How can you create an inclusive and welcoming team culture?

The first step to creating an inclusive and welcoming team culture is to care. Inclusion is an experience created not simply by what you do but why you do it. When your motivation is that you care about the members of your team you create the conditions for trust, learning and grace which transforms even the moments when you disagree or have to provide constructive feedback. From that foundation- I would reframe “the define your values” step to: define the team/individual behaviors that will create the team culture for high performance (inclusion included!). And don’t forget to identify and gain commitment for how you’ll all approach moments when the lived experience of members on the team is inconsistent with the agreements!

You can omit this step altogether. Values have little value. Invariably the values you define are aspirational, not actual. I've worked with too many senior teams that fondly imagine they can change culture simply by articulating a set of values. They can't - values and culture are emergent properties of the collective and largely reflect the behaviours of the leader and their team. So if a leader wants to change culture, they need to change their behaviour first.

Company values are the fundamental building blocks of any organization, but they are often predefined. These values are put into practice by the organization on a daily basis. You might want to establish what are known as aspirational values - values that you believe the organization should adopt in order to succeed. How can you ensure that the aspirational values are fully embraced by the team? By creating artifacts and rituals that support these values, sharing stories that exemplify them, and explaining the consequences of not adhering to them. Leaders must lead by demonstrating the desired values. However, it is the teams and individual contributors who ultimately shape the true values of the company through their own behavior.

I believe values without behaviors that align with those values are empty. How you behave towards new candidates when hiring, new employees when onboarding, and then ongoing communication with your team have to be consistent. One team I worked with actually outlined their top values and what they wanted to be known for, and then defined the actions that aligned with that. We did 'temperature check's' every few months to make sure those actions continued to be top of mind, even when the team was going through stressful times.

There are way too many examples of organisations who have defined values but who have also failed to create a welcoming culture. It's not enough to communicate values...YOU HAVE TO LIVE THEM TOO!

You create an inclusive and welcoming team culture by ensuring there is psychological safety and conversational turn-taking among team members. In addition, below are also important: 1. Leading my example from senior management. 2. Setting clear expectations. 3. Encouraging open communication. 4. Providing training. 5. Supporting life-work balance. 6. Opportunities for networking and mentoring. 7. Team Building Activities.

I agree with what Janki said! Regular check-ins with the team to ensure leadership is doing what it says it will do can be valuable.

In my experience, the most effective organizations have some form of engagement with the vast majority of their people. A leader’s job is to create healthy environments for discussion and feedback. However, the leaders will still need to make the final decision on critical pieces of the plan to succeed. The art sits in balancing these two. Open up the team, but be prepared to make tough decisions.

One team in my former company (the one with the highest engagement, retention and revenue performance, incidentally) created a simple deck where each team member had a slide to introduce themself, not just their job title on an org chart, but photos and commentary about who they are as a person in and outside of work. Each new team member received the deck in their first week and added themselves to it. It was one of many small rituals that helped to foster an inclusive team culture.

Embracing diversity is the right thing to do. It makes us better. But it takes courage. Courage to step outside of the blanket of comfort provided by the familiar. Challenge is by definition difficult. Difficult is often unpleasant. The strong and courageous are willing to endure the temporary discomfort of the unfamiliar for the spoils that follow. Challenge yourself to step off the familiar path and embrace growth. You will be happy you did.

Sharing personal stories of how people got to where they are, and what's important to them can truly be impactful. So many times we don't know what brought a teammate to their role, the struggles they faced or the successes they celebrated. It helps the team get to know each other and build that psychological safety that is SO important for a high functioning team.

Recognizing local and cultural holidays can be a great way to foster inclusivity and understanding among team members. For example, let’s say you’re a leader in the US and you have a team based in Mexico (my favorite vacation spot). Sending a “Happy Independence Day” message to them on September 16th shows recognition for their Independence Day, which is different from the US day. You can ask them to share how they celebrated or other curiosities. By incorporating local and cultural holidays, you’ll not only show appreciation for your team’s diverse backgrounds, but it provides opportunities to learn about different traditions, values, and customs. This can lead to a richer work environment where everyone feels valued.

Conflict in and of itself isn't bad - it creates better decisions. It's how you navigate the conversations when people disagree that matters. I taught Crucial Conversations for years - and just giving people a framework so they can HAVE what they imagine might be a difficult conversation opened up so many possibilities for people to really understand the other person's perspective.

Inclusion is built through small daily interactions and micro-messages. Every sentence you say has an impact and every sentence you don’t say also has an impact. Throughout the day, we continuously send and receive messages, some of which are conscious and some of which are unconscious. Make a deliberate effort to change these subtle messages. Go out of your way to show that people who are different from you belong. Pay attention to them in order to counteract any unconscious bias you may have. Your lack of focus may be seen as sending a micro-message that they don’t matter. Look for opportunities to include others, no matter how small. The goal is to create a sense of belonging in every person on the team and in every interaction.

Model the behavior you want to see. As a leader, people are watching you to see how you handle various situations. Show up with authenticity, integrity, respect and compassion.

Inclusion can look like many different things to different people. Creating a culture of psychological safety is based on large and small gestures: - Ensuring proper onboarding, and letting people know who can answer their questions - Checking in with team members, showing (non-invasive) interest in their lives outside the office - Celebrating professional and personal wins, supporting them in times of need - Proactively offering help, being a safe place to share issues that arise - Looking holistically at the work and the team together, and addressing gaps collectively - Giving each other freedom and autonomy around how the work gets done

Modelling lacks authenticity and is best avoided. Leaders need to be true to themselves, not a management theory, ideology or so-called best practice. Humility is also best avoided - "lowness, small stature; insignificance; baseness, littleness of mind". These are not qualities that benefit a leader. Good leaders know what they are good at - they do not promote their strengths and virtues, neither do they deny them.

What are the spoken and unspoken rules within the team. Avoiding the perception of "some rules for some and not for others" goes a long way to helping foster inclusion within a team. As a leader, learning to tell your own stories of belonging can help team members feel like they too either belong or can belong.

Lead with LOVE! If you treat people as if you love them then a lot of what's written above will all come naturally. Love is a word that's simply not used enough in business and that needs to change.

Four points I would add, which I believe contribute towards building amazing cultures. 1. The true art of perspective taking. Diversity of thought is such a valuable approach to building culture. 2. With perspective taking comes the ability to facilitate and build psychological safety and trust. 3. Also, let’s factor in how the strengths of individuals can elevate possibilities. 4. We cannot action a lot of the above if we do not truely understand how to communicate with impact. It’s surprising how little people know about communication, conversations and expression.