How to Create a Good Team Culture | Ep 060

Welcome to the final episode of 2023! In this podcast, we discuss the critical topic of building a strong team culture within your company.

We stress the importance of being intentional about your team's culture, emphasizing the need to define it clearly before building. Drawing examples from successful companies like Chick-fil-A and tech firms, we underscore the impact of a positive team culture on overall success.

Reflecting on recent challenges faced by businesses, we highlight the significance of intentional hiring and avoiding rushed decisions that can lead to a detrimental culture shift. Even for businesses without employees, team culture extends to community perception and social media representation.

The discussion explores conflict resolution as a key element in maintaining a healthy team culture. With the evolving social landscape, we address the challenge of electronic communication and the importance of setting and following up on expectations.

Today’s conversation concludes with insights into extending team culture to social media, emphasizing the impact of online conduct on public perception.

As we welcome 2024, may it be a year of intentional growth and success for you and your business. Thank you for being part of the Business Project Podcast community!

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-Kacie Bryant and John Crespo

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Transcript

Kacie: So today, the very last episode of the year, we have a very interesting topic. We are going to talk about building a strong culture within your company, a strong culture within your team. And. There's a lot of different directions that we can go with this. There's a lot of different strategies But I think the overall overarching Thing that we want to be intentional about is being intentional About the culture of your team because I think sometimes it's something that we don't necessarily think about Yeah and we don't plan for we just kind of do what we feel like is best and move right along fill out the paperwork do the pay do the meetings but The more you pay attention to this, the stronger your team is gonna be.

The business project podcast business 

John: can be 

Kacie: complicated. We break it down to regular people like us 

John: can understand and find success. I'm John Crespo, accountant and consultants. 

Kacie: I'm Casey Bryant, marketer and event planner. If you run a business or want to run a business. 

John: Welcome to the show.

Kacie: What's up everybody. Welcome to the very last episode of 2023. Insane this year went by so fast like so fast. I don't even know where it went. Yeah, it's gone. It's gone We're 2024. That's out of 

John: control, 

Kacie: man Yeah, 2024 is gonna be really exciting too, especially for the show because we will be live. Yes. 

John: Yeah That is going to be crazy.

I'm looking forward to that. I'm looking forward to the engagement. I'm looking forward to just being able to converse with people real time. I think that's going to be 

Kacie: fun. Yeah, it is. It's going to be great. And you guys are the reason we do this show. Yeah, we are. For sure. You 

John: are. 

Kacie: Yeah. We'll give you the opportunity to tune in and ask your questions and Get down to the nitty gritty.

Yeah. 

John: Yeah. Hold us accountable while we hold you accountable. 

Kacie: Yes So today the very last episode of the year. We have a very Interesting topic. We are going to talk about building a strong culture within your company, a strong culture within your team. And there's a lot of different directions that we can go with this.

There's a lot of different strategies, but I think the overall overarching, um, thing that we want to be intentional about is being intentional about. The culture of your team because I think sometimes it's something that we don't necessarily think about and we don't plan for we just kind of do what we feel like is best and move right along, fill out the paperwork, do the pay, do the meetings, but, um, the more you pay attention to this, the stronger your team is going to be.

John: No doubt. No doubt. I think that we as a business community. Went through a point where, um, kind of culture was thrown out the window for a while, especially during that, um, You know, where it was, everybody had money, everybody was spending money. So businesses were jam packed, just coming out of COVID. They were, they couldn't hire anybody.

So we were, we were desperate for employees. So, um, you know, the, anyone that showed interest in working got hired on the spot, you know, that kind of thing. And it wasn't enough. We didn't take the right opportunities or continue the focus on making sure it was the right person. For the role, right? So we were just hiring people on the spot and then this kind of mentality, uh, took hold where this culture change took hold where, um, people were just jumping from job to job.

They were, they would quit a couple of days after being hired and it's like, you know what we own that mistake as business owners need to own that mistake, right? And kind of like say, okay, halt, refresh. What do we want this business to look like? And let's bring it back. 

Kacie: Yeah Because culture affects so much of your business your team culture and even if you guys don't have a team yet I think that this is still relevant It's we're gonna go into a little bit about even you know how your team represents itself in the community on social media and things like that and so Um, and we did a whole podcast months ago about culture, um within your business and so This is a little bit more geared toward people and your team.

Um, but I think that, so even if you don't have employees, you're still going to get some stuff out of this, but the biggest, so we're, we'll give you guys a couple of tips, like a couple of, um, categories that we're going to go into when it comes to creating a gold, good culture for your team. Yeah. Yeah. 

John: I love that.

