What on earth is ‘team culture’ and why is it so important?
By: Helen Wallace
Tags: Team, Team Culture, Company Culture, Values, Team Values

The workplace is an interesting one. This is because it often consists of teams of people with different personality types who spend, in some cases, more time with each other than they do their partners, whether they like it or not. The culture of an organisation plays an enormous role in creating a space where every employee feels valued and motivated to work towards achieving their goals, as well as setting the tone for how conflict and communication are addressed.

This is something that Denise Nel, Chief Marketing and Team Officer at The Delta, believes in strongly. She sees team cultures as the ability for each staff member to work in an environment that is in line with their own values, beliefs, and goals, and truly wants to see each team member enjoying their work, being happy, engaged, and productive while feeling supported and recognised.

Defining team culture

According to Denise, a strong team culture system is designed around four key elements, namely values, rituals, stories, and consequences. Values refer to the qualities of expression that the culture considers most important. Rituals are the formal and informal procedures and celebrations that the culture adheres to. Stories are the formal and informal experiences that describe the culture’s values in action, and the consequences are what happens when values are violated.

Intuitively, we all understand that building a values-based organisation can be a life-changing experience for everyone involved. It creates great organisational resilience, inspires the best in its people and customers and builds a sustained advantage that’s hard for competitors to duplicate.

Team culture in action

At The Delta, maintaining a healthy and collaborative team culture is always high on the agenda. Denise explains that, despite being a large global team of over 70 staff members (and growing!), time is always set aside for weekly catch-ups with the full team as well as regular one-on-one check-ins. Staff are also encouraged to give praise to each other online, do regular pulse surveys, share knowledge, showcase skills and experiences through ‘Delta Talks’ and demo days and celebrate our successes at least once a month with fun all-inclusive online team events. For those who can and are up to it, we also get together once a month to socialise and to support local restaurants and bars, getting the opportunity to mingle on a more personal level.

The case for culture

2020, and the global pandemic it brought with it, has changed the world as we know it, and the workplace is not exempt. For us at The Delta, these difficult times revealed the importance of adaptability, innovation and the role that culture plays in helping to successfully make it to the other side of a monumental crisis.

Denise says that some key things she and The Delta team have learned this year are:

That the important part of developing a strong team is having a group of individuals who are working towards a shared goal or focusing on a collective effort greater than themselves.

That regular meetings build rapport, encourage productivity and bring the importance of improving the team to the forefront.

That great team culture is one that emphasizes leadership and mentorship over harsh management.

That it is important to take the time to get to know the people on your team.

That proactive, constructive feedback is one of the best ways to help your team continue to improve. Don’t over-complicate this process; feedback is often more impactful when it is informal and a natural part of an ongoing dialogue.

That promoting a culture of learning motivates staff to want to keep growing and adding to their skill set.

That employee wellness and insisting team members cultivate a healthy work-life balance is crucial to long-term output, creativity and productivity.

Denise explains that building and encouraging an effective team culture is a two-directional model that actually starts with the self, and is then able to influence the wider team and, eventually, start to shift the organisational culture as a whole. The companies that were able to withstand the many blows of 2020 and come out the other side in a stronger position are the ones with leaders who have not only taken steps to build and grow their team and company culture but have also made a concerted effort to focus on the individual and shifting their gaze inward for some much-needed introspection.