The Comprehensive Guide To Resetting A Team Culture
Rebooting Your Team: A Leadership Mandate for a Culture Reset
Do you ever feel like your business is stuck in neutral? You have the vision, the product, the market demand – but something's holding you back. Maybe it's a nagging sense of disengagement in your leadership team, a feeling of missed opportunities, or a constant undercurrent of tension.
These are all signs that your company culture might be in need of a reset. A healthy culture is the engine that propels your business forward – it fosters innovation, drives productivity, and attracts top talent.
But addressing a struggling culture can seem overwhelming. Team building exercises and motivational talks might feel like temporary fixes. They probably are temporary fixes. What you need is a comprehensive strategy, AKA a leadership mandate that outlines a clear path towards a thriving work environment.
This guide will equip you with the tools and framework to create that mandate: the three preliminary steps and the four specific activities to create a mandate that empowers your leadership team to drive the cultural transformation your business needs.
Table of Contents
Step 1: Diagnose the Disconnect – Taking the Cultural Pulse
A prescription without a diagnosis is malpractice. Before you start trying to fix a struggling team culture, you need to get clear on the root cause behind the underperformance. The first step to a successful culture shift is examining the specific issues hindering your team's effectiveness and happiness.
Here are some key areas to investigate:
Communication: Is information flowing freely between teammates? Do employees feel comfortable voicing concerns and ideas?
Collaboration: Do teams work together seamlessly, or are there silos hindering progress?
Workload Management: Are key employees feeling overworked or underutilized? Is there a fair distribution of tasks and responsibilities?
Values Alignment: Do your leadership team members understand and embody your company's core values? Do these values resonate with their personal goals?
Recognition and Reward: Do your employees feel appreciated for their contributions? Is there a system for acknowledging achievements?
Before issuing a company-wide announcement designed to “fix our broken culture,” there are several data-driven ways to gather valuable insights on your leadership team’s culture:
Employee Surveys: Anonymous surveys can unearth honest feedback about team dynamics, communication channels, and leadership styles.
Focus Groups: Organize small group discussions to gain deeper insights into specific aspects of the culture.
Exit Interviews: When employees leave, take the opportunity to understand their reasons. Their departure might highlight underlying cultural issues.
Leadership Self-Reflection: Encourage your leadership team to objectively assess their own behavior and communication styles. Are they fostering open communication and leading by example?
By using a combination of these methods, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of the current state of your team culture, identifying both strengths and weaknesses.
Step 2: Define Your Desired Culture – Envisioning the Future
Once you've diagnosed the issues, it's time to define the ideal culture you want to cultivate. This future state becomes the guiding star for your cultural transformation efforts.
Here are some key elements to consider when shaping your desired culture:
Values in Action: How do personal and organizational values translate into everyday behaviors and interactions?
Collaboration and Communication: What should effective teamwork and open communication look like in your organization?
Innovation and Learning: How will you encourage your leadership team to be creative, experiment, and learn from mistakes?
Work-Life Balance and Wellbeing: What steps will you take to create a healthy and supportive work environment that values employee well-being?
Growth and Development: How will you invest in your employees' skills and knowledge, fostering a culture of continuous learning?
Remember, the best culture for your company is unique. Don't blindly copy another organization's approach. Consider your company's size, industry, and overall mission when defining your desired state; for example, small teams don’t need exhaustive written policies if they sit around the same conference room table, whereas larger organizations may need a simple and easy-to-understand written playbook that speaks to many types of employees.
Step 3: Crafting the Leadership Mandate – A Roadmap for Change
With a clear picture of your desired culture, it's time to create the leadership mandate – a document that outlines the strategic plan for achieving your cultural transformation.
The mandate should address the following elements:
Strategic Goals: Connect the desired culture to your overall business goals. How will a thriving leadership team environment empower you to achieve your financial and market objectives?
Key Initiatives: Identify specific, actionable steps you'll take to shift the culture. This could include anything from implementing communication protocols to launching a mentorship program to introducing flexible work arrangements.
