To begin understanding how culture is important inside a company and how it can help tremendously, we first have to define it.<\/p>\n
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According to The Balance<\/a><\/strong> “Company culture is the personality of a company. It defines the environment in which employees work. Company culture includes a variety of elements, including work environment, company mission, value, ethics, expectations, and goals.”<\/p>\n I think this sums it up pretty well, and it also falls in line with my personal opinion of what company culture is. The problem, though, is that it makes culture appear as a non-breathing entity within the company. On the contrary, company culture is shaped by everyone in the company, has a life of its own, and can become the number one driving force for growth.<\/p>\n Culture is critical in every step of a company\u2019s lifecycle. You might not feel that it can be the force that will stop you from growing in the beginning, since everything is simple, requires less red-tape and in general, there\u2019s more motivation. But it\u2019s the only time though in a company\u2019s lifetime that, if done right, one can create the platform for easy growth, both for employees and the company itself<\/strong>.<\/p>\n In a newly found company, it is easy to motivate<\/a><\/strong> your team and much easier to create long-lasting bonds. It can define a company\u2019s later stages and this is why you should really pay attention early on.<\/p>\n If a company grows enough with the wrong mentality and attitude, then it\u2019s harder to change these traits, due to resistance. People often tend to get used to negativity and inactivity and it\u2019s easy for them to get trapped in this vicious cycle. The hard part is to break out of it.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s focus on what owners, partners<\/a> <\/strong>and in general everybody in the company can do to either build a strong foundation within the organization or fix a faulty one.\u00a0There are many ways<\/strong> to do this, but I’m going to focus on the 9 most essential.<\/p>\n Recruiting is the cornerstone of a company\u2019s growth. It will help you become better and faster at what you do and will also give you options and opportunities you didn\u2019t have before. At the same time, you have to always remember: You\u2019re not hiring people for their skills, you\u2019re hiring them for their talents, their passions, their goals in life, their aspirations. And those should align with your personal and your team goals and visions.<\/p>\n You have to seek people who are genuinely interested in your industry.<\/strong> This is the only way to have someone that can stay motivated in the long run. You have to create an environment in which people will feel free to express themselves, challenge the norms and have a chance to change the future of the company.<\/p>\n \u201cMaking a company grow and helping it shape itself is not about moving a brick wall to the desired direction yourself. It\u2019s all about letting everyone find their own brick and own that mother$#^%@.\u201d<\/p>\n And this brings us to the next point:<\/p>\n As a company grows, the owner is not also the blogger, programmer, PR person, strategist and business developer. They have to let go of their baby and give room for the people helping them find ways to make it flourish.<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n Because, after all, if you are the judge of your work, nobody\u2019s going to love what you have created more than yourself. The sad part, though, is that you aren\u2019t creating a product or service for yourself. You have created it and you want it to grow by helping other people and companies. And this is where task responsibility comes into play.<\/p>\n Even inside the smallest departments, people must have responsibilities.<\/strong> They should know that they are responsible for finishing and delivering a task and that\u2019s what will make them strive for better results.<\/p>\n If you have, let\u2019s say, to send a newsletter and it\u2019s part of the \u201cmarketing department\u201d well\u2026 Nobody\u2019s responsible for it. And if an error is made once, guess what will happen\u2026<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> People will start saying \u201cthis was not my task, who had it?\u201d<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> When the error is corrected, since no one was responsible for it, no one will learn what actually went wrong and guess what? The likelihood of it to happen again is huge.<\/p>\n Responsibility also works both ways. When something is done well, credit can be given to people, not departments. Departments should be evaluated every quarter or so<\/strong>, set goals and see where they\u2019re heading.<\/p>\n People in those departments are doing the microtasks that slowly build a company and help it grow; those are the employees who need the motivation<\/strong><\/a> and the reassurance of managers knowing how much they try and that their effort is appreciated.<\/p>\n When you\u2019re a “solopreneur”, you know that if you make a mistake, your result will affect the end product. When your company grows, people tend to forget what their effort creates, which rolls us into the next point:<\/p>\n It\u2019s one thing to be accountable for your actions and for people to know what you\u2019re responsible for, and another for you to know what others do, how and why your job affects others and how.<\/p>\n It\u2019s an unforgivable mistake not to know your company\u2019s monthly recurring revenue, is even if you\u2019re on support.