Building a culture consciously requires you to think about culture as more than just a feeling, acknowledging it as an operating system that drives results. It also requires an honest assessment of your pool’s current culture, reconsideration of whether continuing as-is (or returning to how things “used to be”) is truly ideal and a conscious decision about what culture is best for your team.
Throughout the year, you have opportunity to explore:
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Your current culture norms, patterns and their impact.
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Eight culture markers and the dominant patterns observed across organizations and within pooling.
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The culture you want (and need) to build.
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Your own culture priorities that are clear about what is valued in your pool and why.
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Action planning to implement your ideas and conscious culture goals.
Customized Culture Assessment
All member pools can have their work teams complete a comprehensive culture assessment starting in January 2024.
Participating pools receive individualized results (a visual report and interpretation guide) that shed light on their current culture patterns. Aggregated data from all pools will also be shared to better understand norms within the broader pooling community.
Interested pools should contact by Aug. 31 Devereaux Morkunas to get started.
Office Hours with AGRiP Resident Jamie Notter
These informal meetings are an opportunity to meet with peers who are also building an intentional culture at their own pools. At each session Jamie will give a brief presentation and then facilitate a conversation on a different aspect of culture change.
Each session will include a brief presentation on a different topic and plenty of time for facilitated conversation. Office Hours will take place at 2 p.m. ET on the following dates:
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What to Aim for and Avoid When Sharing Culture Insights With Your Team (Sept. 5)
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How to Know When Being Futurist Is (and Isn't) Right for Your Pool (Sept. 24)
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Ways to Optimize the Best Parts of Your Current Culture (Oct. 15)
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Common Obstacles to Implementing Culture Change and How to Overcome Them (Nov. 5)
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Onboarding New People (and Working With Everyone Else) So They Succeed in Your Culture (Nov. 22)
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Measuring Culture Change Over Time to Know If Your Culture Change Efforts are Working (Dec. 17)
Contact Devereaux Morkunas by Aug. 31 to get started.
CEO Institute 2024
CEO Institute 2024 focused on content about building a conscious culture in your pool. Leveraging the assessment results from their pool, attendees learned how to identify culture patterns (and possible problems) and how to build a clear culture change roadmap to produce real results. Tools and strategies relevant for every size and structure of pool were provided.
Resources from the event:
Staff Forum 2024
At Staff Forum 2024 (Oct. 6-8 in San Antonio) AGRiP Resident Jamie Notter will deliver an updated keynote on pool culture and lead a hands-on workshop for pool staff.
Keynote: Creating Culture Change in Your Public Entity Pool
We’ve always known that pool culture is special, but now we can prove it. AGRiP’s 2024 Resident, Jamie Notter will share insights on pool culture derived from culture assessments conducted as part of AGRiP’s Conscious Culture Residency. Learn where pools fall on the culture continuum, which areas they struggle with, and the areas where they excel. You will also learn practical steps for addressing common culture challenges.
Workshop: Culture Change From Wherever You Are
This hands-on workshop from AGRiP’s 2024 Resident, Jamie Notter, teaches you how you can create culture change in your pool, regardless of where you fall on the org chart. This session focuses on practical changes you can make in your own work (or department) to move your pool towards its culture goals.
Toolkit
Over the course of the year, residency resources such as pool-specific guides and templates to design and change culture are created and shared, then captured in a single source toolkit. The toolkit will help pools:
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Broaden internal data gathering and understanding of culture patterns.
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Develop a set of culture priorities.
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Develop a list of culture strategies for each priority.
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Plan for culture change.
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Measure progress and impact of culture change.