Team culture can be hard to define and change. It can be roughly described as the overall feeling of the team: is the team performing, are people positive, are dates being met, do people feel valued? Having worked as a project manager with a number of different teams over the years, I have learned that you can sometimes feel the culture when you are first introduced. The effect that team culture has on a team, and on a project, cannot be overstated.
Establishing a great culture can be a tough task. A positive culture enables the team to deliver and go beyond what is required, enabling the team to accomplish great things. A negative or poor culture will make it difficult to achieve project goals: quality will suffer, resources may leave the project, schedules will slip, team members will be pushing and pulling in opposite directions, and overall the project will have a difficult time completing the objectives. If the team or individuals on the team feel like they are constantly walking into an environment that is not pleasant, achieving timely and quality results will be difficult.
The following steps will help with creating and maintaining a positive culture. Whether you are creating a new culture from scratch or repairing an existing culture, the same steps apply.
VALUE YOUR TEAM
People need to feel valued. They need to feel like they are part of the solution. They need to feel like they are part of the decision-making and problem-solving. To do this make sure to involve all project resources at meetings. List all ideas, encourage feedback. Never curb enthusiasm; you want people to be enthusiastic about the project.
MOTIVATE THE TEAM
Talk to your team; one on one, in groups, in meetings, whenever the opportunity arises. Make sure they understand how important their work is to the success of the project. As stated above, they need to come away from discussions feeling like whatever they are doing is crucial to project success. They need to be made to feel like their contribution, however big or small, is critical to the team, the project, and the delivery. This, in turn, will help them to understand how critical it is for them to do their tasks. The motivation piece is so critical that once you have it established, the project team will start doing whatever it takes to be successful.
LISTEN TO THE TEAM
People want to be heard. They want their ideas to be recognized and discussed. When someone talks to you, put down what you’re doing, make eye contact and listen. Take notes, give feedback. If you need to do follow up and get back to the person, make sure you do it. If the team does not feel like you are listening, they will stop communicating, slowing down the project and damaging the culture.
POSITIVE RE-ENFORCEMENT
The team and individuals on the team need positive feedback for them to know the tasks they are doing are being done correctly. There is nothing better than hearing from your boss that you’re doing an excellent job, to keep doing it. They need to know this so they understand you want them to continue doing the great work they are doing, and so that they know their hard work is being noticed.
MAINTAIN A POSITIVE CULTURE
This step may be the most important. Doing any of the steps above once means nothing. The steps above need to be done regularly. They should be a part of your routine. Once you have a high performing positive culture established, you will never look back.
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