The Cultural Microsphere: A Personal Investment in Your Workplace

Sep 15

5 min read

I miss the days of hanging out at the water cooler! Remember those?

We’d get caught up on what was happening in other parts of the business, often harmless gossip, but too it was always an opportunity to find out how people were REALLY feeling about the workplace. It was a casual setting with peers where guards were often let down – a safe space.

The proverbial water cooler is still alive and well but in a distributed work environment it’s in private chat channels and back-door meetings. In many ways, it is more difficult now than ever before for leaders to get a “in the thick of it” view of what the organization’s culture is really like every day.

Yet, the importance of culture in the workplace has not diminished, though we are in danger of overusing the term to describe every aspect of the workplace! I feel we do this because culture can often feel like a patchwork -

You might walk into one department and see a thriving, energetic team where the manager is supportive, offers autonomy, has invested in better tools, and values employee input. It's clear that in this corner of the business, the employees feel empowered and engaged. Then, just a few rows over on the org chart, a different department tells a very different story. Employees may feel restricted by micro-management, outdated tools and processes, often facing the blame for inefficiencies.

Both of these teams exist within the same organization, operating under the same values and corporate mission, yet their day-to-day experience couldn’t be more different. How can this be? How can a company that regularly discusses culture and values still have such stark differences in how employees feel?

At the water cooler, we could quickly diagnose these issues and take appropriate action. Now, we must rely on people more (good human behaviors) to diagnose and solve problems in our work cultures.

The answer lies in the cultural microsphere.

Culture Is More Than a Set of Values

You already know that ‘culture’ is more than a set of values outlined in a PDF or discussed during onboarding. At its core, culture is how work gets done by human beings. That’s why it is difficult to measure and requires a significant investment to make incremental improvements.

For me, “Culture” is...

"the ways in which employees create, collaborate, and innovate to solve problems and produce business outcomes."

Every organization has a culture, but it’s the individual behaviors within each team or department that shape the real experience for every employee. With that in mind, we cannot apply a single framework across the business and expect that that framework applies unilaterally. I wish it were not so – it would be much easier.

Even with well-defined values, the execution of those values happens in a very human way—and that’s where inconsistencies arise. The reality is that culture isn’t just one thing that applies equally across the company. It’s a collection of individual experiences within each part of the business, each with its own set of tools, resources, and leadership styles.

This is the foundation of the cultural microsphere.

Where Culture Truly Happens

The cultural microsphere is the environment where an employee’s daily actions and interactions take place. It’s influenced by their specific role, the tools they use, the resources they have access to, and the behaviors of those they work with—especially their manager. The concept of a cultural microsphere helps explain why culture can feel so different from one team to the next, even within the same organization.

In one team’s microsphere, a leader might prioritize innovation, encourage feedback, and provide the autonomy necessary for employees to thrive. Meanwhile, another team’s microsphere could be suffocated by outdated tools and rigid management, causing employees to feel disengaged. Both realities can exist under the same roof, but they’re shaped by the individuals leading those teams and the behaviors of the people within them.

So how do employees successfully navigate and positively impact their cultural microsphere?

It comes down to ownership and the level of investment that each employee is willing to make to improve the culture and make their area of the business a great place to work!

Investments Every Employee Must Make

To impact culture at the micro level and successfully navigate their part of the workplace environment, every employee must make four key investments: Time, Effort, Change, and Personal Values. These investments demonstrate both a commitment to the company’s culture and ownership of one’s own microsphere.

1. Time

Time is essential. Employees who invest time in understanding their role, building relationships, and contributing to the team’s goals create a stronger cultural foundation for themselves and their colleagues. It’s about more than just clocking in and out; it’s about making the time to grow, develop, and contribute to the cultural fabric of their team. Time also allows for reflection, helping employees see where they fit in the larger organizational picture. It can take longer timeframes than one would like to see for culture to improve so staying at it over a longer period produces more success.

2. Effort

Culture doesn’t happen passively—it requires effort. Employees need to proactively contribute to problem-solving, collaboration, and team success. It’s easy to check the boxes and complete tasks, but effort is about going beyond the basics. It’s the willingness to invest extra energy into improving processes, supporting colleagues, and driving innovation. This means giving and receiving regular feedback, offering recognition where it’s due, even when it requires setting aside personal ego, and honoring the effort of the people around you.

3. Change

Change is inevitable, and in a high-performing organization, it’s necessary. Employees must be adaptable, ready to pivot when new challenges arise. This requires not just acceptance of change but an active role in embracing and driving it. Being comfortable with discomfort and continually seeking growth is how employees can ensure their microsphere remains dynamic and forward-thinking.

Cultures never progress if the status quo is the accepted norm!

4. Personal Values

Finally, employees should integrate their personal values into their work. It’s about aligning personal integrity with the company’s mission, ensuring that decision-making and interactions with colleagues are rooted in authenticity and respect. When employees invest their values into their work, they help create a culture that is honest, collaborative, and impactful.

Owning Your Cultural Microsphere

You likely work in a company that has overarching values and touts having a great culture.

Just understand that the real execution of culture happens at the microsphere level—where individual actions shape the day-to-day experience. By investing Time, Effort, Change, and Personal Values, employees can take ownership of their cultural microsphere, contributing positively to both their own experience and the broader organizational culture.

The next time you hear about workplace culture, think about your own microsphere.

Are you investing in it? Are you taking ownership of your part of the business?

When each employee invests in these four areas, the culture gaps between teams will close, creating a more unified, dynamic, and thriving workplace where everyone has the opportunity to succeed.

Thanks for reading!

Follow me on LinkedIn for more content on defining culture and the employee experience.

Image: Photo by Kindel Media: https://www.pexels.com/photo/woman-smiling-while-holding-the-graph-7688459/

Posted: 16 September 2024