I think the first thing, right, is define what do you want the culture to be? That's the hardest part. I think really as a business owner is saying, what do, what do we want people to perceive us as, how do, how do we want to be, how do we want to work? You know, what, what kind of environment are we trying to create?

Figure that out. before, you know, kinda like moving to the next step. 

Kacie: Yes. I think that's a great defining it. Yeah. Yeah. 'cause you can't build something that you can't define. Exactly. Yes. And that could, to give you guys some examples, you know, you look at larger companies all across the country and they all have very different cultures.

Um, you know, for, say, for example, Chick-fil-A, we use that as an example a lot. The, the team that they've created, the fast drive through the happy employees, though, that is all intentional within Chick fil A and they have made a decision somewhere at the top that this is, this is how we're going to treat our employees.

And this is the culture that we want to create. These are the type of employees that we're looking for. And, and so they've done a really good job of. of creating that. But then, you know, you look at some of these tech companies and you go in and they have, you know, pool tables and video games and free coffee and everybody's like buzzing around and working at independent.

It's very open workspace and, and that is a That is a culture that they've created is, you know, creativity and mingling and working together and get some coffee and have fun while you're working, you know, take a mental break. Um, but that was again, very intentional about what they created. And so, um, even, even if you like, I'll use our business as an example.

Our business is very public. My local is very public We um are you know, our faces are all over social media Everybody knows when something happens because it gets blown up all over social media. And so we have to be very Very protective over over our team I would say that We have very little drama.

We've created a culture of support and we're almost like family. So if somebody needs help moving within our team, our team will jump up and they'll go help that person move. And, um, you know, we have also military spouses and things that they, They go through some rough things at home, and we want their work to be some place that they look forward to going to, and some place that they can escape to.

And, um, and so, and part of that also is handling conflict. We handle conflict verbally. We don't do text messages. We don't do emails when something arises. We get together as a team or one on one and we're not afraid to handle conflict. That is something that I feel like has gotten completely lost in our culture is, you know, they Text.

I'm feeling mad. I'm mad at you. Blah, blah, blah. And they text or they email and, you know, we even recently brought somebody new onto the team and she texted me. It didn't work out and she texted me to quit. And it's like, that is, it wasn't even a necessarily quit. It still probably could have been worked out.

Um, but that right there was a red flag for me because that's not something that we allow within our team. We've created a culture of having healthy face to face conflict resolution. And. So even small things like that make a huge difference and it just takes one slip or one not paying attention or one, um, bad egg, I will say, that doesn't fit your culture that can come in and completely destroy it from the inside out if you're not careful.

Yep. 

John: It's like, um, the yeast in the dough, right? A little bit of yeast or whatever they call it, and you work through the dough and destroy the whole thing, right? If you put a little bit too much or whatever. Um, so you have to be intentional, like you said, about making sure that that culture is preserved.

And that's where we fell off. Um, we didn't, and let's take it back. You know, when we talk about the beginning, right, creating the culture and one of our podcasts from before we spoke about, um, how important a mission statement is and a vision statement is because it's all, it's birthed out of that, right?

Once you determine where your business is going, what you want your business to accomplish, then you can turn, you can determine how that's going to happen and determine the type of people you want to bring onto the team to create that, um, movement. Cause then, cause that's what you're going to create is a movement.

You want your business to be a movement. So, um, we fell off during the COVID years and not focusing, not maintaining focus on that. And then the culture of social media just, uh, skyrocketed, took off. Tick tock. Everybody started, you know, because everyone's confined to their homes for a little while. So communication was via.

Texting social media messages and things like that. And now we have a culture coming up that that's how they communicate. So how do we combat that? Right in maintaining our culture. How can we combat 

Kacie: that? Yeah, well and that could also be I mean Maybe that's part of your culture that you want to create within your team is it is all very virtual and techie and you do Things like that, you know via text like maybe that's what you've created, but you have to Again, make sure that that's on purpose.

Don't just allow it to happen just because it's how the world works and And so yeah I think I think it's also hard if you are an established business and you're listening to this podcast and you have maybe a culture that you're like, oh this kind of went the wrong way or You haven't even necessarily thought about it, which I think most businesses don't even think about it.

Um, so I think it's a lot harder to take a step back and create it when you're in the middle of it versus starting off and creating it from the beginning. But it is still possible. It is possible. 

John: Sure. It's a, it's a, it's a work in progress. You have to ask yourself the questions. Do I want people to stay with me for the longterm or do I, do I want to be a revolving door?

So you have to ask yourself as a business owner, that question, what kind of business am I, am I a, understandably in the retail world? It's gonna be a kind of revolving door type thing, right? You may have one or two that that you want to keep on long term But you know a lot of it is seasonal a lot of it is stuff like that So you will have kind of a revolving door type of um employment process But then you're a service company and things like that You want to probably have more people long term because it's more relational, right?

