How excited are you to go to work in the morning? It’s important that we like what we do, but how much we like it is largely determined by the culture in which it occurs. This generation of business leaders know their success, growth, and potential ceiling are all heavily influenced by the vitality of their teams.
With that in mind, here are five things you can do to help foster a great company culture.
1. Have an open door policy.
Open lines of communication are part of a crucial bedrock for a stable, healthy, and sustainable company culture. Employees need to know that they can knock on your door (if it’s not already open) and say anything they want without fear of reprisal. Be open and honest with them about what you need and they will do the same for you. Establishing open communication as a base expectation will set the stage for more innovative collaborative work.
2. Have an ambitious vision of the future.
People need to be excited about what they are doing right now. If they aren’t, motivating them based on the future is going to be hard. But maintaining the status quo into eternity isn’t going to get anyone excited either. Make sure you have an ambitious plan for your company’s future. Have specific, tangible, BIG goals and make them public. Post notes and pictures around the office, or send emails to keep these goals in mind. Assess the progress towards these goals as a team on a regular basis.
3. Encourage employee bonding.
At a minimum, your team needs to at least respect each other and get along while in the office. Anything less is a recipe for disaster. But uncovering and encouraging the shared interests of your employees can make them into even better collaborators. Don’t crack the whip at the sound of non work related conversations. Encourage time out of the office and set up extracurricular activities for your team like a night out for dinner or bowling.
4. Encourage variety within the work day.
Your employees each have their own role. They should know what specific value they are bringing to your team but at the same time they don’t want to feel like a robot performing the exact same task in the same way, day after day. Find ways to work in a little variety throughout the week. Hint: meetings are probably not the best way to do this. Encouraging your teams to change their perspective and cross-pollinate on some projects will keep things feeling fresh.
5. Abide by the Golden Rule.
Last and simplest but perhaps most important of all, remember to abide by the Golden Rule. The phrase is almost too simple for its own good as it seems to get lost in so much of our everyday interactions. Treat your peers and employees as you would like to be treated. Know how much of a privilege it is to be in a position of power, and learn to recognize when you might be abusing it. If you simply treat your employees the way you would like to be treated you will see that kindness returned to you manyfold and feel its benefits when you step into the office each day.
Have you accomplished these things for your teams? What tactics work for you to encourage bonding between employees? Variety in the workday? I’d love to hear from you. Connect with me on LinkedIn Facebook and on Twitter @DoubledareCoach.
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photo credit: Lost In Lines via photopin (license)
