This article delves into the concept of culture activation, which serves as a touchpoint within a culture roadmap and significantly impacts the workplace experience. It explores what a culture activation entails and highlights the benefits of relationship-building initiatives in the workplace.
In today’s rapidly evolving work environment, where remote and hybrid work are the new norm, culture takes precedence.
Creating culture requires various leadership competencies: vision, intention, consistency, inspiration, along with a key element for success that cannot be overstated: social context.
Social context refers to the conditions that allow for relationships to develop within a shared space, like mutual respect, trust, empathy, appreciation, teamwork.
These conditions develop through spending quality time together, which requires a proactive approach to culture creation.
What is a Culture Activation?
A culture activation is a short-term workplace initiative with the primary objective of building relationships. It serves as a starting point for future team-building initiatives by disrupting existing workplace dynamics and modeling new ways of relating to one another.
At Higher Playbook, we recognize the value of tacit knowledge, particularly the relational and cultural understanding gained through a one-day shared experience.
The Core Benefits of Activating Your Workplace Culture
While transforming workplace culture takes time, a culture activation can plant seeds of new beliefs and initiate the behavioral shifts that are central to operating as a mission-driven organization.
Now more than ever, the choice to purposefully come together as a workforce is vital to building a culture of engaged contributors and collective character. Here are 6 core benefits of activating your workplace culture.
Cultivate Authentic Connections
At the heart of any successful culture activation is the focus on relationship-building. To cultivate authentic connections among team members, it is essential to go beyond surface-level interactions.
Through purposeful design and facilitation, culture activations provide opportunities for employees to delve deeper.
Round robins of empowering questions, for example, can break the script of conventional workplace interactions.
By encouraging employees to share their stories, perspectives, and experiences, a renewed sense of belonging can emerge.
Facilitate Critical Conversations
Culture activations offer an ideal setting for opening dialogue and engaging in critical conversations essential for personal growth and organizational progress. These conversations enable individuals to learn from one another, break down barriers, and broaden their perspectives.
Critical conversations enable individuals to learn from one another, break down barriers, and broaden their perspectives.
Exploring important topics like diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) allows for the expression of differing viewpoints and the development of interpersonal skills. Through practicing active listening and challenging assumptions within a psychologically-safe environment, employees can uncover hidden biases and address potential barriers to people succeeding at work.
Model Inclusive Leadership Behaviors
For leaders, a culture activation presents an excellent opportunity to model inclusive leadership behaviors. Leaders can break down hierarchical structures by demonstrating their humanity: their empathy, vulnerability, and personal experiences.
Culture activations provide a platform for involving team members in shaping future inclusion initiatives.
Additionally, culture activations provide a platform for involving team members in shaping future inclusion initiatives. Leaders can engage employees in strategic discussions on promoting inclusivity, seeking input from diverse perspectives, and leveraging underrepresented voices within the culture.
Deepen Commitment to Company Mission
One powerful outcome of a culture activation is the opportunity for employees to unite around the company mission and understand how their individual contributions directly impact the organization’s success.
Team activities designed to highlight mission and purpose, such as “Design Your Dream Team” or “Higher Purpose Training Ground”, shed light on how each individual’s unique strengths can support the larger team.
When employees recognize and are recognized for their contributions to the culture, their commitment to a company mission can deepen.
Unlock Human Potential
While many companies acknowledge that each individual brings unique skills and potential to the workplace, a culture activation allows employees to witness this firsthand.
During Higher Playbook’s culture activation, we introduce the Energy Leadership Index assessment, a transformational tool for individual and team development.
The Energy Leadership Index assessment results help showcase hidden talents and potential opportunities within the organization.
By building awareness and vocabulary around the 7 Energy Levels, teams gain a shared strategy to harness their potential for long-term culture initiatives and social impact projects.
Inspire the Moral Imagination
The moral imagination refers to the ability to envision and create a better future, guided by ethical principles and humanitarian causes.
A culture activation day ignites the moral imagination by inspiring employees to think beyond the present.
This motivational process involves reflecting on values, exploring internal blocks to impact, challenging conventional thinking, and recognizing the ways to harness collective potential.
Cultures with a strong moral imagination know how to rally together as a team and are well-positioned to lead social impact projects.
Transform Relationships & Impact Lives
While a culture activation holds immense potential, it’s important to acknowledge that every workplace has a distinct social context.
Dedicated people & culture leaders, along with workplace facilitators, can start by meeting their cultures where they are; and from there, design shared experiences that cater to the specific needs and conditions of a workplace.
As you lead the way in transforming work culture, you can inquire about Higher Playbook programs and partnerships to support your goals.
Through program design, leadership development, and facilitation services, we are here to strengthen the connectivity of our workforce, and together, powerfully serve the world.
Higher Playbook is your strategic partner in designing and developing socially innovative culture programs. Book a culture consultation now.
