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The Transcendence of Military Culture and Values

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , , ,
military culture and values

The United States Military culture, regardless of branch (Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force or Coast Guard), is attributed with values and behaviors of LDRSHIP: Loyalty, Duty, Respect, Selfless Service, Honor, Integrity and Patriotism.  As I outlined in a previous article about our veterans, these are great values to epitomize and work towards in your own corporate culture.

What I have learned more recently is that employees in many organizations may think these values don’t currently reside there, or that they are far removed from the behaviors of the staff in general, may be surprised when they take a closer look. These organizations already epitomize, in their own way, these values of respect, belonging, loyalty, service and duty.

Here’s the experience that brought this realization to light:

Recently, in the same week, I visited both a client site of one New York City organization, and a US Navy client. Two very distinct and diverse organizations; city government and federal/defense.

As I was leaving the New York City client site, we all knew that the infamous “Fleet Week” was arriving here in New York, so we took a drive down to Fort Hamilton on the water to watch the USS New York arrive in all its glory.  As it passed under the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, the management and uniformed staff of Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority made it clear that they were proud of not only this magnificent Naval Ship (forged from the steel of the twin towers of 911), but of the equally as magnificent structure that Naval ship was sailing under, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge that they each manage, protect and maintain.

To quote, “A beautiful image… a naval ship on the backdrop of the Verrazano.”

Though half a century apart, both of these government assets were built with the blood, sweat and tears of Americans. Both structures represent, in their own way, cultures of pride, of strength, and service to country. The bridge keeps the economy of New York City moving and the Naval Ship keeps the citizens and infrastructure of our United States economy safe from harm.  Two distinct missions, with two similar and transcending cultural compasses, representing withstanding and honorable service to the people they serve.

Sometimes the culture you desire—that you think doesn’t exist—is already there under the surface. It just needs to be tapped into.

I encourage employees, employers, owners, executives to think about what you each define as a honorable and respected culture and then try to emulate that in your actions, decisions and behaviors within your own organization.  You may be surprised at how close your current organization is to that seemingly far off culture and values you have been seeking.

We all need perspective like this at times to see past the fog.

May we all think of the majestic naval ship sailing under our own ‘bridge’ this Memorial Day and attempt to help our teams, our departments and our organizations do more to instill the culture we all desire.

As JFK once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”.

Many thanks in memory to those who have served for our freedom.

Building High Performance Teams Takes More Than Talent

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
building high performance teams

We’ve all come across this type of person in our careers: the guy who is miserable to work with but who’s also “the top salesman we have.” Or how about “the smartest guy in the room,” who’s also the most unapproachable person you’ve ever met? The talent may well be there but, in today’s increasingly networked workplace, it isn’t a guarantee of success.

Sometimes, very talented people just aren’t a good fit for your organization, but more often, the problem lies in a leaders’ inability to harness or align their employees’ talent to the mission. Either of these situations can cause employees’ talent to atrophy — or, worse, give them a reason to move on to a more engaging position at another company. Your job, as a leader, is to recognize when talent isn’t being used to its fullest potential and correct the situation.

When Talent on Its Own Isn’t Enough

As a leader, you may be tempted to hire an individual, or keep him in your organization, based on talent alone. Unfortunately, this might be a recipe for disaster. To make a difference, talented people need to be given the right roles and responsibilities, proper direction, and a sense of urgency. Most of all, they need to be properly aligned to advance an organization’s long-term goals.

Here are some common talent issues leaders face that could hinder your business’s success in building high performance teams:

  • The “lone wolf”: The lone wolf archetype makes for a great western, but in today’s hyper-connected business world, that mindset just doesn’t work. You could have the smartest guy in the industry working for you, but if he can’t interact with the rest of your team, he’s ultimately a drain on morale and productivity. A successful business requires a team of people who make use of each person’s talents through effective and productive communication and collaboration.
  • Misaligned talent: Businesses can fall victim to misaligned talent for many reasons, but what I’ve seen happen, time and time again, is talent being evaluated based on short-term operational needs versus long-term business goals. Perhaps you needed someone to fulfill certain responsibilities in a pinch when your business was growing, but now that person is stuck in a role where her talent is being wasted. Leaders must be able to see past pressing operational needs to the future performance of the company, which includes putting your best and brightest in leadership and strategic roles.
  • Disengaged talent: If a talented employee is bored or unmotivated, they’re not going to perform to their highest potential. Getting employees out of their comfort zones, but not in panic mode, will help employees feel like they’re contributing to a greater cause and experiencing individual development. Those employees will know they are truly putting their strengths to good use and will go above and beyond for your business. However, fail to provide a challenge that fully utilizes an employee’s talent, and that talent will start to mold.

