ARTICULATING YOUR COMPANY CULTURE AND VALUES INSTRUCTIONS Set aside 20-30 minutes to free-write your responses to the questions below. Your answers don’t need to be full sentences or even make much sense. Let your mind wander! Metaphors, imagery, real-life examples, stories you know - all of these might come up and they are all useful. Keep writing beyond your initial gut-feel response and automatic answers. There might be a mental blank for a while but keep writing and more information is likely to arise. Leave your responses to settle over a night or two, then take another look to see if you want to update any of your answers. Then ask yourself the final question: What have I learned about our company culture and values?
QUESTIONS FOR REFLECTION Recall a time when it felt like everything in the business was working really well. What could you see happening around you? Think about client satisfaction, business operations, the way the team was working together, the individual people? Remember if/when things weren’t going well. Think again about client satisfaction, business operations, the way the team was working together, the individual people? Who are your “anchors” in the team? Anchors are people who really embody what’s important to you and the business. What is it about them that reflects the company values?
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Who did you hire who didn’t work out? What was it about them that you initially felt was a good fit (during the recruitment process)? What did they do that meant they weren’t right for you? What makes you as a company unique? What makes you different from other places to work? If your company had a hero/ine, who would it be? (Could be a person or another company). What do they do that’s important? Has a client or employee ever asked you to make a compromise that you weren’t willing to make? What values were you honouring in that situation? What are your hot buttons - things that make you feel angry, in the work context?
What do you really hope your company values are? How do you want people to behave? How do you describe the work culture to other people today (in reality)? Think about recent conversations with friends, peers, colleagues etc. Imagine the company ten years from now & imagine you’re looking back over the successes of the past decade, things that you found personally fulfilling as well as financial success. What kind of culture have you created, that led to those successes? What have I learned about our company culture and values?
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WHAT DO I DO WITH THIS LIST? Optimally, distill your reflections down to 3 core values. This helps your team to remember, share, and bring your values to life. You can choose how to communicate them, and you may elect to keep them as internal-only. They are not meant to act as a marketing tool so don’t worry about wordsmithing too much. Memorable + true is effective: buzzwordy is boring. Your values can (and naturally will) act as decision filters for hiring, performance management, office space, clients, projects etc. Collect stories from around the company that illustrate the values and share them: at company meetings, in emails, posters, with new starters... This will help people relate to the values as real rather than fluffy. If you notice thoughts like “... but we have to be realistic about this….” then please sound the Values alarm. Either your stated value is false and it’s time to revisit, or you’re about to take a step that won’t serve you or the business in the longer term. Values can be aspirational: meaning, you’re not there yet, but you know it’s an important growth point for the company. Aspirational values will need to be overtly cultivated through leadership, communication, and performance management to help them grow into regular team habits.
ABOUT US We love to serve leaders who have an audacious People vision. If you’d like to dive in with designing your culture and creating purposeful company values, we’re on hello@breakfastpeople.co or 08445 610 795
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