The tedium of work can wear down even the most buoyant employee. The persistent punch list of emails, meetings, and budgets can make it hard to stay inspired. While leaders can’t wish away the daily tasks that are connected to work, by wielding the right tools they can help teams stay inspired in the face of the day-to-day.
What are we doing? Why am I here? These questions are about the future—what we strive to do and become. Answers to questions like these, big and small, give work meaning and help us realign and become re-inspired. Without cues, even the most compelling vision of the future will eventually drown in more pressing problems. Work gets in the way. We get distracted. Enter cues, which are the physical and behavioral reminders that help employees, managers, and leaders stay connected to the future.
Most companies already have a few cues in place, even if they don’t realize it. Wall-sized mission statements are a common feature at headquarters the world over. These inspiration billboards are an easy way to make an organization’s aspirations visible. It helps employees remember why they joined the company in the first place. But keeping employees connected to the bigger picture will take more than colorful decals; it will require a system of cues.
I think about cues according to two factors. The first is whether the cue is a thing or an action, physical or behavioral. Physical cues can be seen, touched, or heard; examples include printed signs, digital messages, and conference room names for reminding people about goals. Behavioral cues are activities taken by leaders and peers; examples include the retelling of the corporate origin story to provide context, weekly one-on-ones that demonstrate the importance of growth and mentorship, and executives modeling work-life balance by making sure people know they are actually taking time off and not “working from home.”
The second factor is how aspirational a cue is. On one end are those way in the future. These cues help everyone remember the ultimate goal of the organization—its purpose. On the other end of the spectrum are reminders of more immediate aspirations and behaviors .
Immediate cues, those with the smallest gap between what is and what should be, tend to be tactical and reinforce values and working styles. A company that values a creative, iterative working style might supply Sharpies, abundant work surfaces, and post-its on every desk.
In between the two extremes sit reminders about a near-term vision for the organization—say, where leaders hope to be in 12 to 24 months. These cues might help a team improve the way they work with difficult clients, or help a business unit achieve a certain level of success.
Mapping these two sets of factors on axes reveal four categories of cues every organization should consider including in their work lives. They are physical immediate cues, behavioral immediate cues, behavioral aspirational cues, and physical aspirational cues.
Cues in this quadrant are the most practical. They are tangible reminders of behaviors that can help everyone involved achieve a more successful, productive, and fulfilling work life. Dave Gray, founder of strategic-design consultancy XPLANE, took the traits that he wanted every employee and client to embody—characteristics like transparent communicators, goal visualizers, and flat managers—and drew them out on what he calls a culture map. Dave says one of the reasons he likes the map so much is because “it is a representation of the truth we are shooting for, and it’s becoming more true every day.”
It’s worth noting that everyone at XPLANE believes in graphic tools because visualizing strategies is what they do for their clients. But even if you aren’t a sketch artist, don’t worry. There are plenty of ways to create your own physical immediate cues. Why not change “employee of the month” to “customer of the month”? Anyone not on the front lines could use a little help staying connected to the customer so they can remember the who behind the why of work. Want to encourage a culture of learning? Invest in a lending library program, physically in offices and digitally through Amazon.
Speaking of which, digital also falls into this quadrant. At Great Mondays we love Slack, and one of our channels is called #skill-up. Its very presence helps our team remember to share ideas, articles, and conferences in service of self-improvement.
A word of warning: while tremendously useful in fostering communication and a terrific opportunity for the deployment of cues, internal chat tools can be a distraction. Even Cal Henderson, the cofounder of Slack, knows it. I adore the approach he takes to manage all the noise and keep things from going too far astray; it’s called the “polite raccoon.”
Conversations on the platform inside of Slack include fun banter, but when it gets too much for one channel or the topic is no longer relevant to everyone else on that channel employees throw down a custom raccoon emoji, which means “take this conversation somewhere else.” Everyone benefits from less message noise, and no one takes the nudge in the wrong way. Make sure physical and digital immediate cues are reminders of what we aspire to do today, but don’t get in the way of doing it.
Behaviors, too, can help shift an element of office life. For example, to solve the epidemic of meeting overload I’ve seen more than a few organizations proclaim one day meeting-free. Whether communicated by setting out-of-office emails, blocking off the company calendar, or setting your status to “do not disturb,” on the specified day there is nothing but heads-down work.
