How to Create Shared Values as a Manager
We all know how important it is to work from a set of shared values –– it’s one of the most powerful predictive factors for employee engagement and high performance, plus, it encourages a sense of camaraderie and makes being at work much more enjoyable. People all align around the same sense of purpose, and organizational decisions get much easier, since you have a clear sense of what you’re aiming for.
Of course, we also all know how easy it is to create a “Shared Values” document, stick it up on the wall, and then only remember that it exists when you’re doing a deep clean before Christmas and find that it’s fallen behind your filing cabinet.
The good news is, it’s absolutely possible to create a solid sense of shared values that actually impact the way your organization runs day-to-day. And, even better, organizations that do this hard work have an incredible degree of alignment around their values that can have massive, lasting impact on the organization as a whole.
HERE’S HOW TO CREATE A SENSE OF SHARED VALUES:
Quick side note before we dive into the process: you can certainly do this on your own, but if you get stuck anywhere in the process, I highly recommend outsourcing it and working with someone who can come in and help guide you and your company through it. Sometimes just having that pair of outside eyes can make everything so much easier. Message me for resources.
Start by hosting a brainstorming session for getting shared values on the table.
Whatever your starting point is, the next step is to bring your staff together and have a brainstorming session where everybody contributes their thoughts about what your org’s shared values are.
At this point, anything goes, so encourage people to bring whatever thoughts they have. Write them all on a whiteboard or a big sticky note on the wall, and once you hit that point where everybody’s contributed, or you start seeing repeat values, start seeing if any of your values might fold together into one.
Once you’ve got your list narrowed down, have people vote on which values are most representative of the company. One easy way to do this is with dot stickers –– everybody gets a the same number of stickie dots, and they put their dots next to the values they’re voting for. I call this stickie dot voting. It may surprise you with how quickly this synthsizes your ideas.
Then wordsmith it.
Now that you’ve gotten the puzzle pieces on the table, so to speak, take it away and do some wordsmithing. See what you can do to really get to the heart of what these values are about, and phrase them in a simple way, using everyday language. Think about how people actually talk in your organization, and describe the values in those terms. That will be so much more useful and feel more “real” to your people than any kind of fancy, over-the-top language.
Bring it back to everyone for a final check-in.
Gather everybody together again and present your wordsmithed draft to them, and invite them to give you any final feedback before you all espouse those values. Once everybody feels like they’re on board with the document, discuss how you’ll actually see those values play out in your day-to-day work. For instance, if humor is a shared value, then how are you going to incorporate humor in your weekly meetings? Talk about how these things show up tactically, and what processes you can put in place to ensure they stay top of mind.
Finally, make sure you set aside time every six months or so to review your statement and see whether it needs any updating. Are there any values you haven’t really seen at work in the past six months? Do you need to add any new values? Has anything else changed that might mean the document is now out of date? Having regular check-ins ensures that you keep your values current, and you don’t end up with the poster-behind-the-filing-cabinet situation.
And of course, if you’d like more guidance and support with this kind of work, I’m always here for you. Click here to find out more about how I support managers just like you do more great work.
