Monday, January 30, 2012

How You Impact Your Organization's Culture

Bob moved to a new company, and it wasn't too many days before he was invited to a meeting. The meeting announcement he received said that the meeting started at 9 am in room 105. At 8:55 he walked into an empty room. Frantic he went back to his computer to see if he had the details right. He checked and double checked and realized he was right - 9 am, room 105.

As he briskly walked back to the meeting room he was puzzled. He thought, "Why was the room empty, when it is roughly time for the meeting to start?" He walked in at 9:02 and still no one was there. He sat there for a concentrate of minutes when he saw man he recognized - who also was on the invitee list - walking by the door. Bob asked if the meeting was still on and if it was still for 9 am? Susan replied that the meeting was on, that Bob was in the right place and that "meetings never start on time here." Sure enough, about 9:15 everyone, together with Susan, arrived and the meeting got started.

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That night Bob told his wife the story and linked how different this was from his last company. "There, everybody was there five minutes early, because we always started on time."

Bob is learning - first hand - about his new organizational culture - one quite different from what he is used to.

What is it?

Organizational culture - it's something we don't regularly talk about, but we feel everyday. A culture is defined by what is imaginable of citizen and what is valued. It defines the norms of behavior and "how things are done" in an organization - either that organization is a family, a team or a business.

To be victorious in any setting it is prominent to understand the culture - this understanding allows us to navigate successfully through our day and be productive. Culture is prominent then because it defines the boundaries of behavior and performance, which allow us to furnish rather than discuss "how" to do all things - it becomes a short hand way to get things done.

Cultures often found from people's early experiences in an organization and over time these experiences come to be the unspoken "rules of the road." This is natural and regularly just fine, except that sometimes what plainly develops or evolves isn't exactly what we might want those "rules" to be. While they may have worked in the past, now they no longer serve the organization very well.

What now?

Since these rules found gently and come to be deeply engrained, what do we do if we want to turn them?

In most organizations, if this interrogate is asked at all, the rejoinder would be to point to senior management. After all, they are those in charge of the organization - if something about the culture is retention the organization back, they should be responsible for fixing it.

This is a logical assessment, but woefully small in application. In reality the culture doesn't belong to a Ceo or a senior leader. It belongs to everyone. And while there are cultural norms that spread over an entire organization, there often are differences within a department, a workgroup or a geographical region.

Perhaps there are things in your organization's culture that you would like to turn - Bob indeed adored meetings that started on time, for example. So if the culture belongs to everyone, what can you do to turn it for the better? What role can you play as an individual?

What You Can Do

Have a clear photograph of what you desire. If, for example, you want to build a more inevitable and fun work environment, you need to be able to tell what you are finding for - not just think you will know it when you see it. Getting a clearer photograph of what fun means in your situation is essential to you successfully adjusting the culture.

Understand the benefits of the change. You need to see the benefits clearly so that you will stay motivated to change, but also because others won't turn without understanding why. Define benefits organizationally and personally.

Communicate with others. Once you have a clear photograph of what and why, it is time to help others see your new picture. How can you expect them to buck the trend of "how things are done" if they don't see a good way?

Model the new behavior. Want the culture to be different? It starts with you. Gandhi said, "We must be the changes we want to see in the world." These five steps form a definite plan that you can use to generate the changes you want to see. But this fourth step is essential - you must embody and personify the new cultural norms yourself.

Begin to expect it of others. Unfortunately, this won't be as easy as flipping a light switch. It will take some time for citizen to get onboard with a turn even if they agree that it's a inevitable step. You start by encouraging them, supporting victorious turn and recognizing progress.

You can do these things regardless of your position. Start small (like with yourself). Then improve it to those immediately colse to you. If you are a yield laborer your actions won't sway the culture of your multi-national employer overnight, but they can begin to indeed turn your immediate work environment. Regardless of your role, you can indeed impact the culture in which you work, but only if you are willing to stand up and be accountable.

Don't shrug your shoulders; do roll up your sleeves. You are a co-owner of your organization's culture, and you can make a difference.

How You Impact Your Organization's Culture

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