Anyone in a leadership position has the right to call out choices that are outside the lines. Doing it across the organization, at an all-hands meeting or in an all-company email, sends a powerful message about what is and what is not acceptable.
I am a member of a Jewish community in San Francisco called the Kitchen. I go to pray, celebrate holidays with my family, and also help them with design and culture projects. During weekend Shabbat services, Rabbi Noa Kushner routinely makes it clear that clapping to show appreciation for someone isn’t allowed. “This isn’t a show. If you’d like to show praise yell ‘Yasher Koach,’ which means good job in Hebrew.” You bet the community learned quickly the norms the rabbi is enforcing. I made that mistake exactly once.
No-Meeting Mondays and no clapping in services have very specific implications, but these kinds of cues can be used more broadly to great effect as well. Design and innovation consultancy Veryday had been working out of a converted church in a suburb of Stockholm for decades. How were they going to bring years of a unique Swedish-based culture to their new office in downtown Manhattan? Rikki Goldenberg, associate director of Project Management at Veryday, observes that “without the physical artifacts … it’s up to the people.” And so, with no charming church windows to remind American employees of its Swedish history, a regular behavioral cue fills that gap.
At 3 p.m. local time, across their offices, the teams break for Fika, the Swedish tradition of the afternoon coffee break. In Sweden, this universal social institution is about taking time to socialize with one’s work colleagues. But by importing this behavior to New York City it takes on an additional layer of meaning. One can imagine that even new interns will quickly understand that Veryday’s Swedish origin includes valuing the time to connect with others. Don’t forget the biscuits.
Behavioral cues can often also be rituals. Fika is a good example of a cue that builds relationships. Which of your rituals can also become a cue? Are there any behavioral cues that could also build new connections across your organization?
Cues in the third quadrant are communicated through actions of peers and leaders. But here they are reminders of bigger ideas, changes that occur on longer timelines, and repeated choices that are more difficult to enact.
Able Health created a cue that reinforces the idea that employees are expected to participate in the evolution of their culture. This healthcare start-up has put their culture guide on GitHub, a popular site among developers. GitHub is a web-based tool that makes it easier for many users to work on the same code at the same time. Or, at least, usually it’s code. It turns out GitHub can be used with any kind of document.
Because Able Health’s culture guide is on GitHub, they can make it public, updates can be suggested and approved, new versions can be created, or even used to create something different, which is exactly what’s happened. Some of Able Health’s clients have adapted it as their own culture guide. The genius of this approach? Able Health’s team of tech-savvy folks understand the implication of this document being hosted here. They understand any document on GitHub isn’t the outcome of some executive process, but the starting point for building something important together. For Able Health, the medium is the message and the platform is the cue.
A lot of companies are committing to “giving back” these days. They are contributing money, volunteering hours, and offering more help to their communities. These efforts can make for great cues. Salesforce is one of those enterprises that has invested a ton into philanthropy. Their approach is called the 1-1-1 philanthropic model (pronounced one to one to one) and has been around since 1999. The salesforce.org website says their purpose is to “leverage our technology, people, and resources to improve communities throughout the world.” The program has had an impressive record of giving: over $168 million in grants, 2.3 million hours of service, and donations of their products to more than 32,000 nonprofits and educational institutions. When you are hired by Salesforce, your first day of work is spent volunteering. Many companies believe in volunteering, but the message this cue sends is that at Salesforce, it’s central to what they do. This behavioral cue impresses this message upon its workforce on day one. Now that’s a great cue.
We already discussed the ubiquitous mission statement on the wall, but what are other markers of bigger ideas that can inspire visually? Proposition Chicken, a quirky San Francisco Bay Area quick-serve restaurant, plucked language from their employee handbook turning their purpose into signage.
Thanks to owner Ari Feingold’s diligent onboarding efforts, everyone on the staff of Proposition Chicken knows why the restaurant exists: “To serve the best damn chicken (and yummy people, too).” When they opened a new storefront in Oakland, it was a bold but on-brand choice to paint “This way to the best damn chicken” above the rear entrance. And it is. If you are ever in the Bay Area, stop by for the fried chicken sandwich.
Even if you don’t have a storefront, there are other ways to build aspiration into office infrastructure. A relatively easy one that can have companywide impact is conference room names.
If you were to step into the San Francisco office of innovation consultancy Frog, you would immediately see an atrium surrounded by frosted-glass enclosed conference rooms. Each room’s door is inscribed with a name that tells part of the organization’s story.
