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What does it mean when someone says they are worried about their culture?
How do you define the culture of a team?
Culture has many avatars, and it’s rare for everyone to be talking about the same thing. So, when someone says they are worried that they will lose their culture if they switch to a digital workplace, it’s unclear exactly what they mean.
As we hear leaders talk about culture, their associations usually fall into one of three buckets.
1. Culture = the team’s mood
Culture is the answer to the question, “How’s your team doing?”
The response comes from dozens of signals:
- Did we hit our goals?
- Do people seem happy?
- How do people act in meetings?
- Are they mad at each other?
It’s often a very subjective calculation. Leaders pick their favorite signals, stir them in a bowl, hold them up to the light, and then declare if the mood is good or bad.
Some leaders will use surveys to quantify the mood of the team and then merge the results with their own experiences to declare what the culture is.
2. Culture = our spoken and unspoken rules
Spoken and unspoken rules govern “how we act around here”.
When leaders use this understanding, they are usually talking about something more durable than the mood, which can vary a lot day to day.
In this sense, culture means the long term personality of the team. It’s made up of the way people act.
This kind of culture has two dimensions: predictability and pride.
If a team has a highly predictable culture, everyone knows how the others are going to react. If you have a culture of transparency, then it’s assumed that the default approach is to share information. If the culture is results-driven, then you are going to take your metrics seriously. No one is surprised if someone is dropped from the team for underperforming.
Pride in culture means that you believe that the way your team will react is right. This either comes from an incredibly inspiring senior leader, or pride in the group deciding on their own how they will interact in various situations.
3. Culture = doing fun things together
Sometimes culture means “the fun stuff we do when we aren’t working”. These are spontaneous games, drinks after work, and random Slack channels. All the extra stuff that either makes work worth it…or makes you want to hide (we see you, introverts).
If people say that work just isn’t fun anymore, then they will talk about how the culture has deteriorated.
The impact of digital on culture
Why are some leaders afraid of losing their culture if they switch to a digital workplace? What changes?
It’s different with each definition of culture.
First, the mood signals are all different. In the office, signals can be someone’s sharp tone in a meeting, who eats lunch with whom, and minute facial expressions. In digital spaces, signals can be the number of exclamation points, GIF responses, or scores on engagement surveys.
Second, there’s a lot of undefined rules. What makes good Zoom etiquette? When do you expect a response to a chat message? Is it ok if I send a message late at night? Do we have a clear productivity scoreboard? What does PTO even mean anymore?
Third, Level 2 digital fun sucks. If you just try to replicate what worked in the office, it’s not going to go over well. We are over the virtual happy hours and trivia nights. Yet, fun-loving digital communities are thriving all over the internet, so we know it’s possible. We need to take a fresh approach to how to spend time in Unwork mode together, such as playing games online with coworkers.
How do you fix digital culture?
There are plenty of digital-first companies out there who have amazing cultures in all three senses of the word. So what should you do if you are worried about your culture as you transition?
- Don’t assume that more fun is the answer. We see fun as a quick way to give a team a shot of adrenaline. Fun is important, but organizing another trivia night is not the way to do it. First, it doesn’t solve your bigger problems, and second, the solutions you are considering are probably not going to make a difference.
- First, make sure you’ve updated how you gather your mood signals. Don’t rely on old instruments to measure old data. Great digital team leaders are going to be able to pick up on new signals to judge the mood of the team. They can balance subjective digital signals (like 👍 vs 😍) with employee survey data.
- A better culture might come from providing more clarity around expectations. Create strong team agreements. Start with ground rules for digital meetings. Be inclusive as you create them and generate pride around what you decide.
Digital culture isn’t easy. There’s a lot of new ways to approach it. But before you cast it aside as hopeless, make sure you are specific about what it means.
What does it mean when someone says they are worried about their culture?
How do you define the culture of a team?
Culture has many avatars, and it’s rare for everyone to be talking about the same thing. So, when someone says they are worried that they will lose their culture if they switch to a digital workplace, it’s unclear exactly what they mean.
As we hear leaders talk about culture, their associations usually fall into one of three buckets.
1. Culture = the team’s mood
Culture is the answer to the question, “How’s your team doing?”
The response comes from dozens of signals:
- Did we hit our goals?
- Do people seem happy?
- How do people act in meetings?
- Are they mad at each other?
It’s often a very subjective calculation. Leaders pick their favorite signals, stir them in a bowl, hold them up to the light, and then declare if the mood is good or bad.
Some leaders will use surveys to quantify the mood of the team and then merge the results with their own experiences to declare what the culture is.
2. Culture = our spoken and unspoken rules
Spoken and unspoken rules govern “how we act around here”.
When leaders use this understanding, they are usually talking about something more durable than the mood, which can vary a lot day to day.
In this sense, culture means the long term personality of the team. It’s made up of the way people act.
This kind of culture has two dimensions: predictability and pride.
If a team has a highly predictable culture, everyone knows how the others are going to react. If you have a culture of transparency, then it’s assumed that the default approach is to share information. If the culture is results-driven, then you are going to take your metrics seriously. No one is surprised if someone is dropped from the team for underperforming.
Pride in culture means that you believe that the way your team will react is right. This either comes from an incredibly inspiring senior leader, or pride in the group deciding on their own how they will interact in various situations.
3. Culture = doing fun things together
Sometimes culture means “the fun stuff we do when we aren’t working”. These are spontaneous games, drinks after work, and random Slack channels. All the extra stuff that either makes work worth it…or makes you want to hide (we see you, introverts).
If people say that work just isn’t fun anymore, then they will talk about how the culture has deteriorated.
The impact of digital on culture
Why are some leaders afraid of losing their culture if they switch to a digital workplace? What changes?
It’s different with each definition of culture.
First, the mood signals are all different. In the office, signals can be someone’s sharp tone in a meeting, who eats lunch with whom, and minute facial expressions. In digital spaces, signals can be the number of exclamation points, GIF responses, or scores on engagement surveys.
Second, there’s a lot of undefined rules. What makes good Zoom etiquette? When do you expect a response to a chat message? Is it ok if I send a message late at night? Do we have a clear productivity scoreboard? What does PTO even mean anymore?
Third, Level 2 digital fun sucks. If you just try to replicate what worked in the office, it’s not going to go over well. We are over the virtual happy hours and trivia nights. Yet, fun-loving digital communities are thriving all over the internet, so we know it’s possible. We need to take a fresh approach to how to spend time in Unwork mode together, such as playing games online with coworkers.
How do you fix digital culture?
There are plenty of digital-first companies out there who have amazing cultures in all three senses of the word. So what should you do if you are worried about your culture as you transition?
- Don’t assume that more fun is the answer. We see fun as a quick way to give a team a shot of adrenaline. Fun is important, but organizing another trivia night is not the way to do it. First, it doesn’t solve your bigger problems, and second, the solutions you are considering are probably not going to make a difference.
- First, make sure you’ve updated how you gather your mood signals. Don’t rely on old instruments to measure old data. Great digital team leaders are going to be able to pick up on new signals to judge the mood of the team. They can balance subjective digital signals (like 👍 vs 😍) with employee survey data.
- A better culture might come from providing more clarity around expectations. Create strong team agreements. Start with ground rules for digital meetings. Be inclusive as you create them and generate pride around what you decide.
Digital culture isn’t easy. There’s a lot of new ways to approach it. But before you cast it aside as hopeless, make sure you are specific about what it means.