You're building relationships with your clients. So you want to make sure that when your clients Seek you out. They're seeking out familiar faces and familiar tones and things like that. So, you know, what kind of culture do you, do you want to have? What kind of, um, you know, employment term do you want to have?

And then how do you create the environment to make, to make that happen? 

Kacie: Yes, and communicate that. You know, you don't just create something and write it down and have a plan and then expect everybody to automatically know what you're wanting. I think having meetings and communicating, you know, this is, and right when something goes against the way that you want your team culture to be, you have to address it immediately because when you let something go, and we've talked.

over the past couple weeks about conflict resolution. That was a couple podcasts ago. I think we went into two whole podcasts about conflict resolution. Yes. And, and I think the reason that we keep going back to this is because people these days do not know how to resolve conflict. Like they're scared to death.

To bring it up if they're feeling uncomfortable, they're just scared. Like they're so scared. Y'all conflict doesn't necessarily have to be a bad thing. It doesn't, you can work through conflict in a healthy way and it can turn out way better than it even was before. 

John: So true. So true. I mean, you can come up with results that, you know, make everything better.

Yes. If you resolve conflict 

Kacie: the right way. Exactly. And if it's handled at the beginning, so yeah, I think this is. You know, the same thing. If you're, if you feel some tension or if something's going against what you envision for your team culture, then you need to address it right away and, and go from there.

Yeah, 

John: definitely. I, I struggle as a business owner looking at bringing on people. Like I struggle with today's culture and I know that, uh, you know, some. And like you were saying, maybe you want, you can have a culture of, you know, communicating electronically and that's okay. And, and resolving things that way.

I feel, I just feel so much gets lost in translation. If that's how, if that's a major way you communicate with your team, so much gets lost in translation without having a direct conversation. 

Kacie: We're people, we're humans. I think we're meant to have interaction with each other. We are. 

John: Yeah. But it's been pushed.

Like it's the, the culture now is people are very, uh, enclosed in their homes now, um, and behind their social, their phones and, and social media. So, you know, very little people, believe it or not, I'm seeing this, I'm seeing very little people actually getting out today and interacting socially than before, you know?

And I think that that's a culture, there's going to be a big culture shift. That business owners are gonna have to how do you you know, how do we navigate that because that you know What are we gonna do 

Kacie: about that? Yeah. Well, and I think that plays Into a bigger picture and we're getting kind of off topic, but this is good stuff.

This is really good important stuff Yeah, because I think that what that also another impact that that has or effect that that has very negative is that People don't care about people like they used to it's not about people I see in interviewing people, it's no longer about how can I make this company better or what can I contribute to build this company?

It's more like what can I get out of this company? And how can this company give me my needs and serve my which For you know, that's why you work a job is to make money and we're not oblivious of that but it's it's gone from the mentality of I want to be valuable within this company so that I can keep my job or you know pay for myself to be there It's gone from that to like what can I get?

What can I take? What can I and and I think as small business owners we're really feeling that because when you have a whole team of people that is working to provide the value that they um That they bring to the table if they want the company to be better and succeed by using their gifts and talents that they have, and they're all doing that together.

You can accomplish beautiful things, but when a whole entire team is there sucking dry, what can I get out of this company? What can this company do for me? It can really, it can really drain a team for sure. And, and I think that that's, you know, I was talking to one of my team members. She's a little frustrated.

Her husband is deployed and she has a baby and she was, um, Going to a event the other day at her son's school and she had the baby on her back. She's over a year so she's pretty big girl and She dropped the post dropped the pacifier and it rolled under a chair and she has the baby and there's all these people walking by and she's like scrambling trying to get down to get this pacifier and And she said, like, 15 people walked by me and just watched me and not one person stopped and offered to help.

And I think that says a lot for where we are right now as a culture. And I think reeling it back into social media and everybody being. Consumed with themselves and staying at home and not, you know, meeting one to one and feeling compassion for your neighbor. I think that it's really had a bigger effect, a bigger impact than we could even imagine.

John: Yeah, yep. So you're the pool of candidates for your business that, um, like to interact that way is getting smaller, right? So you're going to have to bring on people that don't necessarily interact that way. But how can you bring them into the family, into the culture, and get them to understand that that's how we interact.

And I, I, I, I, what I'm, I'm kind of talking through it, um, but I'm, I'm thinking like as a business owner, the one way we can combat that is, I guess, as we're bringing people onto the team, is number one, communicate the culture off the bat. Right? So that they understand what they're getting themselves into.

