Ways to Align Team Communication with Brand Values

Meetings aren’t for updates - they’re where your culture is being built… or broken. Meetings are key moments where distributed team members experience culture together. That makes every meeting a high-stakes opportunity. Yet most teams stay in default mode - using meetings for project updates instead of connection, ideation, debate, and culture-building. 3 ways to reduce meetings and make the remaining ones count… 1. Co-create a Team Working Agreement. Before you can reinforce values, your team needs to define them. I’ve spent hundreds of hours helping teams do this - and have seen measurable gains in team effectiveness. Key components: - Shared team goals - Defining team member roles - Agreed-upon behaviors - Communication norms (sync vs. async) 2. Begin meetings with a connection moment. Relationships fuel trust and collaboration. Kick things off with a check-in like: “What gave you energy this week?” Or tailor it to the topic. In a recent meeting on decision-making norms, we asked: “Speed or certainty - which do you value more when making decisions, and why?” 3. Make team values part of the agenda. Create a ritual to recognize teammates for demonstrating team behaviors. Ask the question: “Where did we see our values or team agreements show up this week?” And check in on where could the team have done better. Culture doesn’t happen by accident - especially when your teams are spread across time zones, WFH setups, and multiple office sites. Your meetings can become a powerful tool to build culture with intention.

Helping your team identify their core values is essential for building a strong, cohesive, and aligned group. Here's how I've done it based on my experience: 1. Open Discussions: Start by having open and honest conversations with your team. Ask questions like: "What matters most to us as a team?" and "What principles should guide our actions?" 2. List Common Themes: Encourage your team to share their thoughts and ideas. As they speak, jot down common themes or recurring words that come up. This helps identify potential core values. 3. Prioritize Values: Once you have a list, ask your team to prioritize the values they believe are most important. You can use a voting system or a ranking exercise to do this. 4. Discuss Scenarios: To make values more tangible, discuss real-life scenarios where these values come into play. For example, if "Integrity" is a potential value, talk about situations that require ethical decisions. 5. Craft Statements: Work together to craft clear and concise statements for each core value. These statements should describe what the value means to your team. 6. Feedback and Refinement: Share the draft core values with your team for feedback. Be open to refining and clarifying the statements based on their input. 7. Finalize and Communicate: Once everyone is on the same page, finalize your team's core values. Make sure they are easy to understand and remember. Communicate them to the entire team. 8. Incorporate into Daily Work: Integrate these core values into your team's daily work. Discuss how they can guide decision-making and behavior. 9. Lead by Example: As a leader, embody these core values in your actions. Your behavior sets the tone for the team. 10. Regularly Revisit: Core values may evolve over time. Schedule periodic check-ins to ensure they still resonate with your team's identity and objectives. 11. Celebrate Values in Action: Recognize and celebrate when team members exemplify these core values. It reinforces their importance. 12. Address Misalignment: If conflicts arise or behavior doesn't align with your core values, address it promptly and use the values as a guide for resolution. Identifying core values is a collaborative process that requires ongoing commitment. By involving your team and consistently integrating these values into your work, you'll foster a culture that reflects your shared beliefs and principles. This can lead to better teamwork, decision-making, and overall team satisfaction.

Without internal alignment, your brand will fracture externally. The best brands start from the inside out. Your logo might be beautiful. Your messaging might be sharp. But if your team doesn’t understand or embody the brand — it shows. Employees are brand ambassadors… whether trained or not. And misalignment internally always leaks into the customer experience. → Framework Model: The Inside-Out Brand Alignment Loop 1. Belief → Do employees understand the “why” behind the brand? 2. Behavior → Are they empowered to act in alignment with it? 3. Experience → Is the culture felt at every customer touchpoint? → When those three break down, you get: ↳ Inconsistent messaging ↳ Brand promises not lived out ↳ Confused teams = confused customers Let’s flip that. → Things to put into motion: ↳ Make brand onboarding part of team onboarding. ↳ Share brand values as decision filters — not wall posters. ↳ Use internal language that mirrors your external promise. When your people get it, your customers feel it. Clarity becomes culture. And culture becomes competitive edge. → 𝗤𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘆𝗼𝘂: Does your team understand your brand as well as your customers do? → 𝗣𝗼𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲: What’s the biggest barrier to internal brand alignment? A) Vague mission/values B) Siloed departments C) Leadership disconnect D) No consistent training → Vote + add your own experience in the comments. → Let’s unpack it ⬇️

This is one of my favorite quotes. That may be surprising coming from a marketing guy. This is a wake-up call that it's not enough for your marketing team or agency to embrace your brand promise. If your whole company does not buy into it, you will fail to deliver. The hallmark of strong brands is consistency. They are consistent in how they deliver on their brand promise at every touchpoint. So whether someone visits your website, reads a press release, uses your product, walks into your store, sits down with one of your salespeople, calls your customer service number, or reads a social media post, everything feels like it's coming from the same place. Because like it or not, EVERYTHING either strengthens or weakens your brand. So how do you achieve this consistency? Get your entire ELT involved in crafting your brand strategy, then workshop it with the entire company. Daunting task, for sure, but the returns are immense. Branding is not just a marketing task. It’s a company-wide mission. Everyone must understand and support the brand. This unity leads to a consistent brand experience across all touchpoints. Here are 10 ways to ensure your entire team buys into the brand promise: 1. Share the brand story with everyone in the company. 2. Train all employees on brand values and mission. 3. Encourage employees to live the brand values daily. 4. Recognize and reward those who embody the brand. 5. Create a culture of open communication about the brand. 6. Involve employees in brand strategy discussions. 7. Use brand visuals and language in all internal materials. 8. Provide resources for employees to understand the brand better. 9. Gather feedback from employees on brand perception. 10. Celebrate brand successes together as a team. The best brands are built from the inside out. When everyone is aligned, the brand shines through. Your brand is your promise to the world. Make sure everyone is on board. If you'd like to know more about how I've done it before, comment below. BTW, does anyone know who said that quote? I always thought it was a Toyota CEO, but I'd love to know! #brand #strategy #collaboration #changemanagement