This month’s focus at the blog is Team Springboards. Teams are the engines of many businesses today and being in top shape is important. Team culture is also important, given the context of virtual and remote work where matrix teams are an inevitable part of the equation. When working in matrix environments, it can be really important to strengthen your team culture and clarify how things are done in your culture. Again, team culture is about HOW WE DO THINGS. It’s our processes, our practices, and what’s acceptable and what’s not.

I thought it would be useful to take us back to a past post on Team Culture which you may want to explore as you go to define the different team cultures you are part of. Here’s what I wrote in Teams365 #1526:
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“Team Culture: The Every Manager’s Desktop Reference defines organizational culture as “a set of shared values, goals, practices, and management styles that characterize an organization and are expected to be reflected in its public face and member behaviors” (pp 414, Every Manager’s Desktop Reference).

Today’s VUCA business context, characterized by ongoing change and flux, has pointed many teams to the importance of team culture. Our team culture may be different, or aligned with, our organizational culture. Simply put, team culture is “HOW WE DO THINGS”. It is the behaviors, practices and values which shape our every day interaction. Think about a team who has as part of it’s culture “customer service”. Actions and activities around providing exceptional service will be prioritized over ones that value quality and/or time, unless they are linked to customer service.

What are the adjectives that describe your culture?

Team Culture doesn’t always get the attention it deserves, and HR writers like Susan Heathfield reminds us “team members understand that 20% of the problems that they will experience as a team will fall within the context of the task or mission the team is assigned to accomplish. The other 80% of the problems they experience will relate to their team culture and the processes team members establish and commit to for interacting with each other as team members.” Here's a link to her great article Team Culture and Clear Expectations at The Balance.com.

There are many different models of what comprises team culture:

Culture includes our behavioral norms and agreements - How do we do things here? What is acceptable and not acceptable.

It also includes team identity – How do I connect with others, how do we see ourselves?
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What we value: Culture is shaped by our values, beliefs and actions. It also includes our mindset. Consider what some of the mindsets are for you as a team. This might include: “We are able to flow with the changes that come our way” OR “We go above and beyond or “We rise to the challenge every time”.
When cultures are strong new members and external people can sense what our team is like. It’s almost a visible layer to others. This is especially true when we have a culture of collaboration, having each other’s back, or helping each other.

​What's important for you to note and be in dialogue around as a team with respect to team culture?”

Here's the original post.
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What’s important to note about the cultures you are part of right now?

Best wishes,
​Jennifer

​Jennifer Britton – Potentials Realized 
Leadership | Teamwork | Business Success
Author of multiple books including Effective Virtual Conversations (2017), PlanDoTrack (2018) and From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (2013)
Follow along with the #90DaysPlanDoTrack series over at Instagram @CoachingBizBuilder 
Now available – PlanDoTrack Workbook and Planner - Order a copy today on Amazon
Join the conversation at the Conversation Sparker Zone - our online community where you can explore virtual and team issues, coaching, productivity and business development).
Check out the new 19 Tips for Productivity On-Demand Course. If this is your year to get things moving, check it out now. Join Jenn for bi-weekly live group calls until July. $129 US. Learn more and enroll here.

From open office spaces to a focus on collaboration, there can also be a pendulum swing in organizations where sometimes things go too far.
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As I mentioned over the weekend, there are a number of studies exploring this topic of distraction including Udemy In Depth’s 2018 Workplace Distraction Survey. You can read it here. 
 
The report asserts that distractions have an impact on productivity. Some of the distractions noted in that study are talkative co-workers, email and others.
Many of the distractions I hear of in the work of my clients are:

• Unscheduled meetings
• Co-workers dropping by to chat
• Email
• Social media which takes you “down the rabbit hole”
• Materials and information which are not readily accessible and have not been stored in the locations you thought they would be in

What are you doing to minimize the distractions? What do you find distracting?

What conversations are important to have?

​Here are some other articles of interest:

Check out this article from Financial Times – “Digital Distractions are Making Us Dumb and Twitchy” which also includes some great tips from Professor Cal Newport.

Suresh Subamdam’s article on Is Your Work's Communication Channel Turning Your Team Into a Bunch of 'Slack'-ers?

Take a look at Digital Responsibility’s website and ideas on Digital Distraction.

Wishing you all the best,
​Jennifer

This week’s weekly journaling prompt #36 is “The one thing which could be systematized is….”.

As I write in PlanDoTrack,
“Whether you are an entrepreneur, virtual team member or leader, having an office that runs well, and systems that support you, is essential for productivity and results. Business systems help a business flow, with automation, scaling or growth of a business. Systems can also support us when we are working from home!

How do we define a system?
A system is something we can replicate. Systems are useful for things we repeatedly do. They enable us to have multiple programs and services being offered at any one time. They also allow us to delegate and hand off items to others. “ (Britton, 2019, pp 74)
  
What are the things you could systematize in your business? What are the things that would help you scale?
 
Enjoy this week’s writing prompt!
​Jennifer

The culture of a team or organization is much more than a few words. It's the way things are done. It encompasses behaviors, values, mission, practices, priorities and the motivational factors of a team.

In building strong teams it is important for teams to become aware of and focus on their team culture - the good and the bad. It's important also to note when team culture is distinct from, or aligned with an organizational culture.

For example, a team of project managers may value agility, speed and problem solving, whereas the organizational context may value quality, specificity and thoroughness. In this instance there can be conflicts between the team culture and organizational culture. The team culture may also have an influence on the organizational culture over time, shifting it to be more agile or responsive. We are seeing this today in many organizational contexts which are re-thinking how they operate and the roles their teams play.

A useful activity for a team is to consider what their team culture is. Consider your values, and what you prioritize. You may also want to ask yourselves the questions:
What are the 3 adjectives we would use to describe our culture?
What are the 3 adjectives other teams would use to describe our culture?
How do our other stakeholders describe our culture?

What do you notice about culture in your team? What's important to keep an eye on?

Check out these other Teams365 posts on team culture:
Teams365 #406: Team Culture - What's Yours? Read it here.

Team Leader Breakfast Series - Call on Team Culture. Listen in here.
Have a great Thursday,
Jennifer

This week we've focused on two areas - coaching and remote teams.

Today's quote comes from Simon Sinek's newer book - Leaders Eat Last - and makes reference to the importance of a strong culture.  He writes:
"In a weak culture, we veer away from doing "the right thing" in favor of doing "the thing that's right for me".

You'll notice the photo is of a buttress tree which gains its strength from the  unique stance of each interconnecting limb. What's the strength of culture in your organization right now?

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized | Coaching Team Leaders
Team and Leadership Development | Coaching | Retreats.
Author of From One to Many: Best Practices for Team and Group Coaching (Jossey-Bass, 2013) and Effective Group Coaching (Wiley, 2009)
Follow us on Twitter @Teams365
Phone: (416)996-8326

When organizations have a strong organizational culture you can almost touch it .As today's quote indicates an organizational culture is made up of you values, goals and how you do things.

What is the culture at your organization?

Organizational culture change change over time, for the better and worse. How has your organizational culture shifted.

An organizational culture is shaped by the people, leaders and practices of an organization. As such, our focus this week is going to be on organizational culture.


Jennifer Britton
Potentials Realized - Leadership | Teamwork | Coaching Skills Training for Leaders
Supporting Team Leaders One Conversation at a Time(TM)
Join us for an upcoming Teams365 Team Leader Coaching Group
OR The Team365 Leader Foundations Module
(416)996-8326