THE PACIFIC INSTITUTE
ARTICLES
As you are working through the ever-changing landscape of business today, how will you and your organization emerge from this crisis? What culture changes have occurred with your team? Have those changes been purposeful or happenstance?
Very often, during times of external stress, we react to the situation, based on our past experience, rather than act with the future in mind. Using these four strategies allows you to be more purposeful in shaping your culture and Nurturing Growth within your team.
- Take time to revisit the organization’s vision and values and analyze if they are still relevant for the organization to flourish. (If they are not, now is the perfect time to change them.) The strategy is the one place that should be updated or adjusted, to adapt to the new market conditions. Once these have been reviewed and updated, be sure that you connect all of your decisions and actions back to them and connect all your team members with how they contribute.
- Set clear expectations and accountability for each of your team members. In setting these expectations, be sure to set milestones and deliverables in a more frequent pattern. With increased remote working, our team is, more than likely, out of our sight line. We want to increase the touch points of projects and tasks. Hold team members accountable for their productivity, not their activity.
- Have one-on-ones with your direct reports at least once every two weeks. These scheduled sessions are designed to take an Appreciative Enquiry approach, focusing on what is working and how that can be expanded.
- Celebrate both the wins and the “Green Shoots.” On a weekly basis, have your whole team together and review the wins with a connection to how the strategy is working. During these meetings, also celebrate the new “Green Shoots” (those new activities that are starting to show growth) as they need the spotlight in order to get support to flourish into a full-fledged win.
Being purposeful in shaping the culture and Nurturing Growth within your team is not overly complicated but it does take discipline. Discipline is key as it takes time for your staff to see your new actions as a new normal, a part of the culture. While it does take time, you can monitor the effectiveness of your effort through the productivity and engagement of your team. Developing our culture is a strategy toward realizing our goals, so keep those goals front and center for you and your team.