How to Align a Team’s Talents

Business moves fast. Often, business leaders get caught up with other priorities and let the performance and direction of their teams fall by the wayside. Here are three simple remedies to get talent back on track:

1. Communicate: The most effective way to align a team’s talents is through honest dialogue. Take the time to evaluate internal processes and dynamics. Hearing from your team about what is — and isn’t — working will help create alignment and do more for your team’s big picture than any task management system or monetary bonus ever could.

2. Look at your business objectives: When you put talent in the context of business strategy, talent will start to naturally align itself. Leveraging the strengths and preferences of employees according to where they fit within your long-term business objectives will naturally bring out the best in your people and organization as a whole. Make sure all employees know their roles and how their actions contribute to the bigger picture.

3. Put the right people in the right seats: Jim Collins said it best when he advised that people need to be put in the right seat on the bus to drive performance. If your goal is building a high performance team, find the right roles and responsibilities for the right employees. Find out what your employees enjoy doing and what motivates them to determine where they are best suited.

All leaders want the most talented people working for them, but talent alone can’t carry an organization. Leaders must provide oversight and direction to ensure employees are engaged, motivated, and challenged on a daily basis. Most of all, they must harness talent effectively by putting people in roles that align them — and the organization — for long-term success.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

 

 

The Strategic Narrative: A Better Way To Communicate Change

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
strategic narrative

If you think your company’s strategy conversations should only take place at the most senior level, you could unknowingly be crippling your company’s bottom line. Research shows that companies whose members have a clear understanding of where the organization is headed and how their daily activities contribute to the success of the organization consistently outperform the competition. When communicating change within your organization, senior leaders need to relay company goals and strategy to all employees, and the most effective way to do this is through a strategic narrative. 

What Is A Strategic Narrative?

A strategic narrative centers on a leader’s ability to articulate a clear and compelling vision and strategy for the future of the organization. Christine Cavanaugh-Simmons of CCS Consulting Inc. specializes in helping leaders develop skills in this area. She describes a strategic narrative as “a written and spoken story of an imagined future captured in a ‘before,’ ‘now,’ and ‘to be’ sequence.”  Rather than presenting a series of bullet points and clip art in a PowerPoint deck, a powerful strategic narrative paints a picture of how a company’s past, present, and future fit together in a broader strategy context.

Strategic narratives are a form of storytelling, and like all good stories, they need a compelling plot, characters, a climax, and a conclusion. By telling this story, employees and other stakeholders will understand their place in the larger narrative and how they can take an active role in shaping the future of your organization.

In addition, this approach:

  • Positions the change in a respectful way. Narratives enable leaders to change the direction of the organization without disrespecting the hard work past leaders and employees have invested in it.
  • Helps leaders appear more human. Leadership storytelling through strategic narratives allows company leaders to bring their personal stories into the equation to ensure the messages hit home with others. When stakeholders can relate to you on a personal level, they will be more sympathetic and accepting toward change.
  • Creates an inclusive environment. Engaging other stakeholders in a dialogue surrounding the strategy not only helps align peoples’ efforts, but also sets the stage for an inclusive environment they can comfortably connect with.
  • Reinforces company values. By taking this approach, you will drive home the values you want to embed in the fabric of the organization moving forward.
  • Helps employees retain the information. Telling your company’s strategic narrative is more likely to inspire, motivate, and be retained than a dry PowerPoint presentation or report. And because stories engage multiple regions of the brain, stakeholders will absorb the message and see themselves in the bigger context.

Crafting An Effective Strategic Narrative

You should always consider using a strategic narrative to help communicate and engage stakeholders in any big-picture discussion. In situations when you might be asking others to uproot old habits or mentalities, this approach can ease the transition.

Inspirational and motivational strategic narratives aren’t made up on the fly — crafting a powerful narrative is an intensive process. Here’s how you can get started:

  1. Invite all stakeholder perspectives. Bring your team together to discuss their assumptions and beliefs about what they’ve seen happening within the organization. By tapping them for information, you’ll gain insider knowledge you can use to refine your strategy and make it more relatable.
  2. Collaborate with your team to create a first draft. Work with your team to outline an initial draft, and seek input from other stakeholders involved in the strategy to make sure everyone’s needs and perspectives are accounted for.
  3. Refine your message. Forming a strategic narrative is about helping the group collectively make sense of the company’s current state and future possibilities. Identify the most appropriate delivery vehicle and situations for sharing the message, and complete a thorough audience analysis to understand their enduring mindsets and readiness. Most importantly, be prepared to iterate.
  4. Measure its success. Always measure and monitor progress after delivering your narrative to determine its effectiveness and refine your strategy for the future.

