Integrating Diverse Cultures

An organizational culture is, by definition, “composed of those unwritten rules of engagement by which all relationships and communications are governed”.

They are developed and maintained by the highest level leaders. They are ingrained in all aspects of human communication; verbal (what is said and not said), written and non-verbal.

In addition, each division, department, office or unit has its own culture. Therefore, integration of cultures is not limited to a whole organization being acquired by another. Cultures are impacted by as simple an event as a team member leaving and a new one arriving.

All such events are interpreted individually and collectively, forming the accumulative informal rules for interaction. It defies specific, concrete description and is highly qualitative.

 

Thus, this rarely recognized group phenomenon, “the culture”, while often remaining in the background and unseen, becomes the code of conduct that govern organizational behavior.

 

Without addressing this mechanism of cultural ground rules, managers are operating with subjective, murky and unreliable assumptions.

 

While there is always some validity and usefulness to these ground rules, the challenge for leaders is to sort out and know the difference.

 

 

 

Future

The most successful organizations we know of have leaders who recognize this dynamic and take it head on with their teams to:

• Identify the assumed rules and make them distinct from an operational code of conduct.
• Clarify and disseminate expectations throughout the organization.
• Hold each other accountable for consistent application (“Walk the talk”).

 

The PMP Approach:

 

We have a methodical, systematic program that unfolds over several months to support leaders in generating new ways of looking at their role in the organization and strengthening their culture. We guarantee it.