The Benefits of Creating a Culture of “How Can I Help” and “Build On Top Of”

One of the greatest learnings about leadership and team management that we have gained from operating a project of the magnitude and scope of One Community is the value of creating a culture of “how can I help” and “build on top of.” Working with diverse teams on goals as large as ours has clearly identified the value of these approaches in supporting the necessary on-going positive mindset, energy, accountability, proactivity, and leadership supportive of our collective success. Because of this, we have made these two statements a sort of mantra within our organization that is foundational to how we look at accomplishing tasks together.

 

HOW CAN I HELP

Creating and maintaining a culture of “how can I help” means expecting all individuals to ask “how can I help” versus appointing a Facilitator or Manager to seek out individuals needing things to do and then assigning tasks. Most of us have had the experience of working with a group where one or more individuals are constantly needing to be asked to help. In situations like these, even with an energetic and willing participant, it still takes on-going energy from someone else to keep these individuals engaged in whatever process is being undertaken. We are self-motivated and responsible people and seek to work with others like us. We give feedback if we feel someone isn’t being proactive enough and will remove people from the team if this feedback fails to improve accountability.

 

BUILD ON TOP OF

The second important mindset and One Community cultural element we are dedicated to is the concept of “build on top of.” What this means is that:

• An item must be essential to us preparing for construction. Here is the list of what we already consider essential to being ready to begin: Action List/Work Breakdown Structure (WBS).
• Any modifications, changes, and/or additions to WBS items must follow the One Community Requirements Management Procedure.

In short, our culture of “build on top of” means asking the following key questions of any proposed change or addition of something to the Action List/Work Breakdown Structure (WBS):

1. How does what I’m about to suggest build on top of/fit with everything else?
2. What has already been done and how can I build on top of that versus changing direction?
3. Will my contribution, approach, etc. ultimately add to or reduce related net energy/time needs?

The One Community Requirements Management Procedure provides the specifics of how we evaluate suggested changes. Operating like this allows us to maintain our focus and creative input and energy on designing solutions, continued expansion, and what is most important to begin construction.