by Renee Boatwright | VP of Recruiting
In order to effectively identify culture, an organization must identify behaviors and common patterns for conducting routine business. Culture can be found in office communication, work schedule, office layout, dress code, meeting frequency, screen savers, voicemails, emails and the list goes on and on. Some behaviors are not as evident and may take a little more “digging” to identify. It may be a good idea to enlist the help of “outsiders” for their opinion. Clients and vendors may be able to identify traits or qualities that set your company apart from the competition. What clients and vendors see an important part of your culture may be just as important as what your internal staff values.
I recommend holding an offsite meeting or retreat in order to dedicate quality time discussing goals, values and common traits or characteristics of the organization. It is up to the discretion of the organization, but I think it’s a great idea to invite clients and/or vendors to contribute. In order to start dialogue between participants, designate a team member to be the scribe for the session. The scribe will responsible for jotting down words and phrases on a whiteboard that the team feels is important to the organization. By doing this exercise, dialogue should start flowing between team members which will bring the group closer to identifying their culture.
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