This article comes from Entrepreneur.

Myths About Workplace Culture

As crucial as workplace culture is, it remains a misunderstood topic. To guarantee that you build and maintain a healthy and prosperous organization, here are 10 myths about culture and how you can overcome them.

Myth 1: Workplace culture doesn’t start with you.

Obviously, you want to surround yourself with people who are skilled and competent. At the same, you also need to find people who fit you company culture and are enthusiastic about your business. Before you do that, it’s up to you to define your organization’s culture.

Let’s say that you have a short fuss. Because of your little temper tantrums, you’re known to snap at people in a blink of an eye. How do you think the environment will be at your startup? Probably tense and stressful because you’ve built a culture of anger, or fear — probably both.

Your team can become ambassadors for your brand and help shape its culture, but their perception and the way they experience work at your company will ultimately start with you. Create a purpose, define your values, and lead by example when building your culture. Most importantly, keep investing in yourself to become the leader that people will rally behind.

Myth 2: There is a ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ type of culture.

Every startup is different, and there are different types of culture. Zappos is known for its fun and nurturing culture but fun, gentle and supportive may not work in a power-driven and competitive business, such as those involved in sales or consultancy firms.

There is no such thing as a good” or “bad” culture. It’s all about what works best for your business, team and industry — but suspicion and despair aren’t a good cultural mix no matter how intense your business agenda and strategy is.

Myth 3: Culture is only about pay and perks.

In my opinion, this is perhaps the biggest misconception regarding culture. Many people believe that culture is all about pizza parties, Ping-Pong tables, happy hour, and open-door policies. On top of these perks, employees have amazing salaries and benefits.

While a decent paycheck and unique benefits and perks are substantial, they don’t equal culture. The culture of your business needs to be aligned with your core beliefs and purpose. Your convictions should also be appropriate for your team with all the fun stuff as the cherry on top.

Myth 4: Open offices encourage collaboration.

Over the last several years the open office has been all the rage. The idea was that without any barriers, like separate office walls and cubicles — collaboration would improve since everyone could more easily interact with each other.

Researchers have found that open offices actually accomplish the opposite. Participants spent 72 percent less time interacting and spend more time emailing each other. Additionally, an open office hinders productivity. It also creates stress and causes a higher rate of absenteeism. Instead of riding every wind of change for office design helps, “offer “variety” where there are workspaces designed for specific activities.

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