Top questions I get asked about team conflict and culture at work
What causes unhealthy workplace culture? Culture problems are caused by power struggles, fear-based responses, and learned behaviours that shape how people relate at work.
How do I fix team conflict and culture? By changing day-to-day interactions. Teams improve when you recognise harmful patterns, understand the causes and practise new ways of using power.
What if “the boss” is part of the problem? You can still make a huge difference, by learning how to influence, engage and respond to “the boss” differently.
What’s the H.U.M.A.N ™ approach? A practical approach for transforming workplace culture by changing how people interact, relate and use power day to day.
Who’s responsible for culture at work? Waiting for someone else to be responsible for work culture keeps power dynamics as they are. Choose change. Start here!
Who is the H.U.M.A.N ™ approach for? Leaders, managers and team members who want less tension and more positive outcomes at work.
Explore below for more detail
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Power dynamics based on a quest for control
Human responses to threat, uncertainty and fear
Learned beliefs about power, who has it and how to use it
Conditioned behaviours that trap people into tense, troubled or toxic work relationships
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Culture change in teams happens when you and colleagues put into practice new ways to use power, communicate, relate to each other and get things done on a day-to-day basis.
Whether you’re a leader, team member or both, use the H.U.M.A.N ™ approach to:
recognise when and where harmful behaviour patterns show up
understand why people behave as they do
apply practical skills in how to embed healthy, effective relationships in and across teams
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If someone more senior than you is part of the culture problems, you can still make a huge difference, by learning to influence, engage with them and respond to them differently.
The H.U.M.A.N ™ approach doesn’t rely on the engagement or involvement of “the boss” to have a huge impact.
It has led to positive change in many types of teams and across sectors, even when managers or leaders don’t choose to engage.It works because power dynamics are interdependent. As soon as someone changes the part they play in a pattern of power dynamics, it has a ripple effect on others, including the “boss”.
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The HUMAN Culture Change Compass™ is a practical approach to transforming workplace culture by changing how people use power, behave and relate day to day.
It’s packed full of tangible actions anyone can use in their everyday working relationships.
It creates healthier dynamics and better outcomes among colleagues, leaders and teams.
H - Honest: Recognising how well-intentioned behaviour can still create harm at work, and learning how to prevent or repair this
U - Uncomfortable: Learning the skills to stay in the discomfort of having candid conversations with care, rather than arguing or avoiding
M - Messy: Working with differences and tensions to build trust, understanding and effective collaboration
A - Amazing: Discovering how to influence more effectively, whatever your role, to create positive impact
N - New: Embedding healthier ways of working by setting clearer boundaries, shared expectations and using power with others, not over them.
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Many people expect or wait for the people with the most hierarchical authority to change the culture. How long are you going to wait?
We all play a part in work culture, by perpetuating or changing existing power dynamics.
The H.U.M.A.N.™ approach puts culture change skills, energy, confidence and know-how into your hands. If you want change, start here.
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The H.U.M.A.N ™ approach has been successfully used by a wide range of:
Leaders & managers struggling with conflict or tension
Teams experiencing burnout, high turnover or disengagement
Organisations under pressure for positive outcomes and sustainable improvement
People who feel “something is off” in relationships at work and decide to learn how to improve it