Resource Allocation: Allocate resources – both financial and human – to support your initiatives. Assign clear ownership for each initiative and establish timelines for implementation. Remember- if you invest nothing, it’s unlikely anything will happen at all!
Communication Plan: Develop a comprehensive communication strategy. How will you inform your leadership team and the broader organization about the cultural transformation effort? How will you keep them updated on progress and solicit their feedback?
Performance Measurement: Define metrics to track progress towards your cultural goals. Consider metrics like employee engagement scores, turnover rates, and customer satisfaction.
Creating the Mandate: A Step by Step Guide
Once you have decided that there is a problem, envisioned a desired future state, and started to plan the change, it’s time to make the change happen! Follow our step-by-step guide in creating a leadership mandate that everyone can buy into and take ownership of.
1. Set a collective Mission
Goal: Reaffirm the leadership team’s purpose and set out what we collectively seek to accomplish.
Start with a confidence rating activity:
If a collective mission has been created in the past, skip steps 1-3
Everyone takes 1 minute and writes their one sentence answer to the question, “What is our leadership team’s purpose?
Each member shares their definition.
Identify commonalities and write a unified mission statement.
Ask team members, “In the past six months, on a scale of 1-10, how have we done as a collective leadership team in upholding that mission?”
Everyone writes their number on a post-it note, folds it up, and then hands it in to be anonymously added up.
Write the resulting number on the whiteboard.
Say, “Our goal at the end of this process is to find out how to increase this number by one.”
Leave this number up throughout the whole offsite in a highly visible location.
2. Reframe Leadership Meetings
Goal: Articulate a step-by-step overview of how an ideal leadership team meeting should be run and ensure everyone on the team understands their role in that process.
Set up initial framing and answer the “What’s In It For Me”:
“The first and most practical place for us to act like one team is during our weekly leadership team meetings. If we can improve how they run and what we all get out of it, we’ll be able to use those good practices to improve many more ways that we work together.”
Reset Culture Through An Offsite
Our free guide to planning and running an offsite can help you set the stage for a culture reset that lasts for years to come.
Have the team describe an ideal future state in their eyes:
How do you want to feel coming out of a great leadership team meeting?
What do you want to be able to do coming out of an ideal leadership team meeting?
What kind of information do you want before a weekly leadership team meeting, ideally?
What kind of recap or summary do you want following our leadership team meetings?
Identify low-hanging fruit from that conversation:
“So-and-so mentioned that you would like to know org-wide updates before the meeting. If the team lead sets aside 15 minutes on Friday afternoons to write out these updates, would that be an easy fix? Then, on Monday morning, we can all expect that everyone has read these updates and can come prepared with questions. Is this a change you all would like to see?”
Identify small easy-to-accomplish changes by summarizing points of consensus:
“I’ve heard three times that sharing general updates is not the best use of our time. Can we all agree that if someone wants to share an update during the meeting, they should have a clear Call to Action such as an ask for help, feedback, or to delegate a task. Is that a reasonable expectation?”
3/5s of the way through the allotted time, summarize the agreed-upon key changes to team meetings:
“Let’s take a pause and recap what we’ve agreed to so far…”
3/4s of the way through the allotted time, script the next steps:
“We’re running out of time for this, so let’s take a look at where we will implement these changes…[pulls up Google Doc/shared meeting document]”
Suggestion: Write agreed-upon changes directly into the Google Doc/running agenda at the top so team members have to revisit it every week.
In the last few minutes, reaffirm the mission and purpose:
“To bring this full circle, our team meetings are a place where we can improve our total score [points at number on whiteboard] and work better together, and in turn, for all the people we support. Do we believe these changes will do this?”
If someone doesn’t enthusiastically agree, ask them, “What are we missing here? Do you think these changes won’t work? What WOULD improve how we work together?”
3. Establish an ongoing Code of Conduct
Goal: Explain how the leadership team will measure success in objective and subjective terms, as well as strategies for resolving conflicts when they arise.
Note: As the most sensitive and high-value topic, phrasing the following questions from a place of high expectations and psychological safety will have a large impact on the final product and the team’s buy-in.