I’ve found strategic narratives to be an excellent way to help illustrate why extensive changes are important to us as a company.

For example, we recently had to implement sweeping changes to the way we operated to align with the current business landscape. Instead of focusing on one-way messaging, we crafted a narrative to help people understand that the old way wasn’t necessary wrong; the market was simply shifting, and we needed to stay relevant. I used examples everyone could connect with and shared the rationale for the pending changes.

While it was far from perfect, it went a long way in helping people understand the why behind the change and prompted an honest two-way dialogue about our collective success moving forward.

Facts and figures simply aren’t meaningful enough to rally employees and stakeholders around a significant change. If you open the floor and invite employees to take part in the narrative, they’ll respect your initiative and do everything in their power to make it a reality.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Don’t Just Survive Boring Meetings, Conquer Them!

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
conquer boring meetings

Corporate America is obsessed with meetings.

They drag on endlessly, accomplish very little, and people seem to show up just to grab a free lunch, avoid getting in trouble, or for personal, political reasons.

At my previous position, there were days where I had to attend over seven and a half hours of meetings in a single day, and if I missed one, I’d be asked by management where I was. I wasn’t even allowed to take my laptop. When was I supposed to get any work done?

When I had the opportunity to run meetings, my attendees really enjoyed them. They were so refreshing & efficient compared to all the others and were well attended. People were actually engaged and proactive.

So what did I do differently? These tips below will help you run better meetings that your team will actually enjoys attending.

1. Is the meeting even necessary?

Talk to some key people before you think you need a meeting. Many times you can get all your questions answered by talking to one or two people. Do some knowledge mining with your coworkers. You’d be surprised how much you can get done by spending just a few minutes with the right people.

If you cannot get your questions answered, ask them if they’d be interested in joining a meeting to solve these issues. Those who are engaged beforehand are much more likely to attend your meeting and be active participants.

2. Create a solid agenda

Make a descriptive agenda well ahead of the meeting and send it to all parties so that people can prepare for discussion. Sometimes, it takes time to gather the correct information and many times email replies will answer all your questions. You can then cancel the meeting and give everyone their time back if your questions get answers. Other times, your attendees may tell you that you’re missing some key stakeholders and will help you get vital resources and attendees to your meeting.

Be sure to ask specific questions in the notice. Let everyone know what the issues are and maybe even a proposed solution to it. A well-prepared meeting will likely get you better attendance by all the important invitees.

3. Manage your invite list

Don’t invite someone because they MIGHT be needed at the meeting. Make sure they have a key role in the discussion. Small group discussions with the right people are more effective than a massive catchall wasting the time of dozens of people that usually end in off-topic conversations with little results.

If you feel someone is vital to a meeting, make sure you talk to him or her beforehand. Let them know that they are needed to have an effective conversation. This ensures your email invite doesn’t get lost in the wasteland of their inbox.

4. Send out reminders.

Send a reminder the morning of the meeting. If it’s a morning meeting, send one out the day before. This is paramount if the topic is important. Not everyone lives and dies by their calendars. They forget or just assume it’s not a vital meeting. Other times, they are double booked and need to know which meeting is more important.

5. Learn how to create useful slides

I cannot tell you how bad most people are at making PowerPoint slides. They either write a novel that rivals War & Peace or put up a graphic with so much information you need a telescope to see it. There are a lot of great tutorials of how to make effective and engaging slides. Use them to your advantage.

6. Manage the your time well

Set a precedent of starting on time. Some people will be late of course, but you’ll gain respect from others if you are punctual for all your meetings. And, it will encourage most attendees will make an effort to be on time for future meetings.

End your meeting early. Give a buffer to allow others to get to other meetings. Lots of people have back-to-back meetings, and will likely leave yours early to make it on time to another meeting anyway.

This also gives you a moment for those who have some extra time to talk about the “offline” issues (see next tip for definition). Those who are effectively engaged in the meeting will be eager to have an extension conversation, so utilize this time to help create a better solution to the issues.

7. Stay on topic

If two people are dominating a topic that is not necessary to resolve right at that moment, it is probably best to have them speak about the issue “offline” (talk in a small group outside the meeting).

Some issues cannot be resolved right away or there isn’t enough time to talk about it during that meeting. If it’s a major topic that needs more discussion, don’t be afraid to “table” it (delaying a topic until a future meeting) and create a new meeting to explore the conversation point further.

