Early in my career, I (La’Kita) worked for a major U.S. insurance company. The company values were displayed prominently in the cafeteria, hallways, and offices across the building. These values represented the 10 qualities the organization stood for — ostensibly the things that were most important to how we worked and approached business.
To Put Your Company Values into Action, Create Working Agreements
They help build shared language, understanding, and accountability.
November 06, 2023
Yaroslav Danylchenko/Stocksy
Summary.
Eighty percent of employees work for organizations that have stated values, but only 23% agreed that they could apply those values to their everyday work. The authors explore that disconnect and present a more effective, alternative way for leaders to foster shared understanding, language, and accountability in their organizations: working agreements. Working agreements take implicit practices, behaviors, values, and beliefs, and make them explicit, clear, and actionable. They help teams build three key components that drive effective collaboration: shared language, understanding, and accountability.
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HBR Learning
HBR Learning
Decision Making Course
Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Decision Making. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.
Practical ways to improve your decision-making process.