Organizations talk a lot about team culture—creating a work environment based on collaboration where people embrace the idea that thinking, planning, and executing are better done cooperatively. Belonging to a team, in the broadest sense, is a result of feeling part of something larger than yourself. And though each member of the team has a specific job function, members must strive for unification within the team and with the organization as a whole to accomplish overall objectives.. For perspective on this idea of creating and sustaining team culture The Woolbright Group asked development professionals Christine Rawak at University of Michigan, and Christina Posniak and Stephanie Jacobson-Landon at Smith College about their approach and how a team culture is benefitting their organizations.
Christine Rawak
Assistant Vice President, Talent Management and Development Operations
WG: What is your underlying philosophy regarding “team culture” and why do you believe it is important to the success of your organization?
CR: We have three core workplace values that we recruit to and orient to, and weave throughout everything we do. Those are: mission driven, customer oriented, and team oriented. Those values are integrated throughout our training and our community. But when it comes to team culture, we’re intentional but we’re not particularly vocal about it; we talk about the importance of it and it’s understood, but we do not approach “team building” in a conventional way.
The concept of team is very important to our success because of the decentralized nature of [the University of] Michigan. Let me put this in context. We have donors that have multiple connections to the University—maybe they were very involved in athletics or have a student here that plays a team sport, and they graduated from the School of Kinesiology but they also have a personal interest in cancer treatment. So, to develop a relationship with this donor, we need to bring people together in a way that offers the donor multiple opportunities to engage more deeply with Michigan.
Another example, as a community we need to work collectively to attract and keep talented staff. It’s best for everyone if we help individuals grow by offering them opportunities and choices in their careers. You have to be team oriented to do this.
WG: How closely does the following statement express your idea of team culture; and what would you add or alter in this statement?
Culture is made up of the values, beliefs, underlying assumptions, attitudes, and behaviors shared by a group of people. Culture is the behavior that results when a group arrives at a set of – generally unspoken and unwritten – rules for working together.”
CR: I would say “shared and shaped by a group.” Team culture can’t be dictated or driven. There is also a sense of outcome that comes from knowing you are a team. I have found that the best teams are those that hold each other mutually accountable, when you know you are all in it together.
WG: Please briefly describe the components of your team building program.
CR: We don’t have a “program.” Instead, we weave the intent of team throughout everything we do. But it’s not formal.
WG: How do you ensure every employee’s buy-in?
CR: We feed the buy-in by creating opportunities for staff to be involved—on committees, fundraising strategy sessions, and by celebrating success and acknowledging everyone’s contribution. Everything we do here involves multiple people and working in groups, so you have to be ready to work in this environment. One important thing we do within University development we call the “pulse” survey—finding the pulse of the org—now in its 4th year. This survey lets us know how our employees feel about working within University development and where and how we can improve as an organization. We learn a lot from these results and it has helped shape our efforts around this work.
WG: Do you agree with the following statement: “Reward and recognition systems and performance management systems must support and reward new behaviors. Consequences must exist for behaviors that undermine the values agreed upon.”
CR: It doesn’t have to be the case, but it sure makes it easier.
WG: How do you recognize and/or reward staff who excel? What consequences result from non-compliance or weak performance?
CR: We don’t really have a rewards system; we do try to recognize people often. Again, it’s not formal. People actually prefer the personal recognition—a thank you note for a job well done. Or an email sent to that person’s manager. There should be performance conversations if someone is not behaving in a way the fits the values of the organization. But it can be very uncomfortable for people that have the same values as the organization. They tend to self-select out.
WG: Do you have standards by which you measure your team’s progress and performance? Do you measure progress individually, as a team, or both?
CR: The pulse survey gives us a good sense of progress.
WG: How have you benefitted personally and professionally from your involvement in building team culture within your organization?
CR: Retention is better; turnover is lower. I think we’re much more productive, and it’s a heck of lot more fun!