10 Tips to �Kick-starting Your Association Culture

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Kickstarting Your Association Culture

•  Cultural alignment to your organisation's values & objectives is critical to 21st Century success in association management.

•  Most Association Executives don’t know where to start this conversation so we have 10 tips to help you kick-start your culture.

•  Seven years of intentional work on Fitness Australia's culture yielded amazing personal and organisational results.

•  In concert with Humanize author Jamie Notter Robert presented the case study at ASAE's 2013 annual meeting. 

•  So compelling is the case study that the most recent issue of Associations Now magazine carries Joe Rominiecki's feature and follow up articles on Robert’s work with Fitness Australia:

•  Our 10 tips are key takeaways from the Fitness Australia journey & from the potent cultural platform described in the Humanize book (www.humanizebook.com). 

•  If you missed the webinar here is a link to the presentation, handout and recording (mp4) – Associations 101: Association Professional Development 10 Tips in 20 Minutes.

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Tip #1: �There is not real ly 10 T ips.

•  Developing organisational culture is quite a journey with many steps involved – many of them forward and a few of them backwards.

•  It takes time even to get started in order to gain some momentum which makes the activities feel meaningful.

•  Never-the-less there are some key things you can do today that will stand you in good stead as you make progress in developing the culture that will help your Association achieve its mission in a 21st Century operating environment.

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Tip #2: �It doesn’t matter what you do. Just do something.

•  There is no bad place to start! •  Choose an internal process, policy or practice

within your Association that is something most of your colleagues could either do without, dislike or complain about regularly (think staff meeting).

•  Develop a “small safe test” and experiment with doing it differently over a short period.

•  Wait and see what happens. Record any discernable changes in behaviour among the team as a result and spend time discussing the experience.

•  This is the start of conversations about culture.

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Case Study:

Fitness Australia started by introducing weekly one-on-one meetings between managers and their direct reports; and, daily, weekly, monthly team huddles.

Tip #3: �Do a Cultural Assessment.

Basic Structure of the process: 1.  Envision your ideal culture 2.  Honestly assess where your culture currently is 3.  Close the Gap

Look for an assessment that is: •  Backed by theory •  Balanced between descriptive and prescriptive •  Balanced between qualitative and quantitative data •  Leaves you in control of next actions, not the

consultant •  Fits with your vision of the ideal culture

• 

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Reference:

http://jamienotter.com/2013/12/finding-a-good-culture-assessment/

Tip #4: �Focus Your Attention on Culture, Process, Behaviour.

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•  By focusing on culture, processes and behaviour you can engage everyone because not even a nay-sayer is going to rail against wanting a more trustworthy workplace.

•  Hone in on processes that require the most attention and the behaviour that colleagues display when they are in these situations or working in that environment.

•  Most association executives will have you believe that esoteric discussions about culture has no place in the management of modern associations.

•  You can focus the discussions on a framework like the Humanize Trellis (shown here) which helps make the discussions more tangible.

Tip #5: �Keep Your Eyes on the Prize.

•  Make the work of cultural change a key component of your daily, weekly and monthly tasks.

•  The prize is aligning your entire team’s behaviour, motivations and efforts to the Association’s mission, vision and values.

•  Enabling your colleagues to do meaningful work creates levels of employee engagement that enhances their personal attributes helping them gain a clearer picture of their place in the world.

•  An organisation’s strategy can only be successful of the organisation’s culture is aligned.

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Tip #6: �Wait , Watch. Listen & Lear n.

•  Conversations about culture lead to discussions about behaviour.

•  Behaviour can be observed / experienced in many ways and with different effects on individuals within the workplace.

•  It is important to find out (at a weekly 1:1 meeting or team huddle) how your colleagues feel when they experience good and bad behaviour.

•  These are the critical clues you need to create meaningful dialogue about what you want you culture to look like, feel like and sound like.

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Case Study:

Fitness Australia began asking questions about what employees considered “TeamCool-worthy / Un-TeamCool-worthy” behaviour. #TeamCool became the tangible language that described how employees wanted the culture to look and feel.

Tip #7: �Communicate. Communicate. Communicate.