Set up initial framing and answer the “What’s In It For Me”:
“We can and will improve how we work together as one team. We are going to talk about how we want to behave without assigning blame to the past. However, we need to be honest with ourselves: if we want to work smarter, we have to be willing to change. I believe that this team has incredible potential and we’re going to create a Code of Conduct to guide us as we realize that potential.”
Identify the pain, specifically:
For the next minute, ask attendees to privately write out as many of their frustrations they have as a leadership team member.
Examples:
Not enough time to have regular 1-1s with their team
No chance to get to know each other on the leadership team
Feeling like their work is second fiddle to everyone else
Other members of the leadership team don’t value each other’s work products
Have each member share one frustration from their list- write each one down on a whiteboard.
With each response, ask participants to raise their hand if they felt the same frustration in the past 6 months
Ask if anyone would like to add any other frustrations that they feel are larger/more impactful than what’s already up on the board.
Identify opportunities for change:
Ask the team to identify what is completely under their control, somewhat under their control, or not under their control at all.
For things not under control at all, follow up with, “We may not be able to control this, but how can we support each other with the impact from this frustration?”
“How should we as a leadership team approach frustrations like this?”
“If you are experiencing frustration, how do you want to be supported?”
“How should we show up for each other, especially when a colleague is experiencing major frustrations?”
Set a context and describe behavior changes:
“Let’s say it’s Leadership Meeting 2.0 from our earlier conversation. How should we share in that meeting that we’re experiencing a major frustration?”
“Should we have time set aside for leadership team members to share what’s bothering them? How do we want to tell each other that we’re struggling with something?”
“How do we refocus on finding solutions, rather than devolving into a vent session?”
Agree upon common changes:
Identify practical phrases, behaviors, habits, etc. and document onto a whiteboard/shared document.
With each proposed behavior change, check with the team for enthusiastic consent. Provide space for contrary opinions.
Implement changes and bestow mandate:
“We need a custodian to make sure that these changes are implemented through reminders, collecting feedback, and updating the document as we learn. Who is willing to be our Implementer-in-Chief?”
ProTip: If there is a high potential member of your leadership team, talk with them before this session to see if they’d be willing to step up for this particular responsibility.
“Thank you for volunteering, Kate. Can we all agree that Kate is our Implementer-in-Chief? If anyone is finding a problem with this arrangement, my door is always open.”
In the last few minutes, reaffirm the mission and purpose:
“To bring this full circle, this code of conduct is intended to improve our total score [points at number on whiteboard] and work better together, and in turn, for all the people we support. Do we believe these changes will do this?”
If someone doesn’t enthusiastically agree, ask them, “What are we missing here? Do you think these changes won’t work? What WOULD improve how we work together?”
4. Reaffirm the Change
Goal: Reiterate the consensus, restate the conclusions, and reflect on the experience in order to solidify buy-in and commitment to change.
Replay the process
Recap each of the previous discussion topics and memorable moments.
Restate key deliverables that came out of the process.
Restate the changes:
Summarize the tactical changes and when they will go into effect.
Assign ownership if there is not one throat to choke for a particular change.
Reflect on the mission:
Return to the original number from the very first activity.
Ask people to think of the changes that were decided and then write down their score anonymously on a Post-It note to the following question, “In the next six months, on a scale of 1-10, what is your rating of how we as a collective leadership team will uphold our mission?”
Add up the score:
If the score is higher, take a victory lap (and a picture of everyone smiling!) and thank everyone for their optimism.
If the score is lower that your initial number, be willing to engage in a tough conversation around the offsite with an intention of uncovering why people did not feel safe to voice these concerns earlier.
FAQs for Creating Leadership Mandates
What is a “leadership mandate”?
A leadership mandate is a set of behaviors, actions, and expectations to achieve a desired leadership team culture that will cascade throughout a business or organization.
Why does a business need a leadership mandate?
Businesses need a leadership mandate because it provides a clear, leader-driven roadmap for transforming team culture, fostering a more productive and successful work environment.
