned on expectations and provide a safe space to discuss how projects and tasks went the previous week and the week to come. Discussions about performance is kept at a higher level until our quarterly conversations.
Quarterly Conversations. The next step from frequent one-on-one meetings would be to schedule quarterly conversations between managers and direct reports. It is important to set aside time every quarter for these conversations to provide a snapshot of overall performance and acknowledge any accomplishments or pitfalls across all projects and tasks. Providing team members crucial feedback every quarter allows for them to thrive in their roles and set expectations for the next quarter. Sample questions to ask in these conversations can be about goals, motivation, or satisfaction. Questions we ask at C1C relate to performance, objectives, development, satisfaction, and interests. In addition to quarterly conversations, it never hurts to liven things up at the office, or, at home virtually, with quarterly celebrations.
Quarterly Celebrations. Managers with strong organizational cultures understand the need to celebrate and reward the team’s successes from the previous quarter. Providing an incentive each quarter not only encourages teams to work hard, it also makes them feel recognized and feel great about their work. Quarterly celebrations help instill feelings of appreciation, inclusion, and a sense of relief from work. Team successes should be celebrated individually, as a team, and as an organization. Incorporating activities during a quarterly celebration will certainly liven things up at the workplace and re-energize the team. Over the last few years, C1C team members have done crafts together, done both in-person and virtual escape rooms, played party games, and gone apple picking.
These five ways to build an organizational culture have been deeply ingrained into C1C’s daily, weekly, and yearly processes. As such, we are a tight-knit team with the ability to tackle any problem head on, while staying supported, motivated, and appreciated along the way. Looking to improve your organization’s culture? Feel free to reach out!