8. Take notes

If you are leading the meeting, have someone else take notes.  It’s too distracting to lead and brief the conversation and will usually break the flow and limit engagement.

Put action items right up top. Let’s be honest; we rarely read through all the notes when someone sends them out. By putting the action items at the beginning, it gives everyone a quick reminder what they are expected to do.

9. Follow Up

Don’t just expect everyone will get their tasks done by sending out the notes. Follow up with people to see if their action items were accomplished. It’s easy to get engagement at the meetings, but many times these tasks will fall off a participant’s radar. Ask them if they need help with their assignments or if they are facing any barriers to completing them.

10. Become a better public speaker – Toastmasters

The truth is, many of us are not very efficient at getting our point across. We either bore the audience by giving a very dry presentation, repeat the same points over and over, or worst of all, give a ton of unnecessary information. There are resources out there to help us give better presentations like Toastmasters. Many companies will even pay for it. Even if the company doesn’t front the cost, it’s a smart personal career move to improve your skills.

5 Signs Your Organization Has Outgrown You

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: , ,
organization outgrown you

Think back to when your child was young. What’s changed as she’s matured? She’s likely swapped naptime for overtime and a dollhouse for a down payment — and she’s grown into a personality all her own.

Like our kids, companies also grow up. Although they may not swap carefree childhoods for adult responsibilities, they still change and mature with time. Growing old with a company is like a relationship: Sometimes, you grow together; other times, you grow apart.

I recently spoke with a friend and mentor, Bruce Eckfeldt, a former Inc. 500 CEO and current entrepreneur, about leaving his former company. Together, we outlined the following five signs that signal that you and your organization have grown apart:

  1. The passion is gone. Do a quick gut check. Are you still jumping out of bed in the morning ready to take on the day, or is your snooze button getting a daily workout? Is your team energized, or does your office share the excitement level of a meat locker? No one can be fired up about a job 24/7, but if you can’t remember the last time you got excited about work, it might be a sign that your job has outgrown you.
  2. You constantly feel “the rub.” One surefire sign that your organization is evolving away from you is “the rub” — the friction between you and day-to-day life in your work environment. Too much frustration with co-workers, vendors, or clients can lead to uncomfortable chafing.
  3. The cylinders aren’t firing like they used to. Do you feel like the behaviors that have always worked for you are no longer hitting the mark? The issue might be turnover, client relationships, or budget, and you can’t shake that feeling of drowning. If the team’s terminology is leaving you behind in meetings or it seems like you have to work twice as hard as you used to just to keep your head above water, you should assess your situation.
  4. Your company is scaling rapidly. As your company matures, you may find that you can’t (or don’t want to) develop the skills you’ll need to lead in the new environment. If you aren’t willing or able to adapt to the new reality, then you’ll experience more problems as the organization continues to demand things that you can’t provide.
  5. A disconnection arises between you and the company. If you wrote a job description for the leader of your company, would you apply for the role? Your business will likely begin to value new skills and devalue old ones over time, particularly when moving out of startup mode — where flexibility and innovation take precedence — to become a more mature organization that’s focused on following established processes. You may feel responsible for leading the organization, but are you still connected to its changing needs? 

How to Hand Over the Reins

Once you know that your company has evolved away from you, you have an important decision to make: You can either sell your company or hand off your leadership role. This process is all about how you want to be remembered in your company’s collective history.

Do you want to be remembered as the boss who stayed beyond his ability to manage effectively, the executive who stopped showing up one day, or the leader who realized his personal limitations and ensured the organization was left in good hands?

First and foremost, you must decide whether your ego can take admitting that the company has evolved to the point where someone with a different skill set could do a better job. Are you the most qualified for the current needs of the role? Are you willing to adapt your leadership style to your changing business?

If you no longer feel like your leadership is what’s best for the company, pass the torch. Find and integrate the right person to lead the company under your guidance. If you have a good talent planning process in place, you may already have replacement options.

Hopefully, you caught the signs early enough that the performance of the organization hadn’t taken a nosedive. Recognizing the changing currents as they happen helps you be more intentional about identifying a successor and integrating her into the organization in a productive way.

Leading a rapidly growing organization is full of high and low points, and it’s never short on challenges. For Bruce, it was less of an “outgrown” situation and more about growing apart: “Being a founder and operator puts unique pressure on your sense of self and ties up your professional and personal identity in that of the company. For me, I felt like I was fighting to get the organization to go in the direction I wanted to go in personally.”

