This project is a departmental wide activity looking at the culture of how we work and behave, to help us to improve what we do together in a more sustainable way. Part of the premise for this project is that the values we hold influence what we do, and that getting clarity about our values will help us be clearer about what we expect of ourselves and each other in this Department. We asked Rachel Holmes, an organisational development consultant to help us develop this project.  

The workshops and surveys generated two sets of data. The first was the list of values (typically single words) that participants identified as important. We refer to this set as the values data and is available for everyone to review here. The second was a more nuanced set of responses to questions about what the department was known for, what people liked about working here, and the converse, what were the features they disliked, and what did not work well. We refer to this as ‘working here’ data.

The champions met in late June 2022 and reviewed the values data. To read more about the methodology and champions outputs, click here.

Rachel set the scene for the champions workshop by outlining different types of values described by Patrick Lencioni (HBR, July 2002). The two we have focussed on are

• Core - deeply ingrained principles that guide actions; cultural cornerstones; should remain inherent and sacrosanct, even under pressure
• Aspirational - necessary for success but currently lacking or need to become embedded; may require a cultural shift to embed them

These are explained in Patrick Lencioni's video here

The workshops also gathered information about what is working well and less well in the department, and what changes could be made to improve departmental culture. This feedback is being reviewed and responded to alongside the project to define values and once available will be shared here.