Define your team’s culture
“What is the culture of this team?”
I smiled. The question came from an applicant vying for an IT position, and for a moment, I thought he might catch the hiring manager off guard. I was wrong.
Without hesitation, James Hazzard, Illinois Extension director of information technology, said, “We have four core values which define the culture of our team.”
That, folks, is why few people leave his team.
These aren’t words written on a vision board and never seen again. These values guide the team’s day-to-day activities, creating a culture that keeps the team — and organization — happy and productive.
“These are the pillars of our operating procedures and strategic guidelines. They may seem simple but I use them constantly to assess whether we are on the right path, as individuals and as a team.”
Core Values
#1 We put customer service first.
It’s hard to do costumer service well if you don’t like helping people. At the recent National Extension Technology Community Conference, IT directors were asked whether they hire based on technical skills or customer service skills. Each chose customer service.
“We are the team that Extension staff look to in their time of need. We add value to the work of every staff member.” — James Hazzard
It’s that simple. A part of every Extension impact story is the result of IT staff working in the background ensuring staff have the tools to do their job.
Customer service doesn’t just mean solving the problem; it means improving the client’s life beyond the problem, such as building users’ skills, correcting adjacent issues you find before they cause new problems, and reassuring customers the entire IT team has their best interests at heart.
#2 We work until the problem is solved.
“The answer is in the room. If it’s not, make the room bigger.”
No one on James’ team knows every answer, but they do know where to look for the answer. Every problem has a solution, even if the solution is admitting there isn’t a current solution to what a client is wanting.
“This team operates as innovative and dogged problem solvers,” James says. To be a good problem solver, you need to wade deep into the issue, beyond what the help ticket says, to know what the real problem is.
Sometimes what the client asks for is not what they really need. For example, program staff may ask for new software without understanding their hardware won’t support it. Simply giving them what they ask for creates a more complicated problem in the future. You’re not done if you create a bigger problem than you solved.
#3 We are curious about technology.
Good leaders encourage curiosity, and James ensures that his team has early access to emerging technologies to stoke the flames of his team’s curious nature, even technologies that may not have an immediate direct application to current Extension efforts.
“When leaders encourage curiosity among their teams, they create a culture that fosters innovation and creative problem-solving. As team members feel empowered to explore different possibilities, the organization as a whole becomes more adaptable and can respond better to challenges.” — Ambition in Motion
#4 We work as a team.
“There is too much work and too many complex problems to tackle to succeed any other way than as a team,” James believes. Together, his 8-member team resolves 5,000+ requests for help a year.
On crisis days, such as the recent CrowdStrike outage, managers call an “all-skate” day, where team members put their own projects aside to work the crisis until it is resolved.
“We are in this together, and when one of us succeeds, we all succeed.”
Reducing turnover begins with team culture
This culture has allowed James to build a stable workforce of professionals who come and stay. He has developed a clear path of advancement for team members and provides ample professional development opportunities to build skills. When needed, he buffers the team from unjustified criticism.
“If we are not shining examples of these four core values within Extension, then we are not providing our maximum value to the organization”
You might also enjoy these blogs.
“I learned far more thru adversity than planned professional development.” — Brian Watson, IT Executive Director, University of Georgia Extension
We're like that, you and I. We become what we practice. We echo the attitude we surround ourselves with. We live the life we repeat. We do what we've learned to do. And, we do it over and over and over again.
Want to read more on becoming a great leader?
These are my personal leadership book recommendations. Pick up these books wherever you shop or support my efforts by using the Amazon links provided.