In one scenario, a leader has allowed this to happen while s/he was in charge. One employee started going over the boundary line, erasing part of it. The leader did not step in right away to correct the behavior and re-draw the boundary line, so the individual continued. Others saw this happening, so some of them started going over the lines too and erasing them even more. If things have gotten really bad, the high performers (team members who would never go over the line because of their personal standards) have started taking their balls and "going home." They are either leaving the team or the organization all together. In another common scenario, a new leader comes in and finds that the team's departing leader allowed this to happen.
In either case, you need to embark on a project to change the team's culture - not for the faint of heart. The team did not get to this state overnight, and you will not change the culture with one meeting or one conversation. You will need a plan, other people who will help, and lots of courage, energy and patience.
First, look to the resources you have: your leader, other leaders who have high performing teams, your HR business partner, HR specialists in training and organizational development, and/or external consultants. These individuals can help you create and execute a plan to change culture and can keep you focused when you are running out of patience and/or energy.
Once you have a team, step one is to-re-draw the boundary lines for the team, but which chalk lines do you put down first? Here are my priorities:
1. Behaviors that are creating risk for the organization and/or team members (e.g., unsafe working practices, bullying or harrassment)
2. Behaviors that will be easy to change - things your employees are able to do (e.g., attendance)
3. Behaviors that require skill-building (e.g., effective communication, giving feedback or conflict management)
How do you put boundaries down? There are a lot of options. To start, I recommend a meeting with the entire team to explain what is happening and why and to give details about expectations. You will really need courage for this meeting if you were leading the team as it evolved to its current state. I firmly believe that your efforts to change the team's culture will fail if you are not open about the role you played in getting the team to where it is. You have to lead by example, and you can't hold others accountable if you don't hold yourself accountable. Openly owning your part in the team's current situation and your public commitment to change are fundamental to moving the team forward.
Courage, energy and patience become important after the meeting. First, send out a written summary to clarify, in writing, your new expectations, then role model the expectations yourself and hold each individual accountable using effective feedback practices (more on this in a future post). When a team member goes over the chalk line, put the chalk line back down. If a team member continues to go over the line, you may need to discipline that employee or even terminate his/her employment. This is never easy, but remember how the team got here in the first place. Schedule training to help the team develop needed skills. I strongly recommend that this training be done as a team including leaders. This builds relationships, creates shared language, and ensures everyone has the same baseline of information. Keep revising and working your plan until you and the team have created the culture you want.
Culture change is tough, so ideally, you avoid getting here in the first place by being proactive about drawing chalk lines. But all is not lost if you find yourself on a playing field with no lines. Start somewhere. Follow the steps outlined above with support from people you trust, and one day, you will be proud to share the story of how you turned your team's culture around.
Share your stories and let me know if you have questions in the comments below.
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