Set that expectation. Set that expectation. And then, um, constantly follow up with it. You know, making sure that they're meeting the metrics of the culture, cultural expectation of the business. Um, I think we have to do better at that as business owners. That's the only way we're going to continue to make, keep that culture alive in our businesses.

Yeah. That's 

Kacie: great. Boom. I love it. Boom. Pow. So let us know, you guys, how you, where you stand in all of this. Is this even something that you've considered? Is this something that you have even thought about? Do you have a culture? Is there something special that you do for your team? If you have a team, you know, like, do you celebrate birthdays and team meetings?

Do you send their, send them flowers, you know, and anniversaries? Like what do you do to create that culture? Yeah. Within your team, and I just want to touch on one more thing before we get off. And for those of you that don't have teams but have businesses, I think this is Also, talking about people and social media, this rolls over into social media.

It does. So, if you have a special, you know, if you have the expectations set with what you want your team culture to look like, you can't just do it internally, it has to be reflected in everything that you do, which includes social media. So, if you have, you know, people on your team. That, you know, you don't do drama and you do healthy conflict resolution and all these things, but then you see them, you know, in a chat group, like blowing somebody up, being a jerk, that whether you like it or not, that directly reflects your team because they have, they work at your business, they, you know, so I think, I think thinking beyond just the doors, the walls of your business, um, same for you as a business owner.

I was going to say 

John: that. Yeah. Same for the 

Kacie: business owner. I see it way too much. Like I think that business, especially the younger generation, they have a hard time because people want to see our lives. That's an important part of being a business owner is that. You know, you're buying from a person, that's why we love local is, you know, you're buying from a person, you're supporting your neighbors.

And so I think it is important to share a little bit of your life and your story and show yourself. But I think, I think they, they cross the line and they get into the drama and they get into the, he said, she said, and they start all this stuff and they get a little bit too personal. And, and. Reflects the culture of your business and your team by doing that in a 

John: negative way.

You see that so much, you know, our community has like those community chats, right? Where thousands of people are on those community chats and you'll get a business owner on there clowning a client, you know, that maybe said something wrong and they'll get on there and they'll bash them and vice versa, right?

Clients bash businesses on there all the time. Businesses bash each other. Businesses bash each other and it's like That's not the culture you want to portray as your business. You're like, granted, you're going to, as a business owner, you're going to go through conflict, whether it's externally, whether it's internally, you know, you're going to have conflict as a business, but like you got to be strategic.

There's still some ways to handle things that the whole world doesn't need to know about. You know, there's still some form of privacy that should be. That should be with, you know, there should be health. Professionalism. Professionalism, exactly. Like, you know, we got to get back to something like that because it's turning into a wild wild west and that that doesn't help anybody.

Kacie: No. Believe me, there's been many a times I've wanted to jump in a Facebook chat group and be like this person blah blah blah don't do business with them. They did this to me or they, but You just gotta just write it on a piece of paper and burn it if you really have to do that. Don't post it. Don't blast it.

Even if it's from your personal page. Don't do it, please. 

John: Exactly. It always comes back. I'm telling you people, people do their research. They'll, you know, they see that you're putting stuff out there that's just out of this, out of the, out of this world crazy. They'll say, Hey, who's this person? What else do they do?

And they'll go, Okay, they're a business owner. Oh, look, I'm not going there. Yeah. You don't want that to happen. Nope. Hopefully that helps stuff, 

Kacie: right? Yeah. Good stuff. Hopefully you guys will sit back and this week and enjoy your new years and take this and really apply it for 2024 and build a song, a strong, solid team and a solid culture and intentional.

I love intentional, intentional. That's my, I pick a word every year. Like I usually pick a new word, but the last three years I think I've been intentional. Yeah, yeah, 

John: because that's the, uh, it's, it's, that's the word for the past three years, right? Being intentional. Yep. And I like talking through these things when we do our podcast, because it helps me.

Because we come in here, we talk a lot before we record, right? And we'll talk about some conflicts or whatever's going on. But then when we sit down and have the conversation, honestly, I'm talking through in my head how to get over what I'm going through at the same time. So this helps me as much as it helps you, I hope so.

And if you share it, it'll help other people as well. 

Kacie: It will, because this is a problem, y'all. There's a lot of business owners that need this information. For sure. Yeah, and it makes everybody better. It makes the employees better. It makes the businesses better. It makes the customers better. So this is, this helps everybody all the way around.

Yep. Yep. 

John: Yeah. So if I keep following along and look, look to those lives that we're going to have, I'm excited about that. So 

Kacie: come in 2024, you'll have a happy new year and we'll see you soon. Take care. Bye.