At work, we spend most of our time creating fun events for our clients. But these events are not JUST intended for fun. They have the much bigger, broader, and more important goal of helping companies build a stronger, more positive company culture. How do we do it?
When we started ZogCulture, we were intentional about creating a work and company culture where we want to come to work every day. It's not easy, but it's possible, if you focus on these four things.
The best teams trust each other to do their jobs to the best of their ability and always look out for each other. You cannot have a strong team or a good company culture if you don't have trust among coworkers.
This means building real personal relationships beyond just working together, so that everyone feels vested in the team's success. Without those connections, at best, you have indifferent employees who punch-in and punch-out, caring only about their own performance and growth. At worst, you have problems created by gossip, lack of cohesion, or backbiting.
That's why our events focus so much on having fun together, seeing teammates as real, dynamic people and not just "work colleagues."
This may sound like a broad one, but clarity infiltrates every single aspect of your work. For a positive company culture, you need clarity of the organization's mission and vision. Without that, how can you expect employees to understand the goal and what they are all striving toward?
Clarity of roles and expectations are also important. Even in flat organizations, it is crucial that individuals understand their charge and the domain of their teammates. That way, everything has an owner and accountability.
If there are questions about anything, it's always best that those get cleared up. Spend the time clarifying what is most important, and your team will be able to rally around it and deliver on those expectations more readily.
Sometimes, we get so caught up in executing tasks that we forget to reflect on whether we're performing them at a high level, as individuals or as a team. That's why receiving consistent feedback is so important to building a positive company culture.
At first, it may seem awkward to deliver constructive feedback to employees on how to improve. But when you think about it, having those tough conversations is actually the most caring thing you can do in their career. Regular feedback helps everyone understand what they're doing well, how they can improve, and how the entire team can reach their potential. When there is already a trusting culture, and when feedback is regularized AND both positive and constructive, everyone knows exactly where they stand and how to get to the next level.
Throughout this blog post, you've probably noticed that nothing happens alone. A positive company culture does not spring forth from one individual... it has to be a team investment and habitual practice. At the center of all of that is building a sense of real connection among the team.
This does not mean you have to be best friends with everyone. Different personalities and interests can easily coincide on the same team, working toward the same goals. In fact, there's a huge upside to having that kind of diversity. However, if there is no personal connection, you lose any of the value from having diverse talents and personnel on your team.
Connection helps you build that trust, clarify the mission and objectives, and deliver that feedback to help everyone grow. In many ways, connection is the foundation of it all. Which is why our events—and the entire mission of ZogCulture and ZogSports—focuses so much on developing real personal connections.
By working on these four things, your company will be on its way to achieving not only your business goals, but also building a sustainable and desirable culture that keeps employees happy, retained, and wanting to be part of the team.
Want help setting your company culture up for success? We can help!