What Team Culture Should You Foster When Returning to the Office?

Every organization/team/group of people who are together for any length of time has a culture – with valuable and challenging traits. And cultures aren't static – there are ever-changing. In the last two years, most organizations have experienced the biggest, fastest culture changes ever – their pre-pandemic culture and their pandemic culture. (While maybe less drastically, even if your team works in a warehouse, storefront, or factory, your culture has changed.)

Many leaders believe that its best to bring people back to the office "because of the culture." I understand the desire to recapture something we once had. But when talking with leaders who say that, I ask two questions:

• What exactly have you lost that you want to recapture?
• Would you want exactly the culture you had pre-pandemic?

Most have trouble being specific with the first answer. And few, when really thinking about the second, will state a solid and firm yes. After all, at the end of 2019 for example, many organizations were talking about how to "transform their cultures." And yet, some of those same leaders now want to go back to what they once had.

Even if we – personally or collectively – loved that culture, it will not ever be the same again. The experiences we have all lived and worked through in the last year mean that it can never be exactly the same, even if that is what we want.

Trying to restore that pre-pandemic culture is folly. Making sure we retain the best parts of that culture is important and wise.

Three Cultures 

There are three cultures for you to consider now:

• The pre-pandemic culture
• The current culture
• Your future culture

The first is a history lesson and provides context. It tells us much about who we are, and there likely are pieces of it we want to retain. The current culture has given us lessons we can apply in the future if we choose (please do). The story of your future culture has yet to be written. 

You will have a future culture. The question is, will it be one that serves the needs of organizational results and the people who create them?

Your Role in the Future

You may think I am writing to senior leaders – those who are responsible for such things. I am writing to them, but I am writing to you, too. Wherever you sit in the org chart, you have a role in creating culture. With the ideas you have just read, consider these next steps, adapted to your situation.

Share this article (And the posts below) as the basis for reflection and conversation.

Ask yourself: What is the culture (organizational or, perhaps more practically, for your team) you desire?

Ask your team: What have we learned or gained in the last 20 months that we need to apply in the future?

We can choose, craft, and create our future culture. Doing it with a full view of the past and present set us up for creating a future that is better than we ever imagined.

Check out two related posts:

Great Teams Build Great Cultures 

How to Strengthen Your Team's Culture

To your greater success and fulfillment,

Peter Mclees, Leadership Coach, Trainer and Performance Consultant

SMART DEVELOPMENT

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