Build an Intentional Team Culture

Culture is either tolerated or created. Leaders play an active role in forming and maintaining a team culture.

So, what is team culture? It is a living collection of values, beliefs, and objectives that define and communicate your team’s identity. More simply, culture is often observed in the rhythms, habits, and regular communication of a team. As leaders, it is our job to intentionally form our team culture. This is vital to building a high-morale and high-trust team.

Often team culture is formally communicated through a team playbook. In this post, we are assuming your team has already done the hard work of creating and defining your playbook. Your team has clarified ‘Why You Exist’ as a team. You have identified ‘What Is Important Right Now’. Maybe you have given specific roles to each person and agreed on core values or behaviors. Your team has put in hard work to create an intentional culture. Celebrate – you have done the first, and perhaps most difficult, step! (If your team hasn’t created a team playbook, check out this blog post.)

So your team has created a playbook, now what? A team’s culture needs to go further than printed words to actively live in a team’s values, beliefs, and objectives. People lose focus easily, team members move on, and the last thing you want is for your playbook to be forgotten or lost in cyberspace somewhere. How can you build on the hard work you have done and make your playbook a living part of your culture? In this blog post, we share eight practical ways to use your playbook to form an intentional team culture.

Put it on the wall.

One of the best ways to remember is to write it on the wall. Frame it, write it, stencil it, decal it, be creative, but get it on the wall! Blank walls are the perfect canvas to keep what matters front and center. Some good examples include:

‘Why We Exist’ and ‘What We Do’ statements should be displayed in prominent places where both the public and your team can read them often. A showroom, front desk, or classroom are all great places for these short statements.
Display your values or ‘How We Behave’ where the members of your team can view them daily such as in the team meeting room, workshop, dining area, or seating area.
Consider adding team bios to a wall. Bio’s can include a simple photo with the team member’s main role and responsibilities to communicate ‘Who Does What’. To make it fun add something personal such as a favorite quote or a little about their personality. Team bios are often more suitable for a hallway or through way where people can be introduced to your team quickly. Bios are especially important for teams that have a lot of foot traffic or first-time visitors.
The Team Playbook should be able to fit on a one-page sheet of paper. This one page can be displayed on employees’ desks or beside the office door or on the bulletin board. Your one-page may be changed annually so keep it easily replaceable and printable.

Incorporate into meeting rhythms.

In each meeting incorporate one question or activity that works to communicate your team culture. This doesn’t need to take more than a couple of minutes and can be connected to the main topic of the meeting. Some examples include:

Ask your team often, “Why Do We Exist?” Get someone to tell the story of why the team was started in just 1 minute. Make this so normal that any member of the team can answer this question quickly. When a team member needs help, expand the question to the entire team.
Ask each person to share how their role helps accomplish ‘Why We Exist’? Ask the rest of the team to help them connect the dots if needed.
Ask your team which part of ‘What We Do’ is working or most successful on the team right now. What part could use some improvement?
Do a brief study or dive into the different ‘How We Behave’ values. Have you noticed a team member living out the value well? Ask that person to share in two minutes what the value means to them.
Share an example or story from history that illustrates a ‘How Do We Behave’ value lived out well.
Before making big decisions, briefly review any ‘How We Succeed’ strategies and ‘How We Behave’ that could influence the decision-making process.
Ask your team what progress has been made on ‘What Is Important Right Now’ Then ask what action steps the team needs to take or is taking to accomplish it.

Don’t leave your playbook to a once-a-year review. Instead, as you incorporate bit-sized discussions into meetings, team members will start to internalize the team’s common values and beliefs.

Connect cheers and celebrations.

What gets celebrated gets repeated. Include your team’s playbook in cheers and encouragement. Ask often, “How have you seen your team display a ‘How We Behave’ value recently?” “What steps did you see your teammates take this week to get us closer to ‘What Is Important Right Now’? “Has anyone seen a teammate do a good job of using a ‘How We Succeed’ strategy?”

