Fostering Culture Change

Resources and tools to support the goal of even greater respect, inclusion, and care in your area.

Changing our culture

  • Creating a Culture of Respect
    MIT has prioritized creating a culture of respect, inclusion, and collaboration, and many offices and staff are immersed in that effort. Learn how you can contribute.

  • Better Culture Starts with Better Conversations
    There are a few specific conversational behaviors that can make an outsized difference, and anyone — from the CEO to entry-level workers — can learn and practice these behaviors, significantly improving the quality of every interaction. (Center for Creative Leadership)
  • Getting Personal about Change
    The need to shift mind-sets is the biggest block to successful transformations. The key lies in making the shift both individual and institutional — at the same time. (McKinsey and Company)
  • Leading Transformational Change (MIT Human Resources)
  • The Keys to Successful Change
    How do you break the “cycle of mutual dismissal” that so often bedevils change efforts? Combine agility with empathy. (Vantage Partners)
  • How Leaders Should Approach Today’s Hybrid Workforce
    This article and related recorded webinar offers 5 steps on leading a hybrid team with adaptability to change and an openness to experimentation. (Center for Creative Leadership)
  • Leading Culture Change
    People are more likely to get behind change when they're the ones driving it. In this LinkedIn Learning course, business psychologist Erin Shrimpton advises focusing on team experiences as the means for identifying what to change and engaging team members in driving change. She also offers a five-step plan for making culture change that sticks. (LinkedIn Learning)
  • Fostering a Culture of Belonging in the Hybrid Workplace
    Tomas Chamorro-Premuzic and Katarina Berg explore the current challenges of belonging to a team and provide advice on how leaders can address this issue. (Harvard Business Review)

Leadership self-awareness and self-reflection

1:1 manager and direct report relationships

Inclusive, team-building tools

  • 5 Practices to Make Your Hybrid Workplace Inclusive
    As you craft your company’s hybrid work plans and policies, be aware of the inequities hybrid work can create or make worse. Designing with five practical dimensions of inclusion in mind is critical for creating an equitable organization. (Harvard Business Review)
  • A Manager's Guide to Team Norms
    This guide is intended to help positional leaders create a welcoming environment for remote and returning staff, using a best practice that can help teams work better together in general. (Adapted from Center for Creative Leadership)
  • Disagreement Doesn't Have to be Divisive
    Many of us try to avoid conversations with those who have a sharply different point of view, or we try to convince them that they’re wrong. Neither approach is very productive. See tactics for healthy disagreements. (Harvard Business Review)
  • Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Resources
    MIT offers a variety of resources to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) across the Institute. (MIT Human Resources)
  • Engaging Staff at Virtual Team Meetings
    Find tips and tricks for participating in and hosting small team meetings, with a focus on encouraging personal engagement. (MIT Human Resources)
  • Fostering Psychological Safety in Virtual Meetings
    Meeting virtually can make it harder for employees to raise questions, concerns, and ideas without fear of personal repercussions. Learn ways to build psychological safety in virtual teams, leading to improved engagement, collegiality, productive dissent, and idea generation. (Harvard Business Review)
  • The Importance of Empathy in the Workplace
    Empathy as a tool for effective leadership — why it matters, four ways to show it, and five ways organizations can support it. (Center for Creative Leadership)
  • Why Inclusive Leaders Are Good for Organizations, and How to Become One
    Juliet Bourke & Andrea Espedido. Leaders who consciously practice inclusive leadership and actively develop their capability will see the results in the superior performance of their diverse teams. (Harvard Business Review)

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