The world today is not the same as before as a result of a variety of factors and the intense effect of covid 19. Also, organizations have had external factors that have shaped their culture and performance.
Some organisations have obtained great results and others have suffered during this pandemic.
There is fatigue caused by the pandemic that is affecting organizations and employees right now. Besides, there is a massive economic crisis, widespread social unrest and technological forces that are reshaping and causing business model disruption and workforce automation.
This means that companies culture has been forced to change, while some leaders remain the same. However, they acknowledge the importance of how a new culture can improve and improve results in this challenging new world.
Certain dysfunctional patterns of cultural behaviour are common by this fatigue.
There is an increasing number of unproductive meetings that are causing micromanagement, team burnout and lack of motivation. Employees are working more hours now than before. They spend more hours in unproductive virtual meetings. There is a lack of trust from some managers and a sense of insecurity that it is affecting employees. Tackle this directly is the best way to solve it.
Leaders need to listen to their employee’s needs and give clarity of what is expected from their roles in this challenging moment.
Due to the increase of virtual meetings and tasks, managers and supervisors don´t have enough time to listen to their teams and their priorities.
A team loses confidence in the leaders as a result of poor communication. Leaders lose confidence in their employees due to lack of results, coordination and accountability. The negativity energy increases rumours that create dysfunctional habits and therefore affect productivity and morale.
The negativity energy affects a few employees, who create rumours against the organisation and its leaders; As a result, they resist any action towards a cultural transformation.
Furthermore, these employees influence other members of the team who are currently in need of clarity and leadership. A cultural change is based on the execution needed to achieve business outcomes. It is based on the real habits of collective execution and these habits of collective execution reflect the real culture of the organisation.
Therefore, there are critical questions that leaders can rise to recognise if their culture is helping achieve the expected results.
- 1. What dysfunctional collective habits are affecting the business and why? One example could be unproductive meetings.
- 2. What new habits of collective execution can leaders create that can help achieve better results in a better way?
- 3. What other barriers are affecting culture and productivity, both at the same time?
- 4. What kind of support is needed to facilitate the changes in the culture?
Lastly, leaders must align results with the type of culture needed.
Furthermore, they must facilitate and track the cultural transition through habits of execution aligned with the priorities of the organization.
