Communicating in Your Corporate Culture

By David Byrd

Corporate culture at its most basic is how a company does what it does. A business's culture is made up of shared values, beliefs, habits and goals. A business's location, its employees and even customers all have a hand in forming a culture. Most corporate cultures are created organically, which is a nice way of saying that they are left to chance. Sometimes though, the leadership of a company realizes that their culture is one of the best selling points of the company; sometimes they see that their culture is dooming them.

Your business's culture is as important as your business plan and should be included in your thoughts as such. On a superficial level, a culture is how you're seen and what you do. This includes your building's layout, your equipment, the dress code, the organizational structure, your company policies, how you treat employees, and how you treat customers. Beneath all of this at the core, your culture is made up of the shared beliefs and values of the majority in the company.

Not all businesses are created equal or the same, but they all have a corporate culture of some sort. Identifying which culture they have isn't as easy as looking at the size of the building or how many employees there are. A small business could have the same culture as a multi-national corporation; it all depends on the mindset. When it comes to understanding the best way to run your business, there are two important things you must do: identify what kind of culture it has and know the best way to communicate within that culture.

To better understand the differences, we look at the culture studies of Fons Trompenaars who identifies four main culture types and how to navigate within them.

Guided Missile

A guided missile culture is objective based and organized to accomplish specific projects or goals. Managers feel a higher sense of ownership and are able to move their projects forward easily. Results come faster, the company is more agile, and there is plenty of flexibility for the employees. While this can be effective for getting things done, it isn't as beneficial for communication to the company as a whole. Communicating in this environment is more tactical than anything else, but you should hold on to the big picture to help keep these dynamic, but separate projects all heading in the same direction. Keep your global message based on the top priority project to get your audience's attention.

Eiffel Tower

This culture focuses on the relationship employees have with their immediate boss. Someone's position in the hierarchy vastly dictates what information they are receiving or able to give. While this is a strong culture, it is very slow to change. To communicate well, you need to have bottom-up and side-to-side communication channels in addition to the top-down information trickle. Make sure you have a solid and objective feedback process. A top managerial communications champion will be essential to make sure your information flows smoothly.

Familial

Like the name suggests, this kind of culture is similar to a family atmosphere. Loyalty, collaboration, and communication flow through relationships that are between people at any level. These relationships are driven through honor and respect. How much one can get done is dictated by who you know, how well you are liked, and how much of a fit in the company you are. Communicating in this culture is a more indirect process. Use celebrations and events to speak to the company as a whole. Direct criticism and confrontation will most likely backfire, so use stories, anecdotes, and non-personal examples to get your point across.

Incubator

Incubator cultures are a byproduct of the dot.com era and generations x and y. With the technology at hand, they get their information from almost every source except top-down communications. Once they have it, information billows out around them as they post on message boards, IM, and blogs. The best way to make an impression is to break them out of their normal, day-to-day atmosphere. Get them out from in front of their computers and into an auditorium. Make sure to include some moving around and good food. You'll make them pay attention when you go through the senses they don't normally use for work.

The culture of your business dictates how well your people will try to do the things that will make your business succeed. If you know what kind of culture you have, you can better understand how your employees think, how to communicate with them, and how best to use your culture to improve your company.

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