Implementing Culture & Capacity Review

We recommend several principles for applying this tool in your organization.

Affirm and Encourage Areas of Strength.

First and foremost, managers should think of the Culture & Capacity Review as a way to be more intentional about giving affirmation and words of encouragement when their teams are doing a great job exhibiting these characteristics. Celebrate excellence frequently and publicly! Good managers give their teams far more words of praise than words of constructive criticism.

Genuine Caring is Non-negotiable.

If you implement every concept in SecureDB, but do not genuinely care for your team members, all will be in vain. As the saying goes:

“People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”

To build trust with your teams and inspire them to embrace healthy growth, you much care about them as “human beings” more than “human doings.” A 2022 Gallup poll revealed,

Just 24% of workers strongly agree that their organization cares about their wellbeing.

As managers, we must consistently demonstrate we are committed to caring for our teams above and beyond what we can get from them.

The Difference between manipulation and inspiration is intent.

Through this review, we strive to affirm performance and inspire growth that benefits the team rather than simply serving our own agenda. As managers are we conscious of and committed to caring for our teams?

Praise in Public. Challenge in Private.

Praise team members in public as often as you can, as long as it is completely genuine. Be specific, and paint the picture with compelling stories. However, almost never deliver constructive criticism about a team member publicly (including reply all emails). Reserve constructive criticism for one-on-one meetings.

Coaches Lead the Way.

It’s important to know that Coaches are held to this same standard and that anyone in the organization is welcome to apply the Culture & Capacity Review to their managers without fear of repercussion.

Remember what Green Means.

Green means “most of the time,” not perfection. When a team member makes an isolated mistake in one of these categories, that doesn’t mean he/she has just scored yellow or red. Nevertheless, you should point out where he/she has veered slightly off course. If, however, he/she dips down into “some of the time” or “usually not” territory, then you need to let him know within 24 hours and assign the appropriate score (yellow or red). The longer you wait to give challenging feedback, the harder it becomes for everyone involved, including you.