Dear Coach,
If you were to pick one word to describe the ideal workplace culture, what would it be?
Best,
Katie
Dear Katie,
That one word would be “collaborative.” Why? Because it incorporates all ingredients of a healthy, successful organization. A truly collaborative workplace culture has the following five elements:
1. Trust. If you and I work together, we must feel each has the other’s back. If I don’t trust you, or vice-versa, we will never collaborate as well as we otherwise could.
2. Communicative. Collaboration requires proactive communication. No silos! I’d rather be annoyed with too much information than have to guess or speculate. The environment should be communication-rich.
3. Accountability. Primarily, this is self-accountability. Employees are willing to make commitments and feel it’s their responsibility to keep them. As I explain in this column, accountability can also be at the peer and hierarchal levels. In the end of the day, however, self-accountability matters most.
4. Candor. No elephants in the room! If I step on your toes, let me know then. Don’t make me try to read your body language and guess or speculate about what’s in your mind. Most employees are reluctant to speak if they think it will bother the other person(s). For true collaboration to exist, this tendency to avoid tough conversations must be overcome.
5. Civility. A necessary companion to candor is civility. No venting! Dignity and respect are maintained at all times. We’re solution-oriented, not blame-oriented. Most of all, we actively listen to each other, as described in this column and this column.
If your workplace culture possesses these five elements, you’ll be amazed at the level of collaboration, which will lead to innovation, efficiency, quality, responsiveness and employee psychological wellbeing.
Best,
Jathan Janove is a Marshall Goldsmith Stakeholder Centered Coaching Master Coach and Practice Leader. You can learn more about him here. If you have a question you’d like him to address, please email us at AsktheCoach@mgscc.net.
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