Level up your teams’ culture

Photo by Takahiro Sakamoto on Unsplash

Whether you are inheriting a team or have been running the team for a while. There is always more that can be done to improve the culture. A team’s culture is a like a living organism. You can't buy it or create it overnight. What you can do is establish small behaviours and create an environment where a happy and performing culture can grow. 

I listened to The Culture Code by Daniel Coyle (here). In the book he discusses simple things we can do and explains why they have such a large impact to the team's culture. Nobody likes turning up to work and facing a toxic culture every day. As a manager, although you can't create a culture overnight it is your duty to start the chain reaction. You need to identify the weak spots and the easy wins and start acting on them daily. Since writing the first version of this article last year. I have experimented on my team. Sorry, but I am sure none of you are surprised. I have also observed teams over the years and wanted to update and add to the original article.

The important thing about building a positive culture is your team performance is lifted and it is longer lasting. Each individual is less worried about politics, back channel gossip and being judged for asking a question. They become more focused on knowledge sharing and being inclusive regardless of title or which office they are in. It leads to better collaboration and communication. Which allows room for innovation and solving problems faster. 

Here are three building blocks I try and focus on when I am running a team.

One. Belonging Cues. A belonging cue is a small action or behaviour that is used frequently. Over time the small cues build up to build relationships and trust. Having high-frequency interactions weekly with your team members is better than chatting to them once a month for 60 minutes. This is not just asking them how they are before delegating a task or asking for an update. It could be a bit of banter on the group chat. A check in to see how their week is going. Showing genuine interest in something they shared with you or the team. 

The cues can start right from the day a new team member signs a contract. How many times do you reach out to them and say that you are looking forward to them joining the team? 

Belonging cues become more natural as you learn more about the people in your team. Remembering things that are going on in their personal lives or how they are feelings about a particular thing. When someone remembers a previous conversation and asks me about it at a later time. It feels pretty good. These interactions build up over time and give people the sense of ‘belonging’. You feel a sense of purpose and connectedness in the team. 

Belonging cues might start from you but over time you want to foster an environment where the team members are doing it with each other. 

Two. Showing gratitude.We ask each other for things every day. The word 'thanks' is used but it starts to lose its value when it sounds routine. We are all busy so we don't need to have a speech prepared every time someone sends you a link because you can't find it. But on an irregular basis it brings in huge rewards if you can stop and show some genuine appreciation to someone for their contributions. If they are more introverted do this in a 1:1 setting so that they can let it sink in. 

By you doing this it sets a tone in the team. Where people subconsciously feel that they need to pass it on also. Occasionally it ends up with an all-in group chat of people singling out others on their latest achievement or helpfulness.

When someone shows genuine gratitude to you it releases a brain chemical called Serotonin. It makes us feel proud that someone respects us. That pride leads to feeling valued in the team and feeling valued is a core reason people perform their best.


Three. Vulnerability loop. To ensure a culture of sharing you need to make sure they feel safe to ask any question. To feel safe to propose an idea on how to improve a process. Or to challenge an existing process with a 'why' question. 

You want them to feel safe to ask for help without thinking it is a negative or they will be judged. The best way to start this is to start doing it yourself. This comes in two forms. One being we ask the team questions even if you might be exposing your lack of knowledge. One I have asked recently is "I know this was an important project for the customer, I know I should be across the details but do you mind walking me through it again?". 

Second is admitting our stuff ups. I remember the first time a great manager of mine said: "well I stuffed that up pretty badly, let's work on what we can salvage now". I had to pause for a moment and double check I heard it right. It gave me the trust to not have to have every single thing perfect to still keep my career progressing. Having a team that is scared to make a single mistake even though they already have 100 positive points is not a safe environment. Remind them that you have a long memory and one failure will not implode their career. It provides a safety net for either a failed idea or failed action which will lead to more innovation and getting more things done.


One of the proudest things I see in a team is when there is a high sharing culture. This doesn't mean 1:1 sharing. It means they feel safe enough to ask a question on the full team chat and get a healthy clean answer. No sarcasm, no judgement just a smile emoji and a feeling of satisfaction. 

"Culture is a set of living relationships working toward a shared goal. It’s not something you are. It’s something you do" Daniel Coyle

As managers we need to set the stage and invite every individual to help create a great team culture. it doesn't happen overnight but it is certainly worth the time and energy required.

If you don't have time to read the book I recommend reading this excerpt: (link)

Note: Opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views or opinions of my employer.