Workplace culture and team climate (learning path) | One DHS People, Access and Culture

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Workplace culture and team climate

You have noticed a concern with participation or team climate and want practical ways to improve everyday team practices.

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.

Six steps to work through in order

Consider everyday team practicesUse 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

Consider community context when helpfulIf relevantUse a community brief only when intercultural context is directly relevant to the team's work.Explore Minnesota Communities

Choose practical resourcesReview the team climate basics and use the action plan template.Team climate basics · Team climate action plan template

Draft your team climate action planDescribe 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 workConfirm that the practices are observable, each one has a responsible person and date, and the plan contains no complaint details.

Find the right person when neededIf another perspective would help, use Find the right person to identify the responsible role or office. Staff consultation request forms are closed.Find the right person or office

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

Privacy: Please do not include names, complaint details, or discipline information. Teams are not ranked. This page does not save your answers or progress. Notes saved through an earlier version may still be in this browser's site data; this page does not show or delete them.

Please use the right confidential channel: complaints, investigations, and discipline about a named person go to Employee Culture, Human Resources, or the civil-rights channel, not this path.

Team climate action plan

Browse and download only. This published checklist is not a form. Staff notes are not saved here.

Browse and download only. This checklist is published from the knowledge base. Staff notes are not filled in or saved on this page.

TeamIn the published checklist
Use the team or unit name, not the names of individual people.
Three to five observable practicesIn the published checklist
Describe something a team member could see happening in everyday work.
Access at workIn the published checklist
Captions on every time, materials in advance, flexible participation formats.
Who helped shape this planIn the published checklist
Include team input and the Equity Director when relevant, without naming anyone as the problem.
What you chose not to assumeIn the published checklist
Consider what you may not know about why people are quiet, absent, or disengaged.
Who is responsible for each practiceIn the published checklist
Name a responsible person for each practice.
Follow-up conversation dateIn the published checklist
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.

Download the path above, or browse the Library for related job aids.