I realized fairly early on that in order to be most effective over the long term, I would have to continuously evaluate the needs of my organization and adapt my behaviors. This required me to develop new skills over time and be very intentional about my willingness to change to be of service to my team.

If you’re giving your organization everything you have and still sense that it has evolved beyond you, you owe it to yourself and your company to consider taking action.

 

This article originally appeared on Forbes

 

The Iceberg of Organizational Culture Change (Infographic)

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
iceberg of organizational culture change

87% of today’s leaders around the world cite culture and employee engagement as one of their top organizational challenges. This is according to a recent report from Deloitte, who interviewed over 3,300 executives and HR leaders in 106 countries.

The data in this and other large-scale studies weave together an alarming trend around today’s changing corporate landscape: Changing demands of the emerging workforce and looming leadership development challenges are growing risks for business today.

Organizations must find ways to change and adapt to the changing needs of their stakeholders in order to maintain high performance.

Organizational culture change at any scale can be challenging. And in order to overcome challenges like these, we often have to start diving into the depths the organization and figure out what is truly driving the culture.

But, what does that mean to you as a leader?

As Deloitte’s study highlights; many business leaders know the importance of organizational culture, but most still don’t grasp what really defines their culture to begin with, or how it connects to performance.

You can’t change what you don’t understand. If you’re unable to understand what drives your organization’s culture, how can you possibly begin to change it?

The Iceberg of Organizational Culture Change

Most people think of culture as the visible values and behaviors within an organization; shaped by employee perks and benefits, the office policies and environment, and the corporate brand and values.

These are all part of your culture, but like an iceberg, the majority of what drives the behaviors within your organization is unseen and largely inaccessible, far below the surface of what anyone in your company consciously thinks about.

“The way things get done around here” is our favorite catchall definition of organizational culture. We see it in the stories employees tell about the organization, the conversations they have with each other, and the way they go about their daily work.

But, these visible indicators are only part of the story.

the iceberg of organizational culture change infographic

How to See Below the Surface

The following are some indicators that the area below the water line of your organization isn’t doing you any favors:

Visible and Tangible Indicators

  • Business performance is suffering
  • Employees are disengaged
  • Turnover is high

Less Visible but Accessible

  • Stagnant innovation
  • Leadership and management development challenges
  • An undercurrent of frustration with the current systems and processes

Invisible and Subconscious

  • Culture and strategy are misaligned
  • Stakeholders don’t fully understand and embody the organization’s values
  • Leaders are resistant to change

Are any of these indicators visible in your organization? If so, here are three ideas on how to explore the deeper issues behind them:

1. Constantly Ask “Why”. Why do we do it this way? Why haven’t we considered doing it this way instead? If you get a lot of responses like, “That’s just the way we’ve always done it,” you may be able to get people to realize that the way you’ve always done things is not yielding the same positive results. By engaging people in face-to-face dialogue about it, you’ll have the opportunity to dig deeper into the underlying beliefs and assumptions that exist in your organization.

2. Dive Deep. Ask yourself what aspects of your personal value system have led to your company’s success and how an over reliance on those things may be serving to cut you off at the knees. As a leader, are these personal values still aligned with the values of your organization? Are they holding your organization back?

3. Consult an Outsider. Find an outsider who is willing to experience your organization for a while. Since they aren’t part of your culture, they will see things you don’t and be able to question why you do things the way you do them.

In our decade of experience, we’ve found that successful and sustainable organizational culture change starts with a rigorous assessment. You may not see more than the tip of the iceberg at first glance, but by having conversations with your people, asking the right questions, and digging deep into the true motivation behind the way you’re doing things today, you’ll be able to better understand what needs to change.

Using Data Visualization to Optimize Our Workspaces

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
data visualization workspace

I recently came across an article on Life Edited that discussed a study of how families utilize the space in their homes.  The study tracked the movement of 32 families in the Los Angeles area over two days.

Each dot on the diagram below represents the location of one family member during a 10-minute interval.  Not surprisingly, most families spend much of their evenings congregating in the kitchen and family room and very little attention is given to the porch or dining room.  The article goes on to discuss how the space in homes could be optimized to accommodate the way families actually use it.

workspace visualization

This brings up some interesting parallels to organizational culture. What if we used data visualization to map the movement of people within our workspaces? What insights would we find?

Facilitating Collaboration

By applying the same principles laid out in the article, we would be able to determine which areas of our office are utilized more frequently.  For instance, maybe the shared kitchen space is a significant congregation area throughout the day, but conference room #2 is only use for 30 minutes in the afternoon.  At a very high level we can use this information to help design effective workspaces that facilitate communication and optimize the use of shared spaces.

