Four Suggestions For A Positive Interactive Workplace

By Scott Valentine

Here are four suggestions for managers who wish to develop a positive interactive environment:

1. Develop A Value-Centered Group Mission Statement 
Shared values bring people together. One needs to look no further than to one's own friends to understand this point. Interestingly, shared values are not as uncommon as one may think. Most people if asked would agree that working toward a proactive, positive, empathetic, professional workplace is a worthy quest. These are values that most people can agree upon. They are also values that can tie a group together and make them a family. Managers who seek to develop a value-centered group mission statement should be to ensure that these values are agreed upon by consensus. The goal of this exercise should be to establish as a group four or five values that everyone respects and agrees to try and further develop.

2. Follow Up The Mission With Regular Workshops 
Mission statements become dusty documents unless they are taken out of their protective sleeve and put to use. Regular workshops to discuss how the team is progressing in terms of achieving their value-centered goals are essential. In these workshops, team members must be very specific in brainstorming ways to apply their shared values on a daily basis. For example, if the group decides that empathy is a trait they wish to work toward then a question in a workshop could be: Specifically how can we be empathetic toward colleagues, customers, and suppliers? This question alone is fodder for at least 2 hours of interactive workshops.

3. Ensure Top Management Lives The Mission 
Redefining corporate culture can only succeed if the top management takes the lead. If employees see that top management is not behind the quest for developing a positive interactive environment, then they will not make the effort either. Telling senior managers to pay attention to their behavior is not enough. Senior managers should be made accountable for the success of this program. One way to ensure that proper attention is given to this program is to hold regular management meetings to review each manager's contribution toward creating a positive interactive environment. If a manager has to report back to peers with specific examples of how he or she is supporting a value-centered mission, the manager will be motivated to live the mission.

4. Clearly Reward The Advocates And Punish The Opponents 
Creating a positive, value-centered culture requires a dogmatic dedication to making it work. Those who buy into the team should be clearly and publicly rewarded. Those who refuse to buy into the program should be slated for corrective action. There is nothing wrong with tying the application of values into Management By Objectives (MBO) programs. For example, if the group wishes to define itself as being empathetic, then each employee should be able to define a dozen of so concrete actions they have taken to be more empathetic. This can easily be made part of a person's job plan and performance appraisal.

For managers that scratch their head and wonder what it is about their employees that cause them to be so uncommitted, the solution is at the tip of their fingers. Employees become part of the team when the team's values appeal to them. And organizations don't represent values until managers make the effort to bring everyone together and establish clear values. For companies that can develop a positive interpersonal environment, the benefits to customer service, productivity and quality improvements are clear. However, none of this is possible until managers realize that employees are number one.