One DHS People, Access and Culture · Learning path · I'm strengthening team climate
Workplace culture and team climate
You have noticed a concern with participation or team climate and want practical ways to improve everyday team practices.
Outcome: By the end, you will have a team climate plan with observable practices, clear responsibilities, and a follow-up date. Complaints, investigations, and discipline continue through the appropriate formal channels.
Situations that may fit this path
Participation, candor, or equitable people practices on a team
A supervisor preparing a climate conversation
Six steps to work through in order
Consider everyday team practices — Use Ask to explore practical ways to support participation and team climate. If the situation involves a complaint or a named person's conduct, you will be directed to the appropriate formal channel. · Ask a question — program page /ask?path=gp-4
Consider community context when helpful (If relevant) — Use a community brief only when intercultural context is directly relevant to the team's work. · Explore Minnesota Communities — program page /minnesota-communities
Choose practical resources — Review the team climate basics and use the action plan template. · Team climate basics — program page /library/lm-workplace-climate · Team climate action plan template — program page /library/ja-climate-action-plan
Draft your team climate action plan — Describe the practices, participation agreements, responsible people, and a follow-up date. Please leave out names and complaint details. Use the downloaded checklist to write your answers in a tool you normally use. This page does not save them.
Review your work — Confirm that the practices are observable, each one has a responsible person and date, and the plan contains no complaint details.
Talk it through with a consultant (optional) — A consultation can help you prepare to facilitate a team conversation. Complaints and investigations belong with Employee Culture, Human Resources, or the civil-rights channel. · Request a consultation — program page /support/request?path=gp-4
What a useful result looks like
Still needs work
A one-time conversation with no follow-up
Using the plan to investigate a named person
Ready to use
Observable practices, responsible people, and a follow-up date
Complaint concerns are directed to the appropriate formal channel
Team climate action plan
Team (required)
Use the team or unit name, not the names of individual people.
Three to five observable practices (required)
Describe something a team member could see happening in everyday work.
Access at work (required)
Captions on every time, materials in advance, flexible participation formats.
Who helped shape this plan (required)
Include team input and the Equity Director when relevant, without naming anyone as the problem.
What you chose not to assume (required)
Consider what you may not know about why people are quiet, absent, or disengaged.
Who is responsible for each practice (required)
Name a responsible person for each practice.
Follow-up conversation date (required)
Within a quarter.
How the team will know the practice is helping
Look for changes in the team's experience without ranking or scoring people.
Review your notes against
Every follow-up has a named owner
A next review date is set
This is connected to your specific work
Language, disability, and communication access were considered for this work
You named who was involved and the role they had
You noted what you chose not to assume
No names or complaint details are included
Questions to bring to Ask
People on my team do not speak up in meetings. What practices could change that?
How do I write team norms that people will actually use?
Where is the line between a climate plan and an HR matter?