Taking those insights further, we can explore how those workspaces are utilized. For instance, maybe the kitchen is not only a place to grab lunch but also where employees casually discuss business and some ideas they have for a new product line.  In this sense, the kitchen serves both as a source of camaraderie and a facilitator of innovation. This example may be a stretch, but it’s fairly easy to see how different spaces support different aspects of the organization’s culture.

These insights would help us identify the key hubs where the “actual work” (i.e. the side conversations, backroom deals, and brainstorming sessions that keep organizations moving) happens.

Enhancing Impact

From a leadership perspective, this information can help streamline and enhance the way organizations convey critical information.

By identifying the key congregation hubs and the type of discussions that are taking place, leaders now know where to place information (ex. update on a new safety policy), the content of the message (ie. use a humorous tone in the kitchen space), and the type of media to use (ex. quick graphic, display on a TV screen, a copy of the document, speaker announcement, etc.).  This could help improve the way information is disseminated and reduce the likelihood that coworkers are oversaturated with information that does not resonate well.

“Casual Collisions”: Applications in the Business World

Companies from Pixar to Google have taken a similar approach to developing workspaces. Their approach (or philosophy really) is called “casual collisions” where office space is configured to optimize collaboration and facilitate employee interactions.  As Steve Jobs once said “creativity comes from spontaneous meetings, from random discussions.  You run into someone, you ask what they’re doing, you say ‘wow,’ and soon you’re cooking up all sorts of ideas.”  Buildings, floors, hallways, and meeting spaces can all serve as a medium to foster creativity.

Google, while in the process of designing its new headquarters in 2013, felt that it was necessary to methodically plan out the configuration of the building to facilitate collaboration. To do this they conducted studies to determine how employees worked, what kind of spaces they preferred, and what groups/departments want to be close to each other. As a result, Google was able to configure the 1.1 million square foot building so that no employee would be more than a 2.5 minute walk from others they frequently collaborate with.

To push this concept further, an article published in the New York Times in 2013 provided a vision for the future, stipulating that through a combination of sensors, analytics, and technological improvements, offices could reconfigure each morning (by using sophisticated algorithms) to fill in structural gaps and place critical groups in closer proximity to address pressing tasks and challenges.

While that may seem like science fiction, there is evidence to suggest that more and more organizations are turning to analytics to figure out how to configure workspaces to ensure the right people are making connections.

Conclusion

It is likely that not every organization can conduct a study of this kind; factors such as costs, square footage, and geographic proximity of key departments can all limit the feasibility of this approach.

Still, data analytics can go a long ways to enhancing how we see our office spaces and can help leaders think more critically about how to improve organizational collaboration and communication to their team members through design.

It’s Inevitable: How To Have Tough Conversations With Your Employees

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
tough conversations employees

While popular media likes to portray entrepreneurs as fearless conquerors willing to storm the beach single-handedly, the reality is that entrepreneurs are quite a diverse population. Sure, it takes courage to be an entrepreneur, and there are many who don’t back away from a challenge, but there are just as many who would rather avoid certain aspects of the job — and that often includes having tough conversations with their employees.

There are a variety of reasons for this. Sometimes they hope that the problem will just fix itself, but that’s rarely the case. Others simply have a fear of conflict or of not being liked.

Our culture often labels people who are willing to have tough conversations as mean or worse. But I completely disagree. In fact, a willingness to have these conversations shows that you care enough about your team to put yourself through something uncomfortable in order to rectify the situation.

Sorting It Out Could Save Your Business

The fact of the matter is that hard conversations are necessary in any organization, but they can be especially prevalent in startups.

After all, in a business’s formative stages, there’s a lot of room for misalignment. And if this misalignment goes unchecked, it will only snowball into resentment, which diverts attention from what’s important and can even devolve into active or passive sabotage. What’s more, in a startup, things move quickly — very quickly. Startups are in a constant state of organizational change, and every few months, your company may look and feel completely different. As you add more individuals to your team, each with their own values and opinions, you’re bound to run into conflict.

There are five areas that nearly every entrepreneur ends up having a hard conversation about at some point:

  • Personality conflicts: People approach life from different perspectives, and unfortunately, some can’t stomach the idea of getting along with people who don’t view the world through the same lens.
  • Inappropriate or unprofessional behavior: This one might seem like a no-brainer, but some people simply don’t know how to behave in the workplace.
  • Underwhelming performance: Again, this is a no-brainer, but when performance begins to slide, you have to correct it before it has a negative impact on the company.
  • Organizational growth: As your startup scales up, a person who was a perfect fit in the early days might not be right for the second stage. In some cases, that person might even be you.
  • Organizational cuts: If your company fails to meet its goals, you’ll likely have to make some tough choices about whom you can afford to keep.