What is a leadership mandate supposed to do?
A leadership mandate is a multi-purpose tool designed to:
Diagnose Current Culture: It helps identify strengths and weaknesses in your existing team dynamic.
Define Ideal Culture: It establishes a clear vision for the kind of work environment you want to create.
Develop an Action Plan: It outlines specific steps to bridge the gap between your current and desired culture.
Drive Change: It empowers leaders to take ownership and guide the team through cultural transformation.
Measure Progress: It sets benchmarks to track the effectiveness of your cultural improvement efforts.
What makes a good leadership mandate?
A good leadership mandate is a powerful recipe for cultural change within your business. Here are the key ingredients that make it effective:
Clarity & Focus: The mandate should be clear, concise, and easy for everyone to understand. Avoid jargon and focus on the specific goals for your team culture.
Actionable & Measurable: Don't just outline the desired culture - define concrete steps to achieve it. Include measurable metrics to track progress and assess your impact.
Leader-Driven & Owned: The mandate needs strong leadership backing. Leaders should champion the initiative, take ownership of the action plan, and actively guide the team.
Employee Input & Communication: While leaders chart the course, incorporate employee feedback into the process. Open communication throughout the transformation is crucial.
Adaptability & Flexibility: Recognize that culture change is a journey, not a destination. Be willing to adapt the mandate as needed based on progress and feedback.
What makes a bad leadership mandate?
Here are some red flags to watch out for when creating a leadership mandate:
Unclear Vision & Goals: If the mandate lacks a clear picture of the desired culture or specific goals for achieving it, it creates confusion and a lack of direction.
Top-Down Imposition: A mandate dictated by leadership without input from the rest of the leadership team feels inauthentic and breeds resentment.
Empty Promises & Lack of Action: A mandate that outlines grand changes but lacks concrete steps or resources to implement them loses credibility and fizzles out.
Unrealistic Timelines & Expectations: Cultural change takes time. A mandate with unrealistic deadlines or expectations sets the team up for failure and demotivation.
Lack of Communication & Transparency: Leaders who fail to communicate the mandate effectively or keep the team updated create uncertainty and resistance.
Inflexibility & Stagnation: The best mandates are adaptable. Clinging to an outdated plan that doesn't address emerging challenges or feedback hinders progress.
How do you implement a leadership mandate?
After a leadership mandate has been created, it needs to be translated into concrete behaviors, documents, and rituals. Just like learning a new skill, a leadership team needs space and support to practice the new behaviors, utilize the new documentation correctly, and enact the right ritual to the right context. It is highly recommended for one individual to be the custodian of change, keeping watch for old behaviors and gently correcting team members on the new normal.
Who is responsible for a leadership mandate?
Ultimately a team is responsible for their success or failure. There is often a single leader (CEO, Director, Team Lead, etc.) who suffers the consequences of negative behaviors, but they are not always the custodian for change. In fact, empowering a team member who is not the formal team leader helps build internal respect and accountability.
How do you stick with a leadership mandate over time?
Cultural change takes time. It is recommended to revisit agreements made in a leadership mandate every quarter, to embed reminders within the flow of work (on meeting agendas, for example), and to find opportunities to recognize positive progress every week. Having an individual held accountable to the change will also ensure compliance with the new ways of working.
What if the leadership mandate isn’t working?
If data was collected before creating the leadership mandate, set a 3-6 month window to evaluate the same data points after the leadership mandate was put into action. Objective data, rather than subjective data, should be used to assess whether the leadership mandate worked or didn’t work.
If the results from objective analysis prove that team culture has degraded further, productivity is lower, satisfaction has decreased, or other key metrics have regressed, further analysis on the relationship between those data metrics and leadership impact is warranted. Creating a flourishing team culture is a difficult endeavor and teams rarely “figure it out” in their first attempt.
Still stuck with a team culture that’s holding you back?
If you need help identifying deep-set cultural problems and how to effectively set up your business to successfully scale, schedule a free consultation.
Step one of the healing process: admitting that you have a problem.