•  The very clever Shelly Alcorn once said – “Change the Language, Change the World”.

•  Insert cultural discussion points into all your meetings internally and particularly into one on one meetings with your direct reports.

•  Insert cultural alignment into team huddles at weekly, monthly and quarterly intervals.

•  Discuss the importance of cultural alignment with your suppliers, volunteers, partners and vendors to they begin to understand how you all need to work together to achieve success.

•  Share media on cultural change regularly so your colleagues are aware this is not your personal crusade but a mission to be a 21C success.

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References:

Read Tony Hsieh, Simon Sinek ; and, Jamie Notter and Maddie Grant.

Tip #8: �Prepare for the Pushback.

•  If you are a High D in the DiSC profiling this is a tough gig. I just wanted everyone to get it and help me move forward!

•  Many colleagues will need time to process the new language, the new conversations and the focus on their behaviour. This is useful in the long run so take advantage of the consideration by others.

•  However, a small vocal few will nit pick at every step not because it is not a good strategy but simply because they can. It is this behaviour that is a cure to you about who will be culturally aligned and who will not.

•  Making time to listen to all is the most important feature of this tip and the One on One Meetings weekly are a great way to commit to this time.

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Case Study:

Fitness Australia uses DiSC in all hiring, collaborating and performance management systems.

Tip #9: �Practice the Culture You Envision.

•  Kick-start a new way to work in your Association embracing the more human elements of the culture that you can practice yourself.

•  The 21C Association leader must manage their people differently in order to take advantage of the individual attributes in a way that leverages what technological, financial and strategic resources the Association also has at its disposal.

•  The cultural imperatives include: decentralisation; transparency; systems thinking; ownership & experimentation. (Source: Jamie Notter – Organisational Culture in the 21st Century)

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Tool Tip:

Subscribe to Manager Tools podcasts and learn about the Management Trinity: 1.  One on One Meetings 2.  Feedback 3.  Coaching (and their silent partner – Delegation)

Tip #10: �Practice the Culture You Envision.

•  Culture needs champions. •  Champions in all fields work hard to stay at the top

of their game and some of these tips to get started will become the foundation of this cultural journey.

•  Share the love! Ownership among many is what makes cultural alignment of an entire team so meaningful and the results will show.

•  There will be ROI right across the board if you just get started.

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Q&A: �Answering Your Questions.

Q. Does the name of initiative matter a lot? Was there any pushback from the name #TeamCool?

A. There was no pushback as the term was actually made up by the team. Once we branded the culture this way it was fun for everyone. When we defined what #TeamCool meant it became meaningful to everyone.

Q.  Do you have any advice for a lower level staff member who sees need for change but lacks influence at this time?

A. Find the decision-maker who is most approachable and ask heaps of “Have you ever thought about…” questions in informal settings or casual conversations. Over time they will ask questions back of you and this is your opportunity to have them think about your ideas and take them on as their own.

Q. At what point do toys in the office go over the top? At what point is it diminishing returns because it is not cheap to create a dynamic environment?

A.

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Q&A: �Answering Your Questions.

Q. With Fitness Australia taking almost 40% of your available time, how did you structure your workload to achieve your goal?

A. A weekly schedule where all my 1:1 meetings; daily, weekly and monthly huddles were locked in. Daily ‘Read/Review’ time kicked off each day so I always had time to read and share information. 30mins in the morning and 30mins in the afternoon for email & SM. Then I knew how much time I had left each week for project related work (& #TeamCool fun).

Q.  How does culture affect a major project such as the implementation of a new software system?

A. The answer lies in thinking about how much culture is a major contributor to the failure of major IT projects owing to the behaviour of association staff involved. Success in an IT project requires transparency, systems thinking and not the least a bit of courage to experiment along the way. If these are valued alongside a culture that embraces ownership (not blame) and learning (not obfuscation) then major IT projects will have a far better chance for success.

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R o b e r t B a r n e s BA GradDip MBA�r o b e r t . b a r n e s @ a p t i f y. c o m �r o b e r t m b a r n e s . c o m �F o l l o w m e o n T w i t t e r @ r o b e r t m b a r n e s