 Joanne (not her real name) came into my office looking very unhappy. She managed a team of twelve software engineers using artificial intelligence to help the firm’s customers reduce operating expenses. She reports to the firm’s Chief Operating Officer. I had facilitated a strategic planning session for the COO four months ago and Joanne thought I could help her with her own problem. Joanne explained that her and her team felt underappreciated by their customers and coworkers. Consequently, Joanne was concerned that one or more of her team could leave and go to a competitor.
I reassured Joanne that there were research-based best practices that she could implement within her team that would shift the emotional impact of their internal communications. Plus, communications with their outside colleagues and customers would become more productive and positive. I showed Joanne the slide her boss had shown at the retreat. He had defined a culture as the attitudes and behaviors that are unseen yet shape what occurs within any team. I suggested that Joanne’s team could adopt the same cultural categories for her team. · Collaborative: Sharing ideas, helping one another to solve problems, and asking teammates for feedback before making important decisions. · Accountable: Each person takes responsibility for their work and follows through on commitments they make. (Announces in advance if a commitment will be missed and negotiates a new date.) · Supportive: Team members look out for each other’s work-life balance and support learning and professional development. · Respectful: Everyone is treated fairly, different opinions are valued, and quieter members are encouraged to share their thoughts. · Innovative: Brainstorming is encouraged to help solve problems. Creativity sessions are held once a month using training facilitators. Experimentation skills are taught and used. Learning from mistakes is a best practice. And documentation is required so everyone in the organization has access. I suggested that Joanne remind her team that her company’s culture was unique in two specific ways. · Each employee is trained to express gratitude in their daily interactions with people inside and outside of the organization. Their training includes reviewing the research demonstrating the benefits of expressing and receiving gratitude which improved the mental and physical health of people. · The company has a policy where individuals or teams who go the extra mile to improve a process, do something special for a customer, or innovate and create value for the company will receive monetary reward plus choose an experience for themselves or family members and friends. Experiences like going to a theme park create lasting memories which the employee cherishes long after they spend the cash reward. Joanne left our conversation happier and ready to take action with her team. My hope is that each of you reading this will also be inspired to apply one or more of these best practices at work and perhaps in your life outside of work. It’s my belief that the communities in which we live and work are like living organisms which need our care and attention in order to keep thriving. Please contact me for complimentary, confidential conversations for anything you would like to change in your work or in your life: [email protected]; 310-948-3722. Tom Drucker MA Clinical Psychology UCLA , PhD Work at Anderson School of Business UCLA, is a founding partner of Consultants in Corporate Innovation, transforming leaders and teams plus improving processes in companies big and small. He is also a managing director at Janas Investment Bank. Learn more about him at www.corporate-innovation.com and janascorp.com.
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