Earlier this year Jo Marshall (pictured) from Culturise joined our Professional Development program participants to deliver a session on Village Culture. We grappled with the question – Can a Village Manager impact upon village culture? And why would they want to?
There is no question that each village has its own culture. The challenge is how we describe it, and maintain and sometimes improve it.
Jo shared “Culture put simply is ‘how we do things around here’. At an organisational level our culture is demonstrated by our behaviours. In turn our behaviours are defined by our shared values. In groups we carried out a fun activity called ‘what makes a happy, healthy village”.
Our attendees were divided into groups and brainstormed to come up with as many descriptors as possible.
The strongest themes were – care, fun, community and respect. Jo posed the question: What if you were to do an activity like this with your residents? Why not ask them what makes a happy and healthy village to them? The results will give you some great foundations for continuous improvement and an opportunity to get to know each other better.
Human connection is one of the most important ingredients in happiness. Activities like this will help you create an even better village culture – without too much effort!
If you’d like to try this in your village please feel free to email Jo HERE to obtain more detailed templates and ideas. Culturise are experts in creating great cultures and supporting practical leadership.