10 Ways to Enhance Your Team Culture
The majority of our weekday hours are dedicated to our work, whether that’s going into an office or logging in from home. With so much of our lives spent intertwined with our jobs, it’s no wonder a great team culture is so highly valued. Modern workers (largely Millennial and Gen Z) prioritize their experiences at work over what they get out of work. Culture and fulfillment are even starting to outweigh salary.
But what is “team culture”? It’s one of those buzzwords that gets thrown around a lot in business without being fully understood. Company culture is not a sleek open floor plan with ping pong tables and nap pods. Company culture isn’t offering unlimited PTO, free meals, or healthy snacks. None of these perks are bad — some are quite good. But they have nothing to do with culture.
What is Culture?
You’ll find plenty of definitions for company culture with a quick web search. Most of them speak about your company’s values, but I think those definitions are a bit too high-level. You can talk of values all day long, but what does culture mean in a tangible, real-world sense?
To me, team culture is how you treat employees and how they’re expected to treat one another. How you communicate, collaborate, critique, and celebrate — that’s your team culture. Yes, your values are an important part of shaping the right culture, but you have to act on those values to make a difference.
Imagine one of your company values is “strive for innovation.” This is only reflected in your team culture if you actively empower your team members to take risks. When you demonstrate trust — allowing them to make decisions and take on bigger responsibilities — you’re creating a culture of innovation.
Why Does Culture Matter?
When cultivated properly, culture aids fulfillment. Your team will be fulfilled when they experience passion, purpose, and progress, and your culture directly impacts each of these drivers:
- You can’t feel passionate and love the work you do if the culture is negative or stifling.
- Your purpose feels pointless when an unhealthy culture is clouding every aspect of work.
- It’s nearly impossible to make progress without mutual respect, open communication, and general harmony on your team.
As mentioned above, our teams dedicate countless hours and tons of energy to the business. To put it simply, creating a great culture is the right thing to do.
And as a bonus, a healthy culture attracts and retains top talent. The most agile, creative, and independent workers are in high demand. Why would they settle for a poisonous atmosphere when they can go elsewhere?
Obviously, company culture is important — not just for your team, but for you as a leader. Where do you think your leadership skills will make the biggest impact: in an open, honest, and respectful culture? Or in a culture rife with negativity and suspicion?
Cultivating a great team culture is the greatest gift you can give yourself. It allows you to focus on true leadership — coaching and developing potential — rather than continually putting out fires and solving conflicts.
But how can you create a great team culture that people will love to be a part of?
1: Model Vulnerability and Empathy
Take a moment to recall the last great conversation you had. Maybe it was with a partner, a friend, or a coworker. Now, think about why you chose that particular conversation.
Was it because the other person was super smart and impressive? Was it because you felt smart? Did your collective input solve the world’s problems?
Doubtful! I’m willing to bet the conversation you chose stood out because you both spoke with vulnerability and showed mutual empathy. Sadly, it’s rare that we feel comfortable enough to open up about our insecurities or failures. It’s even rarer for those expressions to be received with true empathy.
When it happens, it’s a magical thing. True connections are formed and trust abounds.
But vulnerability and empathy are hard to muster. They require bravery. In the workplace, team members are far more likely to demonstrate these qualities when their leader models them first.
That means it’s up to you to create a safe space. Demonstrate vulnerability by exposing your weaknesses instead of hiding them — by admitting when you’re wrong, asking for help, and admitting you don’t have all the answers. Show empathy by seeing things from your team members’ points of view and experiencing discomfort (including failure) alongside them.
When you start to model the incredible qualities of vulnerability and empathy, your team will follow suit. And you’ll be amazed at the kind of culture that develops when people are open to real, raw connections.
2: Facilitate Honest Communication
Like in any relationship, communication is key amongst colleagues and leaders. But it’s not always easy to be open. Modeling vulnerability and empathy is a great start, but it’s also important to facilitate opportunities for honest communication instead of just hoping it will happen naturally.
1on1s are a great time to encourage communication between yourself and individual team members. Make these meetings a regular part of your leadership journey. They should be a safe space for your employees to talk about their struggles, concerns, and ideas.
Team meetings are another great place to facilitate open communication, but use them sparingly. During meetings, make sure everyone has an opportunity to participate, and never tolerate disrespect. Encourage people to reflect before they respond. It’s also helpful to summarize what another person has said before responding, allowing them to clarify anything that got lost in translation.
You can maintain these expectations outside of meetings, too. On company emails and Slack channels, for example.
3: Maintain Zero Tolerance for Disrespect
The baseline for a healthy team culture is mutual respect, no matter what. Regardless of different opinions, methods, or values, respect must be demonstrated.
Disrespect includes the obvious: sexual harassment, misogyny, ageism, inappropriate language, and name-calling — to name a few.
