Things for teams to try: Improving Pride

How we see the organization we work for and how we think others see it is an important driver of individual happiness and team performance.

13 Pride - team

1. Get the information you need

Find time together at least twice a year to look at how your team's day-to-day work connects to the organization's mission.

How to do it:

  • Identify whose feedback matters most to your team.
  • Think about how the organization is performing through the eyes of this group.
  • Focus your team energy on closing the gap between the effort you put in and the impact it has. Do this by thinking about the kind of data channels you need to keep the impact you're having front and center. E.g.
  • Is it a regular email exchange with client-facing teams?
  • Is it a Slack channel where customer feedback is shared?
  • Is it acknowledgement by industry experts?
  • Is it awards for the work the organization does?

2. Live your values

When we know and like the values an organization lives by - and we're active participants - our sense of pride improves.

How to do it:

  • Over the year hold a series of short team sessions to explore:
  1. The organizational values your team holds dear - these are your team's core values.
  2. What you've done recently to live your core values - try reflecting on how it feels to live your core values.
  3. The use of values to make team decisions - does a decision take you closer to who and how you want to be in the world?
  • You should end up with greater clarity on the things you do feel proud about and what you'd love the organization to do more work on.

3. Invest locally

Organizations that make an effort to support and provide services into their local communities have an impact on the pride people feel.

How to do it:

  • Ask your team to think about how to give time and resources to issues you feel passionate about. There are countless studies into volunteering that show the positive energy volunteers get back. Plus, the things learnt along the way will help you work together more effectively.
  • Try creating a local spending policy for your team; every purchase - from a team lunch to stationery - is an opportunity to invest in the local community.

4. Become a climate positive team

Raise levels of pride in the organization by taking climate action together.

How to do it:

  • Consider all the ways you as individuals and as a team can change how you work to limit environmental impact and be a climate positive team.
  • Try these:
  • Redesign your commute to make it more earth friendly
  • Find out your team's carbon footprint baseline with Earthly
  • Make the move to a climate positive pension plan

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