The evolution of technology at a global scale is generating disruption and continuous changes which are impacting the way organizations develop strategies and make decisions to sustain their competitiveness. And that’s a good thing.
What’s even better is that successful companies are attributing their success to investments in organizational culture.
Recently, I had the opportunity to attend a marketing and sales conference. There, in addition to being inspired by new industry trends and colleagues’ success stories, I witnessed how organizational culture has been a crucial component in the growth of companies that capture our attention in modern times.
These companies are aware that among their best resources, talent is the most critical. Specially, how their employees work as a team, towards the company’s objective.
They have developed, and are sustaining, a healthy company culture.
Inspired by the 10X Culture book, here are three pillars to help your organization build a thriving company culture.
Adaptability
Organizations that have an adaptable culture are characterized by their flexibility and capability to rapidly change their beliefs and skills in response to life events.
As the books states, threats happen every day, everywhere.
And if you plan to deal with your industry’s current threats by relying on strategies established at the company’s inception, you might never recover.
Changes happen because they are part of the transformation and growth of an organization, and most of them can’t be controlled. They are environmental.
However, what can be managed is the way organizations respond to these changes. And it all starts with having the mindset to adapt.
“Plan for alignment, not for commitment.”
Network
And I’m not referring to having an open work space with couches and beanbags.
Instead, successful company culture is open and interconnected and takes advantage of the use of technology to amplify its capabilities.
Open companies, like Google, tend to respond to opportunities, leverage resources and talent, and inspire their workforce. This is a great start, but if you add in interconnected communication, your organization could be a big step ahead.
An open and interconnected organization runs less risk of having fragmentation, both with data and people:
- Data fragmentation – when a company uses technology according to the needs of individual departments, and they lack connectivity with the other departments.
- People fragmentation – when divisions across the company lack connectivity and cross-functional alignment. This is particularly present with a remote workforce.
How do you make your organization more connected? An excellent way to start is to adopt tools that talk, as the authors states.
When selecting tools that are meant to help workflows and processes, put a lot of weight on choosing the ones that integrate company wide.
“Be open and connected.”
Focus on Tempo
Moving through processes in a hasted fashion generates more errors; however, going too slowly can as well. Therefore, it is crucial to follow the most efficient and practical work rhythm that addresses the most relevant needs requiring focus.
It’s not about speed, but efficiency.
If you promote this mindset in your workforce, you will develop a more efficient organizational culture.
This concept mixes principles of Outsourcing and Continuous Improvement. Click on each of them to learn more.
Following the authors’ advice, a way you can start increasing your work culture’s tempo is by doing the following:
- Identify a project that your team is managing.
- Draw a quick timeline and estimate the time required for each step.
- Categorize each step.
- Is it under your control?
- Do external factors impact the time frame?
- Is there a cost associated with reducing the time allocated?
If you answered Yes, No and No, you have a better chance of increasing your tempo, because you have control over the ultimate outcome.
“It’s a way to increase your rate of motion
without rushing your work.”
Thriving organizational culture depends on the talent you have in place. When hiring talent for your workforce, carefully consider the skills they bring, and determine if they add value to the organizational culture that will move your company to a better tomorrow.
When it comes to talent acquisition, company culture is key. Click below to learn four ways you can highlight your company culture using tactics right at your fingertips.
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