Momentum - Business to Business Online Magazine MOMENTUM January 2019 | Page 35
Workplace Culture
What is “The Recipe For
A Positive Workplace
Culture”?
Almost everyone has endured a job that makes getting up
in the morning pure drudgery--when one must force oneself
to go to work, only to find we cannot wait to leave.
Hopefully, everyone has also had the experience of a great
team and a job that is fulfilling and a joy to perform. The
work culture is a huge part of making our work meaningful
and fulfilling. Few people think about what makes one
environment or team culture a great one and the other a
poisonous place. However, if we force the question, most
say, “It is the people and how we treat one another.”
The culture of most teams is usually a random combination
of personalities and dynamics between employees that just
happens. To create and maintain a positive work
environment, all employees and leadership need two things
—‘The Will’ and ‘The Skill’ to work through the natural and
inevitable problems that arise from working in close
proximity with other human beings. Unless you work
remotely, alone in a cave, and never invite anyone over, you
will find yourself in conflict at times. Are you poorly,
adequately or well-prepared?
Do you know how to present problems you have with others
in a way they can hear without feeling attacked? If someone
presents a problem to you in an improper manner, can you
hear their need and interest and let them know you heard it
in order to de-escalate them long enough to negotiate an
agreement? It is doubtful, unless you are prepared ahead of
time with training and practice the skills you learned. Every
employer and employee needs to learn communication and
conflict resolution skills, but skills are the easy part. It is ‘The
Will’ that is a challenge to build in a workforce.
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MOMENTUM / January 2019
By: Sharon Bayus, MA, LPC-S
Innovative Alternatives
[email protected]
When assisting a business in deliberate development of
positive work culture—via creation of ‘Team Norms’--we ask
work groups to construct guidelines—or ‘norms of
behavior’—to which coworkers agree to hold one another
accountable in the workplace. Team Norms, are facilitated
among employees who brainstorm the elements of their
‘ideal’ workplace, as well as creating accountability
strategies that can prevent or quickly eliminate negative
interactions. Whether problems already exist in your
culture; or you already have a great workplace culture;
these norms can resolve current issues or serve as
prevention of development of negative behaviors in the
future. It only takes one bad apple to spoil the bunch.
The power of Team Norms lies in the buy-in created within a
team that works to develop them together and commits to
hold each other accountable to them. People abide by the
norms because they created the expectations! They hold
each other accountable because they come to value the
positive environment in which they work and want to
protect it. When organizations combine the power of Team
Norms with Conflict Resolution & Communication Skills
Training—companies save time, money, productivity and
human resources! Well
worth any company’s
investment!