8 LKO Practices to Improve Company Culture
Whether you’re a CEO of a company, a new intern or a manager, learning about the ways that you can improve the culture of the company you work for is in the best interests of you and your colleagues.
Most of us spend A LOT of time at work, so if we’re surrounded by a company culture that isn’t great, demotivation, boredom and conflict can occur. An unhealthy and unhappy team lead to an unhealthy and unhappy business. So if it isn’t already, company culture is something you should care about.
Here at LKO, we use the following 8 practices to help foster a company culture that puts the wellbeing of our team first. Our happy and healthy team drives the success of our business, and by implementing the following 8 practices, this can be the case for your business, or the business you work for too.
Identify Your Culture
Before you can harvest a company culture that reflects your values, you need to figure what those values are. You might think this is obvious – respect, kindness, inclusivity, but what are the additional values that are unique to your business?
For LKO, two big values are caring for our mental and physical health. We believe there’s a lot of talk about go-go-go and hustle-hustle-hustle in the business world, and while we’re all for a hustle, we believe that long term success is about fostering a company culture where listening to your gut, working on what flows and taking care of your body and mind is key.
So, step one: get together as a team to brainstorm the values that you want your company culture to reflect.
Meditation
Meditation is something that every modern team can benefit from. It’s no longer a “woo-woo” practice for hippies, it’s a legitimate tool to help our minds’ recharge from the craziness of everyday life.
Dedicating just a few minutes a day to meditation in the workplace will help you and your team in more ways than we can write down. Not only are there major health benefits, but meditation makes you more productive, busting the popular myth that it’s a waste of time.
Non-Work-Related Check-Ins
Every individual has things going on in life outside of work. Checking in with your teammates about life outside the office is important for providing people with that they need, and avoiding things that they don’t need. If you know that Susie’s just gone through a serious break-up, it’s probably not the best time to slam on an intense deadline, or maybe it is, but the point is you won’t know until you discuss it. Team members who feel supported are happier, healthier and more productive – which all contribute to improving the company culture.
Practice Alignment & Flow
Alignment and flow is something we practice every day at LKO. We work in a creative industry, and sometimes you just can’t schedule creative thinking. When we feel uninspired, we will get through emails, admin, and more mundane tasks, and when we feel inspired, we’ll spend hours writing, brainstorming and creating. Forcing yourself to work on tasks that aren’t flowing is demotivating, less productive and less efficient in the long-run. Instead, encourage your team to check in with their intuition and work on the things that they feel inspired by.
Celebrate Wins
Celebrate WinsGive credit where credit is due, and find a fun way to celebrate. This can be anything from sending a nice message in Slack or ringing a giant bell and popping champagne. Whatever it is that works with your team and your company values.
Get Feedback
One of the most meaningful ways to improve your company culture is to get direct feedback and ideas from the team. After all, they’re the ones who know the culture best. Team brainstorming sessions, anonymous surveys and suggestion boxes are just some ways you can get feedback from your team and improve the culture of your workplace.
Remote Working
It’s 2019 people, the internet is a thing! The incredible World Wide Web removes the need for a one-place, one-time workplace. While LKO HQ is based in Christchurch, our team and clients are spread throughout New Zealand and the rest of the world.
There are so many great online platforms to use to manage your digital team – Zoom, Asana, Toggl, Slack, to name a few.
Flexibility around work hours and location just makes life easier- no commuting to work, get the best talent on your team regardless of their location, cut office costs, and most importantly give freedom and lifestyle benefits to your employees.
Brunch Meetings
And last but DEFINITELY not least: brunch meetings. When the LKO team get together in the same place, a brunch meeting is always on the agenda. It’s nice to spice meetings up every now and again and who doesn’t love brunch? Efforts like this won’t go unnoticed by your team and they help create a work environment that feels like more of a family of like-minded passionate people, rather than just colleagues.
And Voila!
Eight tried and tested practices that you can use to improve company culture. If you have any questions about anything mentioned above, please get in touch or drop us a comment below.