Organisational – and team – culture is described as ‘the way things are done around here’. 

This month I’m writing about Team Culture and last week in my first article I outlined the three things you need clarity on if you want to change the culture in your team. Read this article first if you haven’t already done so.

The first thing you need clarity on before you start changing anything is your team’s current culture. Respect and recognise its history before trying to change the world.

Think about the things that are ‘accepted’ in your team. These are often what you might think of as ‘small’ things such as:

• Turning up late to meetings – because the last one over-ran;
• Sending emails or texting during meetings;
• ‘Not having time’ to complete the actions you agreed at your last meeting;
• Poor performance not dealt with – or dealt with immediately;
• Working from home on Fridays;
• Constant busyness;
• 1-1s frequently cancelled because we’re ‘too busy’;
• ‘Being available’ over the wee
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Over the next four weeks I am going to help you understand how to change your own ‘team culture’ – if it’s not working for you as well as you would like.

I’m using the common definition of culture – ‘the way things are done around here’ – which encompasses how people in the team act, dress, carry out their work and behave.

Whilst organisations are often involved in large ‘culture change’ initiatives across the board (many of which are unsuccessful for a variety of reasons) I’ve sometimes been asked if it is possible to change the culture of one particular team within an organisation – when it’s not the top team.

The answer to that question is, I believe, ‘yes’ but with the following caveats:

• The culture change in your own team has to complement what the organisation overall is trying to achieve;
• The ‘level above’ your team has to be supportive of the initiative (so if you are a leader trying to change your team’s culture, your boss has to be explicitly and actively supportive);
• You n...