Did your team accomplish ‘What is Important Right Now?’ Make sure to celebrate it! Do you see your team doing an outstanding job at a ‘How We Behave’ value, spontaneously bring doughnuts and tell them! When you connect your celebrations to something meaningful, it builds momentum.

Work it into your communications.

All aspects of your communication should reflect your team’s culture. Whether you are a business or non-profit team, work your playbook into all the corners of your marketing and communications. Certainly, the entire playbook is not always appropriate for public consumption, and rarely will you throw up the entire playbook onto some marketing space. Instead look for ways to communicate parts of your playbook, especially ‘Why We Exist’ and ‘What We Do’, across your existing website, videos, presentations, printed items, and social media.

You may not think that you have much marketing per se, but every team has methods of communication. It may be as simple as all team members having an email signature with the ‘Why We Exist’ statement. Start by taking a look at your existing communication methods and aim for consistency.

Include in accountability.

How does your team give feedback? Whether you use a KRA or 1-1 mentoring meeting or something else entirely, include aspects of your team playbook in your feedback. Give encouragement and constructive criticism into how a team member is displaying your ‘How We Behave’ value, contributing to ‘What Is Important Right Now’, and using your ‘How We Succeed’ strategy. As you give focused feedback you communicate what is important!

Add it to onboarding.

As your team culture is reflected across all aspects of your team, new members will be able to learn your team culture quickly and naturally. However, don’t miss out on the perfect opportunity that is onboarding. Add items into your existing interview and onboarding process that explain ‘Why You Exist’, ‘What You Do’, and ‘How You Behave’. Some ideas include:

Share your team playbook and tell stories behind the different statements. Include the story of how your team began and how it connects to ‘Why We Exist.’
Ask other team members to explain how their role connects to ‘Why We Exist’. Ask the new team member to write a short essay about how their role fits into the ‘Why We Exist.’
Assign further learning materials that offer insight into ‘How We Behave’ and ‘How We Succeed’. Help your new team member get excited about your team’s strategies and values.
Give an in-person tour of the programs and activities included in ‘What We Do’.
Make intentional introductions to the rest of the team members, including their roles and responsibilities, so that it is understood ‘Who Does What’.
Explain ‘What Is Important Right Now’ and the reasons behind it. Give the new team member practical ideas of how they can help the team work towards what is important as they join the team.

Make a plan for updates.

If a team is growing it will be changing. To continue with clarity, you need habits for reviewing and updating your playbook. Carve out time in advance to work on your team playbook. Annual off-sites, company retreats, or quarterly meetings can be great times to determine ‘How We Succeed’ and ‘What Is Important Right Now.’ These strategies and priorities should be time bound and reviewed regularly.

Any time someone transitions roles, leaves the team, or joins the team, there should be a simple, yet understood process to update ‘Who Does What.’ Updating documents is important, but also discussion should happen at the team level to clarify the change.

Communicate. Repeat.

As a team leader, it is your job to connect the dots often. Communicate to the team that we have taken this action step to get ‘What Is Important Right Now’ done. We are using this ‘How Will We Succeed’ strategy because it helps us accomplish ‘What We Do.’ This program, discussion, and task are important because it is closely connected to ‘Why We Exist.’ As a leader, you go first in this intentional communication and eventually your team will adopt it as well.

My children and I regularly have this exchange:
“Do you know what, kids?” I ask them.
“What, Dad?” they reply.
“Did you know your mom is awesome?!” I exclaim with enthusiasm.
The other day my son rolled his eyes and replied, “Dad of course we know that. You say it all the time!”

As a father, I knew I had communicated. When your team members roll their eyes because they already know the answers to your team playbook, then you know you are successfully communicating.

Team culture is formed in the everyday communication and rhythms of team life. Your team’s playbook is the springboard of communication for team meetings, rhythms of accountability, encouragement, onboarding, review, and vision. As you consistently focus and communicate, the strong fabric of your team culture is formed.

How does your team build an intentional culture? Let us know in the comments! Have questions or want help getting started? Chat with Matt.

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