7 Ways to Improve Your Team’s Culture
or “How to Make Your Team More Team-y” (the original title that five different people told me to change)
It’s a fact: teams and organizations work better when they are happier, more connected, and more collaborative. It’s much easier to get great work done in an environment of joy and support.
I’ve worked at a bunch of different places — from large companies like Amazon to mid-level startups like Remitly. In these roles, I’ve experienced a fair amount of team cultures — both within the design team and the company as a whole.
Most recently, I’ve been a designer on the communications design team at AppDirect in San Francisco (~8 months now), and it’s been a blast getting to know the team! We’ve been super busy working on some pretty cool stuff, and are currently looking for a contract visual designer (you should apply!).
Onto the good stuff—here are 7 ways to improve your team’s culture:
1. Have some fun in the office.
It’s going to be a better work environment for everyone if you can make your day-to-day more fun. You’re around the same people 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. Try and make people laugh — be silly, be goofy, tell an embarrassing story (or four). Celebrate birthdays and citizenships and new babies. Be a little bit ridiculous. Eat lunch together — a lot of large companies are adopting this because it can actually make you more productive and happier at work! Be creatively fun together — I started my team’s FriYAY (yes, everyone hates the name) meetings where we take an hour every month on a Friday to work on a creative exercise or two together.
TL;DR: Make your day-to-day fun and inviting for your team.
2. But also, have some fun _outside_ of the office.
Walk to get lunch. Invite someone to go grab a coffee with you. Go and volunteer somewhere — I coordinate my company’s monthly volunteer night at Project Open Hand where we’re able to chat and get to know each other over chopping veggies for a good cause! Go out to relevant events in your city and make a night of it — check out a lecture or museum event (here in SF we’ve been to the CA Academy of Sciences Nightlife and the Legion of Honor as a team!). Or at the least, just go out to dinner/get drinks with your team (or invite the whole marketing org out!)
TL;DR: Go out as a team to do fun stuff together.
3. Don’t just talk to your own team.
Say hello to the people in your area, on your floor, at breakfast, in the halls, and coming in and out of conference rooms. A simple “Good morning” or “Hey, I like that sweater!” goes a long way. Cross-functional conversations are important and build trust within your company! Getting to know the other people in your organization is invaluable, you never know if the person you’ve said hi to every morning turns out to be someone you need to collaborate with on a project. You’ll be able to get some great work done together, starting with the rapport you’ve built over time.
TL;DR: Talk to people besides your immediate team to build cross-functional trust!
4. Mindfully listen.
For people that know me, they know that I talk a lot, but I promise, one of my favorite things to do is listen. Listen mindfully though — be present in conversations and listen to what someone is saying to actually hear them, not just to respond. Listen without interruption (something I know I’m still working on). If you’re focused on what someone is saying instead of what you’re going to say next, you’re giving them your full attention, and then when you do need to respond, you’re able to do so knowing all of the information. This type of listening can help you retain more information and give better feedback, since you’re staying engaged the whole time.
TL;DR: Listen without thinking about your response.
5. Give helpful feedback.
If you need to give someone on your team feedback, make sure that your response is honest, kind, and constructive. Be real with your teammate, don’t tell them something is great when its not. Make sure that if you do have a critique, keep it kind and positive, don’t tear someone down to get your point across. Offer solutions instead of just telling them what they did was wrong. Be specific in your feedback: encourage a dialogue to understand their thinking and process. Offering feedback that adds value to your teammate is great, and it also helps you build your leadership skills.
TL;DR: Giving feedback that’s helpful helps everyone.
6. Do good work.
When it comes down to it, making cool stuff together is awesome! Make sure you’re following through on your promises on deliverables, support, and help. Being a reliable and strong teammate not only helps your team, but also your organization and, most importantly, your reputation. You need to be able to back up all of the fun stuff with good, solid contributions to your team’s goals and projects. Your team needs to be able to trust you, and making sure that you’re performing at a high level will help them do just that.
TL;DR: Back up the fun times with good work.
7. Give a shit.
Seriously. Give a shit about your team. Be genuinely empathetic. Ask your team about their weekends and actually care about the answer. Offer your help with something and actually mean it. Ask about someone’s project they’re working on and be a sounding board for them. Actually, legitimately, give a shit about the people in your life that you see 8+ hours a day, 5 days a week. Give a shit about their likes and dislikes, their working style, their sense of humor. Give a shit about their family and their pets and their kids and what kind of coffee they like to drink. Show compassion. Care, hard. Keep it 💯.
TL;DR: Give a shit about your team. Seriously. I promise it’ll make you feel good.
Closing thoughts:
These are my 7 ways to improve your team culture — but I know that there’s more. Feel free to leave other ideas in the comments! Cheers to making your team more team-y!