But it also includes more subtle behaviors: talking over someone in a meeting, disregarding someone’s point of view, taking credit for another’s ideas, or excluding a team member from a project. Watch out for these behaviors and call them out, whether privately or in the moment (just be sure to do so in a respectful way that encourages growth instead of putting someone on blast.)
4: Protect Your Team’s Time
An essential part of our team culture at Saturday Drive is protecting each team member’s time and deep work. We have allowed asynchronous schedules and dropped the expectation for immediate responses, for the most part.
When it comes to our culture, we’ve found that protecting everyone’s time allows us all to function at our best. We work the schedules that meet our needs and fuel our productivity. And we have the time to think before we respond. All of this creates a more relaxed environment coupled with more progress. Our communication is thoughtful and less harried. Our efforts are sustainable, not draining.
It’s a culture that prioritizes healthy processes and strong results. Micromanaging, excessive meetings, and arbitrary schedule requirements not included.
5: Celebrate Your Wins
Imagine launching a new product. Your team spends months and months strategizing, optimizing, and tweaking. Eventually, the product goes live and it’s an immediate success. You’ve disrupted the industry and helped countless consumers. The product was such a success that your wheels immediately start spinning. The day after your launch, you hold a brainstorming session on version 2.0.
But wait — aren’t you forgetting something? How does your team feel to have their success immediately overlooked because the next great challenge is already on the horizon?
Disappointed and discouraged, to say the least. An essential part of a great culture is celebration. Don’t let a big win pass by without taking the time to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Not only does this show your team how much you appreciate them, but it also offers an opportunity to reflect on all the things that went well so you can repeat them in the future.
6: Invest In Their Personal Development
If you read our article on leadership vs. management, you know that managers improve processes while leaders improve people. Your goal as a great leader should be coaching your team into independence.
Most people seek opportunities for career growth. No one wants to rot away in a stagnant position, year after year. Boost your team culture by investing in their personal development. This includes understanding everyone’s strengths and offering opportunities that play to those strengths. It also means addressing their weaknesses and coaching them to overcome them.
A culture of development is where talented, hard-working people thrive.
7: Demonstrate Trust
Anyone who has worked for a micromanager knows how toxic that kind of culture can be. It’s frustrating, demoralizing, and demotivating.
What’s the point of trying when it never feels good enough? Without any kind of ownership over your work, how can you feel any sense of pride?
A culture of trust, on the other hand, is rife with creativity and innovation. When you show your team that you trust their choices and ideas, you will see them blossom. That kind of ownership leads to better results and happier employees.
8: Invest in Great Benefits
Some companies treat benefits and culture as two separate endeavors, but I firmly believe that great benefits ladder up to a great culture. Investing in your team’s health and wellbeing accomplishes many things.
Benefits show that you care. These are the people that keep your business in motion — they invest in the company, and the company should return the favor.
Benefits meet their most basic human needs, especially healthcare. With these needs met, your team will be more creative, productive, and engaged.
Benefits make your workforce sustainable. You simply can’t expect unhealthy people to show up day after day.
Benefits are a worthwhile investment into your company culture, for the above reasons and many more. Read about the benefits we offer here and here.
9: Hold Off-Site Events
Off-site events can breathe new life into your team culture. There’s something special about stepping away from the day-to-day as a team, reflecting on what’s passed and looking forward to the future.
Obviously, the pandemic has complicated events and gatherings. But with the vaccine bringing us closer to “normal” than ever before, it’s never too early to start thinking about your next company or team event.
Off-site events are great for:
- Celebrating successes
- Rewarding jobs well done
- Rejuvenating your team (and preventing burnout)
- Strategic planning in a new environment (excellent for creative thinking)
- Giving your team something to look forward to
- Getting to know your team and their families
You can read more about the different types of off-site events here, as well as their benefits.
10: Ask for Feedback
The last point I’ll make about team culture is that it’s not all up to you. You can put your heart and soul into cultivating a great culture, but people want to be involved in the process. That’s why it’s a great idea to ask for feedback.
What do your team members like about your culture? What would they like to see change? The answers to these questions can be tough, but they’re an essential part of creating a culture that benefits everyone.
We use a few different types of surveys throughout the year, each one accomplishing a unique objective. It’s nerve-wracking, but I encourage you to lean into your team’s critiques. It’s truly the best way to improve as a leader — and to create a great team culture.
Culture Takes Intention
Make no mistake: your company and team have a culture. The question is, do you want to have a say in what that culture is? Do you want to intentionally develop it, or let it evolve naturally?
A great culture — the kind that attracts great people and feeds their fulfillment — doesn’t happen by chance. It’s up to you to cultivate it and sustain it. Start with our top 10 tips and you’ll be well on your way.