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Dropping the C-Bomb

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Dropping the C-Bomb

Why Team Climate Crushes Culture

Sean Spurgin, Miranda Cain, Robert Clarke,

15 min read
8 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

In a volatile business world, companies can remain competitive by transforming their teams and their culture.

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9

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Recommendation

To be engaged, employees need a shared culture or ethos. If that makes you wonder whether you must change your organization’s culture, be forewarned: that challenge is daunting. Instead, as consultants Sean Spurgin, Miranda Cain, and Robert Clarke teach in this practical workbook, start with your teams. The authors explain that engagement and productivity come down to each employee’s personal work experience. In general, people prefer working in teams, and each team’s effectiveness depends on its climate. Team leaders must know how their members feel, approach problems, and make decisions. While corporate culture can seem abstract, a team’s environment is concrete, interpersonal, and much easier to change.

Summary

Companies need the right culture, but teams demand the right climate.

Leaders often talk about creating a company culture that engages every employee. Corporate cultures vary among different locations and industries, but across the board, establishing a coherent, consistent culture in a large company is a difficult undertaking. After all, “the problem with culture is that humans are complicated.”

A recent study on employee engagement and productivity found that 83% of workers now work mostly in teams, the foundation of their primary work relationships and attitudes. Thus, the work of cultural change can begin most effectively at the team level.

Overarching cultures that extend from the factory floor to the executive suite tend to be abstract, even though people’s involvement in their work is concrete and personal. While corporate culture is amorphous and encompasses many people, roles, and activities, team climate emerges from the working relationships among team members.

Team members’ personalities and approach to work influence their performance and their team’s internal atmosphere. Especially during periods of change, improving team climates is far easier...

About the Authors

Sean Spurgin and Robert Clarke are co-founders of the Elev8 Performance consultancy, where Spurgin is Learning Director, and Clarke is Growth Director. Miranda Cain is Elev8’s Managing Director.

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