How to Communicate Company Culture

“I need each of you to become an author,” I said. The management team looked at each other. I saw a set of eyes roll in the corner. I smiled.

“I need each of you to write a story.” I stopped for dramatic effect. “The story will only be four sentences long.” I could see a silent sigh of relief wave across the room. “In fact, we are going to write that story right now. To make it easier, you will all work with a partner. So, pair up. Let’s get going.”

We had been working on how to communicate our list of values throughout the organization. The idea was to create a story, four sentences long, that captured a positive example of a behavior aligned with one of the values the group had selected. Each manager in the group would be an author. In the room, we had vice-presidents, managers and supervisors. All told, twenty-three members of the management team.

Once each week, a story, written by a member of the management team, would be included in the weekly paycheck of each employee in the company.

In ten minutes, twenty-three stories were created and signed. We had a volunteer from the clerical staff to collect and type them all up. We were covered for the next twenty-three weeks. Better than a teamwork poster on the wall. Meeting adjourned.

2 thoughts on “How to Communicate Company Culture

  1. Michael S

    hmmm…there’s much said about the culture here by including that these bits on values would be typed up and included with the weekly paycheck…look how much is said right there! It’s not necessarily what you say, it’s what you do…day in and day out

    Reply
  2. Tim Cain MBE

    Great! But what happened to the typed list of values? I know! ‘Laminated and learned’ how do you get people to buy into the senior teams value set and ‘live not laminate’? Is role modelling enough?

    Reply

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