On the left a door leading to the first room reads “Founder’s Club,” under which a sentence describes how designer Hartmut Esslinger started Frog in Germany’s Black Forest region. Walk a few steps farther and the next room, “Passport,” relays the firm’s aspirations: the name is accompanied by the sentence describing that Frog “strives to move markets and change minds in all four corners of the world.” This thoughtful suite of cues ensures that even casual visitors learn about the firm’s humble beginnings, and not-so-humble ambitions.
Another powerful physical aspirational cue comes from the gaming behemoth Zynga. Anyone who has ever walked in the doors to their headquarters near San Francisco’s Design Center knows this company is all about play. Live video feeds of gamers from around the world are shown in the lobby on an enormous floor-to-ceiling matrix of monitors. You can bet that even the janitorial staff understands what the company does and why.
Consider anything from a trinket that can be kept on a desk, to a bracelet or pin, to a hardbound book that documents the company’s culture. But don’t stop at onboarding. What if you created a system of patches presented at anniversaries or for achievements? A ceremony to present these tokens of accomplishments in service of the company purpose can serve as a great way to keep reminding people why they come to work.
A system of well-designed cues can help employees float above banal tasks and stay connected to a compelling vision of the future, near and far. But it will take a varied mix, regularly deployed, to be truly effective.
Where should you start? That depends on your sphere of influence. Cues can and should be designed at different scales—from department to companywide. The leader of a small eight-person group should think about how to keep each individual connected to the team’s near-term aspirations. The VP of human resources should think about what tools are at her disposal to remind every employee of the company’s purpose. Even individuals can set up their own cues. Simply writing a personal purpose statement, taking a photo of it, and setting it as his or her computer home screen can be a daily reminder of what the employee hopes to achieve this month, this year, or in life.
Cues are everywhere. The trick is to be conscious of them. What job are the cues performing, and in which category do they sit? Begin by recording those cues that already exist in a Google Doc to share with your team. Ask others how they come across. Then consider how effective they are. Which cues can be improved? Are there cues waiting to be activated? Organizations should look for ways to gauge whether a cue is effective, and if it lasts over time. How often do employees encounter the cue in a month? How often does the cue come up in conversation? Do the employees understand what the cue is a reminder of?
Which cues are helpful to your team? Where could you do better? To find the ones that will be best for your business, it’s going to take rigor, observation, and a little creativity. Let’s get started.
How will your employees remember why they come to work? Craft reminders large and small to help them stay connected, even when the pressures of deadlines and project plans threaten. When cues are embedded throughout the employee experience, these consistent physical, digital, and behavioral symbols can reenergize individuals and provide the lift they need to make it through difficult moments and inevitable long days.
1. With your creative partners, brainstorm a list of cues that will help employees remember the company’s purpose. Start by listing at least five physical cues.
HINT: Don’t worry if the ideas aren’t great, just write them down. In the creative process, starting is often the hardest part.
Time: 15 minutes
2. Repeat step one, but this time write out at least five digital cues.
Time: 15 minutes
3. Finally come up with at least five behaviors that leadership can model to keep employees inspired by the company purpose. Consider if there are any existing opportunities from which you can create a cue, either physical, digital, or behavioral.
Time: 15 minutes
4. Once your group has at least 15 ideas, evaluate which are most likely to be successful by testing your ideas against the Cues Checklist.
Time: 20 minutes
5. Take the three or four most promising ideas—those that best answered the questions from the Checklist—and create a list of what you will need to make them real. Set aside the rest but keep a record for inspiration the next time you need to create new cues.
Time: 30 minutes
LIST CUES THAT ALIGN WITH YOUR COMPANY’S PURPOSE.
EVALUATE YOUR BEST IDEAS AGAINST THE CUES CHECKLIST AND HOW APPROPRITE IT IS FOR YOUR CULTURE.
PHYSICAL AND DIGITAL ASPIRATIONAL CUES |
||
CUE 1 |
CUE 2 |
|
Is it connected to a larger goal? |
||
How many people does it reach? |
||
Will it scale? |
||
Does it stand on its own? |
||
How appropriate for your culture? |
BEHAVIORAL ASPIRATIONAL CUES |
||
CUE 3 |
CUE 4 |
|
Is it connected to a larger goal? |
||
Does everyone experience it? |
||
Does it strengthen relationships? |
||
Can it spread? |
||
How appropriate for your culture? |