In this last case, it can be an especially difficult conversation to have. Even if your teammates are working their tails off, you may still reach the point where you have to let someone go when the numbers aren’t where they need to be.

Never Wing a Tough Conversation

When you’re faced with uncomfortable conversations like these, a direct approach is often the most effective. I’ve found that honesty, transparency, and timeliness are key to reducing the negative impact. In fact, there are four key things you can do to make a hard conversation easier, regardless of the situation at hand.

1. Don’t avoid the conversation. Trust me: Problems don’t age well.A lot of people make the mistake of keeping quiet and hoping things improve, but oftentimes, the problem only snowballs, so be proactive.

2. Have a plan. Whatever you do, don’t just wing a hard conversation. Take the time to think through the issue, brainstorm some tangible examples to illustrate the impact that the person is having on the company, and decide what you’ll accept as a resolution.

3. Be mindful of your language. People sometimes say and do things that lead to increased anxiety and defensiveness in hard moments. But when you don’t keep your emotions in check, you tend to derail the conversation. Be careful to present yourself in a way that doesn’t come off as accusatory.

Above all, be open to the fact that your perception of the situation may not be the only one. One-way communication is never fruitful. Of course, there are times to adopt an unequivocal approach, but difficult conversations are rarely one of those times. For this and other reasons, it’s essential that you engage in active listening.

4. Don’t conclude too quickly. Never go into a conversation with a specific outcome already decided. By the same token, however, you must always leave the meeting with a clear plan in place that leaves no room for interpretation. If you end the conversation without developing a plan for moving forward, then nothing has been accomplished.

I’m not sure that anyone really enjoys these types of conversations, but for the good of everyone involved, sometimes they’re necessary. In the end, your goal should be to communicate that the conversation is difficult for you, too, but that you’re committed to having it because you care about the employee and about the company.

This article originally appeared on Forbes

Organizational Culture: An Aphorism is “Worth a Thousand Words”

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags: ,
organizational culture aphorism

In our daily lives and our daily work, we are undoubtedly impacted by subconscious messages that we have been socialized to accept. Often these are reflected in the choice of leaders that our society venerates. Other times, these messages enter our lives via quotes, mottos or aphorisms, such as, “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” that are so common they are often cliche.

Though they may seem harmless in everyday use, these mantras are incredibly powerful, simplistic guideposts on our thinking and how we prioritize our time and attention. For example, how many colleagues do you know who seem to operate according to the principle, “if you want something done right, you got to do it yourself?” or, “if you want something done, give it to a busy person?”

Acknowledging the presence of these subconscious beliefs is the first step in making any sort of change; these believed aphorisms might be ingrained in your organizational culture, and/or they might be ingrained in your own modus operandi. For example, in the case of the above mantras, trying to instill a culture of empowerment of staff might be challenging if it’s commonly accepted among the managers in the organization that they need to “do things themselves” if they want things “done right.”

In some organizations, recognizing that this is pervasive and unpacking why managers think that people below them can’t do things “right” might be exactly where to start to facilitate culture change.

What Aphorisms Are Guiding Your Culture?

Knowing what beliefs and behaviors drive your culture is the first step to changing it. Take a few moments and write down some aphorisms that guide your own approach to leadership and life. Then, think of a few that guide your organization.

Once you finish, take a look at some of the common (and not so common) quotes below. How does your agreement (or not) with these statements match up with the current-state of the culture in your organization? How do these mindsets serve you (or not) in your own development as a leader?

Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.

There’s no time like the present

If you always do what you always did, you’ll always get what you always got

Perfect is the enemy of the good

Winners never quit and quitters never win

Management is doing things right; leadership is doing the right things.

You can sleep when you’re dead

Time is money

Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it.

Move fast and break things

Change or die

When the best leader’s work is done the people say, ‘We did it ourselves.’

As you reflect on these statements, It’s also critical to remember the aphorism, “what got you here won’t get you there.” While a reliance on “doing things yourself” could work at certain stages in your development as a leader, or your organization’s development, it might no longer serve you or your organization given the current state. That doesn’t mean that the aphorism isn’t true– it just means that belief in these truths might be holding you or your organization back from operating more optimally.

And if that didn’t convince you to re-examine how aphorisms are subconsciously guiding your thoughts and actions, this statement might: ”Echoes from the walls you build around yourself hurt your ears the most.”

What aphorisms guide your leadership and culture? We’d love to hear from you!

