Whether you’re an Exec starting at a new company, an HR professional conducting a survey, a CEO who wants to hear from their people, or even a consultant, it’s important to assess your culture by asking the right questions.

Culture is your company’s values & beliefs manifested in the behavior of everyone at your organization. Therefore, you must ask questions that get to the behaviors that people are seeing, not seeing, wanting more of, or less of. Here are the best questions that uncover the behaviors that make up the current culture, & the ones that will create your ideal culture:

1. Imagine: I wave a magic wand, & you wake up tomorrow and everything at the company is perfect - rocking & rolling - the energy is high, the employees are engaged, clients are ecstatic, you feel amazing. What is happening? What behaviors do you see everyone doing?

2. Reflect on these questions & share with the group:

• You are obviously doing some things right - you have a great team & company. What are we doing right? What are behaviors we are currently doing/seeing that we need to KEEP doing?
• What do we need to START doing?
• What do we need to STOP doing?
• When our organization is thriving, at its best, what behaviors were present?
• Give a specific example of a teammate who does something that you think is amazing, or next-level. You wish others would do it, too.
• When our company is at its worst, what behaviors were missing?
• What behaviors, if lived by everyone in the company, would allow us to be “successful” (each company defines success differently)?
• What are the things that, if done more consistently, would make our organization amazing?
• What are the things that you often “rant” about? If you’re not sure, ask those around you. (After all, you wouldn’t rant about them if they weren’t important to you).
• What are the things that drive you crazy when you see them happening? What’s the opposite of those behaviors? In other words, what would you like people to be doing instead of doing that which drives you crazy?
• What behaviors are missing right now, the presence of which would make everything better?
• What behaviors are present right now, the absence of which would make everything better?
• What behaviors do you currently reward that you want to stop rewarding?
• What behaviors don’t get enough recognition? Which ones do you want to start recognizing more?

3. The stories people tell at an organization are a great way to gain insight into the company’s culture:

• What’s the best story that exemplifies your culture?
• Tell me something that happens here that wouldn’t anywhere else?
• Tell me about a time when people didn’t walk the talk here.
• Tell me a story about who gets hired, promoted, & fired around here?

4. Culture change is hard work. So I love to ask leaders this:

When you’re leading a team, and you want to implement change, you need to paint a very clear picture for your people explaining the reason WHY you can't stay where you're currently at. If there's no compelling reason, why change?

• What will happen if everything stays the same?
• What will the team miss out on?
• What will you miss out on?
• What will your clients miss out on?

5. Last but not least, strong organizational cultures are built on a foundation of trust, communication & alignment – ask questions to uncover the level of trust, effective communication, & team alignment that exists. Examples:

► ALIGNMENT: On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being “we have goals?!” & a 10 being “I know & understand these goals like the back of my hand!”, how would you rank your understanding of the company’s business goals?
• Why?
• What would get you closer to a 10?
• On a scale of 1-10, how motivated are you to achieve those goals? Why?

► TRUST: Tell me how your teammates build trust with you. What are the things they DO?

► TRUST: Tell me about how your teammates break your trust. What do you do here when trust is broken?

► COMMUNICATION: On a scale of 1-10, how effective is the communication here, from your perspective? Why didn’t you say a lower number?

Are you ready for a Culture Temperature Check? HECK YES YOU ARE, LEADER! Get out there, have fun, & if you need anything at all, I’m here for you. 👏

Pssst...I LOVE connecting with & growing my community! Feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn - see you there! 🤗

Other Amazing Reads!