Inspire your staff; make sure everyone is on the same page; be willing to confront challenges – how to make every talk count
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Professionals who work with a team should take a moment to step back and reflect on the kinds of conversations they have with their colleagues.
According to company culture and leadership coaching organisation, Corporate Edge, businesses with strong cultures are highly intentional about what they talk about. It all revolves around inspiring your staff, making sure everyone is on the same page, and being willing to confront challenges in a respectful way.
Corporate Edge partner and director John Colbert provides some tips on where to start:
Inspiring conversations
These talks quite literally create an “inspirational impact” on people within an organisation. The general focus should be on promoting “the larger vision and purpose of the organisation”. They generally centre on helping people understand the organisation’s purpose so staff can find their own purpose within that.
After an inspiring conversation, people should feel reinvigorated and passionate about what they do and why they come to work every day.
Alignment conversations
This conversation helps people understand what they need from each other, and how they’re going to assist each other.
However, this is where companies often fall short. According to Colbert, “while they may have successfully inspired their employees, they might not have set specific expectations about how this actually translates to the day-to-day of operating within the team”.
Honest conversations
Companies need to have this type of conversation to truly embed their culture in the workplace. They‘re sometimes called difficult or confronting conversations, but basically they all centre on issues of conflict.
Colbert said in order for a company to create a distinct culture, and to have a chance to bring its strategy to life, its members should find a way to communicate with each other when conflict arises.
An honest conversation is basically an opportunity to talk things over when opinions collide and emotions run high.