<\/p>\n Same applies to sales<\/a><\/strong> not knowing how fast support answers, same also applies for marketing now knowing about the release of new features. There should be meetings, gatherings and everything that\u2019s needed should be done, in order to have everyone on the same page.<\/p>\n It\u2019s critical for people to know how their company is doing and critical for you as an owner and a manager to make them understand the whole process and what else they could do to help.<\/p>\n Knowing what the whole process is can help people create a growth mindset. Find new KPIs employees can create and measure themselves<\/strong>, challenge themselves to do more, to become better.<\/p>\n If someone on the support team, for example, doesn\u2019t know how they fare against competition in terms of speed of the first reply, how would they ever become pumped up enough to volunteer for some after-hours support and see if it makes any difference to support satisfaction?<\/p>\n People that are owners of a process and responsible for their tasks will eventually create a growth mindset and will start thinking of new ways to grow their business out of their immediate scope. They will ask if the company uses a marketing tactic they\u2019ve seen online, if it reaches out to people who register on the platform, and so on.<\/p>\n Click To Tweet<\/a><\/p>\n Companies change and so do people. Don\u2019t treat your company as it is in its infancy stage if it\u2019s not. You have to adapt to new needs, new trends and new opportunities and threats. And so do your people.<\/p>\n Their goals change, they get married, have children, their priorities change. Learn what these are and stay up to date. See how you can help them achieve their goals in their business and personal life<\/strong>, and they\u2019ll help you achieve yours. It\u2019s as simple as that, a two-way process that always evolves.<\/p>\n Create a mind-map with your team, to help everyone know where you are right now and where you want to go. Build it and use it as your guide, go back to it, tweak it. Share it with your peers and get feedback, evolve it.<\/p>\n Stop promoting people that are amazing at what they do! Bear with me\u2026 There\u2019s more to it.<\/p>\n The way promotions work is that when someone is very good at their job, let\u2019s say an amazing programmer, they will start getting promotions and eventually become a manager. This has many hidden dangers like:<\/p>\n 1.<\/strong> People might not be that willing to become a manager, maybe they want just to program and they might actually love what they do! Most people will accept a managerial position just because it has better pay. Ask them if that\u2019s really what they want, to manage teams, and if you don\u2019t see them quite willing, offer them the raise without the position. Not everyone in the world is meant to become a manager<\/strong>, different people have different mindsets, let them thrive at what they love the most.<\/p>\n 2.<\/strong> Being a great programmer doesn\u2019t mean that you can become a great manager. Being able to manage people and projects requires completely different skills, mindset and attitude and not everyone has them. You need to be a skilled “people person”<\/strong><\/a> and be able to take initiative \/ become the scapegoat when problems arise, take the full responsibility for mistakes, while at the same time give credit to people when something is done right. Not everyone is built for it.<\/p>\n 3.<\/strong> Last but not least, just think about it. Taking your best talent from what they know best, not to mention love the most, and change their position – is it really the best thing that you can do for your company?<\/p>\n The only way to avoid misunderstandings is to become transparent. There are many companies that have their salaries open for everyone in the company to see. It might sound extreme and I\u2019m not suggesting that it\u2019s the right way to go for your company, but it does make sense.<\/p>\n When setting goals, though, try to be clear who will get what and why.<\/strong> Don\u2019t just give bonuses to some people with a vague general message. Let them know what they did well, what you appreciated in their work and how they can help you move forward. Make them feel special. And most important of all, try to make people who didn\u2019t get a bonus, understand what they didn\u2019t do well enough and how they can change it.<\/p>\n Rewarding performers is half the picture, giving under-performers the chance to shine, is the other half.<\/p>\n While it seems irrelevant and most companies and startups need to be agile in order to survive and thrive, focus is the name of the game when it comes to company culture. It\u2019s one thing to set goals and responsibilities and another to change them week by week while trying to find the next \u201cgolden goose\u201d that\u2019ll make your company grow.<\/p>\n Everything needs to be tested thoroughly. If you cultivate an environment that tests everything and nothing, in the end, you lose both accountability and passion for people to find measurable results<\/a><\/strong>. Stay on top of each testing phase and try not to test too many things at the same time.<\/p>\n Patience is the name of the game while rushing into new shiny objects, pestilence.<\/p>\nWhy is culture important in a new company?<\/h2>\n
Hiring the right people<\/h2>\n
Team members have to be responsible for their tasks<\/h2>\n
Team members have to be owners of the process<\/h2>\n
Growth mindset<\/h2>\n
Evolve as you grow<\/h2>\n
The right people for the right job<\/h2>\n
Be transparent<\/h2>\n
Stay focused<\/h2>\n
Celebrate small wins<\/h2>\n