Focus on Your Company Culture, and Earnings Will Follow

By gothamCulture
Published at In Category Blog Tags:
company-culture-earnings

What do Google, Wegmans, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Zappos all have in common? Recently, Fortune ranked the country’s 100 best companies to work for, and after digging deeper into the data, found that culture was a key consideration for employees of most of the organizations on the list.

This isn’t a new idea, and it certainly shouldn’t come as a surprise. After all, we hear a lot about corporate culture these days — praising organizations like these that have a strong corporate culture and lamenting those that don’t.

Organizational culture is still largely misunderstood. Even the idea of a “good” or “bad” culture is a misconception. Corporate cultures cannot be inherently good or bad, though they may certainly be effective or ineffective in helping you drive the performance you’re looking for.

At its core, culture is just a collectively agreed-upon way of doing things that develops over time as people in the organization learn what works and what doesn’t. What most people describe as a toxic or unsupportive culture is really just a system and way of doing things that, at one time, probably helped the organization thrive. As these behaviors become outdated, they become ineffective — and can derail a company.

Many organizations cling to “what’s always been done,” which constantly pushes against innovation; as a result, earnings and other key performance metrics begin to lag. Those dips can make managers do some interesting things in an effort to restore their companies to greatness. As executives become laser-focused on chasing earnings, they may lose sight of the bigger picture. They become focused on treating the surface-level symptoms, never diagnosing the deeper cultural dilemma.

But as Google, Wegmans, Build-A-Bear Workshop, and Zappos all know, your organizational culture impacts your earnings more than you might think.

The Unexamined Culture Is a Potentially Dangerous Thing

Businesses don’t start out with sluggish or hostile cultures, and they certainly don’t last long that way. Businesses that develop a way of doing things that doesn’t work don’t tend to stay in business very long. When you’re not actively assessing and improving your corporate environment, asking for employee feedback, and making necessary changes to stay relevant in your current operating environment, you’re planting the seeds for future failure.

Organizations with high-performing cultures actively invest in their employees. They encourage their teams to share their opinions and ideas and compensate them generously for their work. Ultimate Software CEO Scott Scherr said it best: “The true measure of a company is how they treat their lowest-paid employees.”

That’s not just a feel-good sentiment — employees who feel supported are more loyal and more motivated to come to work every day. When you take care of your employees by encouraging the right behaviors, you’ll create a positive domino effect that will ripple all the way to your customers.

Culture can also serve as a great competitive advantage. Companies that take the time to understand and proactively shape their cultures are able to evolve to meet the demands of their business environments much more quickly and easily than competitors who leave everything to chance. They perform better in the long run because their employees are aligned with their direction, eager to add value, and willing to get on board with any organizational changes.

Empirical research shows that companies that prioritize culture perform better than those that don’t. So why are so many businesses still stuck in ineffective environments? I suspect that many of these leaders know that their companies’ cultures are negatively impacting performance, but they don’t know how to assess — let alone evolve — the behaviors of their employees and align them with their overarching strategies.

How to Build a More Effective Culture

Ideally, your culture should be top of mind before you’ve even formed your company. Unfortunately, it doesn’t always work that way. If you’re wondering how to steer your company’s culture back on track, it’s not too late.

Take an honest assessment. You must be willing to acknowledge your weaknesses to strengthen your company. By figuring out where your culture has gone sour, you can make needed changes to ensure greater employee satisfaction and, ultimately, reap greater financial benefits.

Start a dialogue with your teammates about your current culture. Encourage them to be candid, then brace yourself for an onslaught of (hopefully constructive) criticism. If they haven’t felt comfortable sharing their opinions before, there may be a lot of pent-up frustration waiting to be aired.

Set your ego aside. Be willing to accept that certain methods that served you well in the past might need to be moved to the corporate “museum.” Recognize that it’s time to do some things differently to succeed in a new business environment.

Admitting that some aspects of your business have gotten away from you is, no doubt, humbling. But there are plenty of talented, capable experts who can help you implement positive changes that will ensure your company’s future success.

Engage your team in the cultural reform. Culture is a collective concept, which means lasting change can’t happen without everyone’s help. Invite your employees to offer input at town hall-style meetings, and ask for feedback throughout the process. You’ll notice a shift in the atmosphere as soon as you start acknowledging and implementing employee ideas.

An effective organizational culture is all about clarity and alignment, and if you do it right, it will help you turn a healthy profit. The organizations that are best able to articulate what they stand for inspire their employees to work hard and dedicate themselves to a bigger purpose.

This article originally appeared on Forbes