Episode 158 – Keep it Together – Managing Team Culture

The project management podcast by project managers for project managers brought to you by Velociteach PMP exam prep. Culture expert Colin D Ellis talks about in-office culture, remote culture, as well as hybrid culture, and how we can shift our mindset from where we work to how we work. Hear about managing team culture and creating a space for safety where everybody succeeds.

Table of Contents

02:25 … Defining team Culture03:20 … Everyone has a Role in Culture04:38 … How a Leader can Influence Culture06:26 … Managing In-Office Team Culture11:02 … Why are People Reluctant to Return13:31 … Rebuilding Culture16:10 … Managing Remote Team Culture19:36 … Engaging Remote Team Members21:50 … Psychological Safety within Remote Teams24:07 … Connecting New Hires to the Culture27:37 … Managing Team Culture in Hybrid Environments30:06 … Even the Playing Field32:49 … Learn a New Skill Set34:54 … Getting Buy-In from Upper Management33:30 … Advice for Younger Project Managers37:58 … Get in Touch with Colin39:16 … Closing

COLIN ELLIS:  So hybrid work is a different way of working.  And so it’s crucially important that managers fundamentally understand what the differences are, what the risks are, but also what the opportunities are so that they can do it properly. 

WENDY GROUNDS:  Welcome to Manage This, the podcast by project managers for project managers.  My name is Wendy Grounds, and we’re talking with Colin D. Ellis.  And Colin has been a guest of ours in the past.  On Episode 89, Keys to Success and Being a Good Human, Colin joined us from Melbourne, Australia.  And he’s joining us again today.  Colin has more than 20 years’ experience building and leading teams in public and private sector organizations.  And he just loves helping people to be their best selves and bring that to work each day.

We’re going to be talking to him about company culture.  There’s been so many changes in company culture over the last couple of years.  And so we’re going to address in-office culture, remote culture, as well as hybrid culture and how we can shift our mindset from where we work to how we work.  Colin and Bill are both joining us via Skype today.

Hi, Colin.  Welcome back to Manage This.  It’s so good to have you back.

COLIN ELLIS:  Thank you, Wendy.  It’s lovely to be back.

WENDY GROUNDS:  What have you been doing in the interim, since we last spoke to you?  What’s happening in your life?

COLIN ELLIS:  Oh, I mean, where do you even start?  It was like, things have been pretty normal, I haven’t really done anything.  Yeah, things have been just a little bit crazy.  I think like everybody else in the pandemic, especially those people who work for themselves, there was that period of uncertainty right at the start, like, oh.  What do we do about developing our staff?  Let’s just put everything on hold.  And that was, you know, the way it was for me.  We dealt with some pretty severe COVID issues back with our family in the U.K.  And we kind of got through that.  And then all of a sudden the work came roaring back.

I think for someone like me, who does a lot of work in workplace culture and still keep my hand in in the project management world, I think what COVID did was really shine a light on either some of the things that were broken within cultures or else some of the things that just needed to be tweaked to make sure that people could keep delivering and keep being as productive as they can be.

So, you know, what’s changed in the sense that I did more virtual work than I’ve ever done before, but I was well set up for it, so that was a relatively easy transition.  And just enjoying being back amongst people again.

Defining Team Culture

WENDY GROUNDS:  Well, we want to dig into talking about company culture, and you were the person we thought would be an expert to give us some great advice.  But before we head into talking about company culture, could you give us just a really good definition?