Creating Intentional Workplace Culture

How would you define your workplace culture? How do you contribute to that culture? Does the culture align with and support the mission, and the vision?

Wow. Those are really deep and heavy questions. Go get some coffee. We are going to dive into this together and do this.

Let’s see if we agree on a few basic thoughts:

1. Workplace culture is intentional. Even if we choose to ignore it, that is an intentional choice
2. Workplace culture is the bedrock from which everything else is built (mission, vision, accolades, progress)
3. This is hard. Shifting culture. Creating culture. Even protecting culture is hard
4. Most things that are worth doing are hard

Storytime.

Empowerment, Assessment, Accountability, and Fun. All in one sentence, described, connected and powerful. And yes, that is not a typo. I used accountability and assessment in the same sentence as the word fun. How can that be? Let’s find out.

After two months of getting to know the team as much as I could, we held our first advance. Not retreat. No no, not retreat. Why retreat when we can advance, right?

Words, they are important my friends.

We could have gone to a historical mansion with lots of rich, dark wood encapsulating the history of our organization. That would have been okay. Except. Can you guess?

We are advancing. Not retreating. (For more on Advances, see the post, “Office Advance Implementation:”

So, we wanted something inspiring with brushed metal sayings on the walls, rooms with glass walls and movable desks. Someplace innovative. Someplace like The Innovation Connector. This is a business incubator. Perfect.

We gathered and started our journey. The team was a bit nervous. I was a bit nervous. It worked out and worked out well. One reason is that we started with culture, not programs or career services deliverables. How do you start with culture?

So, there is being a collaborator, and there is being a dictator. Sometimes we can impact what is core to our passions through collaboration. Other times we send a message by dictating. Especially when that is not usually our first course of action.

Standing in front of my new team I handed out the book “It’s Your Ship” by Captain Abrashoff. See my good reads list. I explained that if my team really wanted to learn how I think about leadership, and what they might see from me related to expectations, they could read this book. Not everything fits, it is not a 100% reflection of me. However, it is pretty close.

This book, my mentors, and my experiences have helped me develop a workplace culture construct that works. Empowerment, Assessment, Accountability, and Fun.

For more information about how this fits into a larger construct, see “Connecting my Favorites” on the About Jim page.

I am not a dictator. However…

I articulated that if the team could get behind this culture construct, if we could model this, live this, truly be accountable to this, we could build something really special together. Among other things, one day we would walk across the stage together at a national conference and proudly bring home a national award for our work.

Then I said that we will adopt this culture construct. Leadership and everyone else will model this, and hold each other accountable for this.

Here is more about this workplace culture construct:

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Empowerment

Set the parameters within which people can operate, then get out of their way

Parameters:

1. If it costs scare resources, we need to discuss it
2. If it has the possibility of creating a negative perception of our office, we need to discuss it
3. If it affects anyone on our team, I need to discuss it

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Assessment

Benchmark. Know where we are, and what needle we are trying to move. Have a plan to measure the impact.

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Accountability

Hold each other accountable for our good work. Sometimes things will not work out. Generally, that is not a person’s fault. Generally, that is a risk which came to fruition, not that someone did not want to succeed.

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Fun

Do all of the above correctly and fun happens. Sometimes it needs to be intentional. Empower people to impact their passions, measure that impact, celebrate small wins along the way, and there will be a lot of fun to be had.

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How are we doing? Well, among many individual professional recognitions, the office was recognized by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) with the Career Services Excellence Award at a national conference. Backstage before walking out into the national spotlight, our team huddled. I remember looking at each of them and saying, “Enjoy this. Relish this. This is big. You are about to walk out on a national stage and be recognized by your peers in the profession for excellent work. This is a once in a lifetime experience. Enjoy this. You earned it”. And then, we took the stage.

Be sure to check out the post “Aligning interview processes with culture and mission, instead of job function”. Culture and mission now drive our interview process.

Keep building and fostering workplace culture. Let us know your thoughts on LinkedIn or in the comments below.