From early 2020 when the pandemic started, companies have more than outdone the earlier projected number of employees who work remotely at a time. For instance, it is not surprising to find that a company prior to 2020 had no single remote worker having more than half of the workforce working remotely now.
Among the things that the adoption of remote working has altered is the company culture. With in-person meetings and office setup, it was easier to reinforce a unique company culture across the staff.
But how do you build the same culture with remote teams? One study revealed that about 56% of workers prioritize an excellent company culture over even salary.
What is a Company Culture?
Basically, it's how most people act the vast majority of the time. It's a result of the values, mission, and goals you've in your organization. The three components of company culture can be expanded as follows:
- Fashioning compelling vision & mission, which should be communicated and understood clearly by everyone.
- Creating actionable and winnable goals which are not excessively supercilious or ambitious to avoid damaging team spirit. Also, goals should not be easily accomplished as they can leave a false impression of productivity.
- Setting mutual or shared behaviors that everyone should adopt to achieve the organization's goals, mission, and vision.
A Harvard Business Review summarizes that company culture should possess shared, enduring, pervasive, and implicit attributes.
So, How Do You Build the Culture Remotely?
1. Sharing the Company Values
At the heart of the culture are your values. These values need to be ringing in all the workers' minds so that they always know what is expected of them. To achieve this, you have to have a strategy to share these values from the hiring process through the onboarding process.
You can also create a weekly or fortnightly program where company core values are shared virtually, and the remote workers get an opportunity to tell stories about how they're integrating the same in their daily routine.
2. Communication is the Key
Poor communication in an organization can hinder various things, and when it comes to company culture, it's no different. It is much possible to let things slip out of hand since everyone works from a different location.
In essence, you should create effective communication models that are clear and concise. The customs should highlight things such as best chat practices, email etiquette, and response time frames. This eliminates the problem of interruptions and excessive messages, making communication easier.
3. Conducting Efficient Onboarding Process
When working at an office, it's easier to call for a meeting in a physical room and introduce new members. Notwithstanding, how well you integrate new remote hires into the already existing team speaks volumes about the company culture.
Fundamentally, it's wise to hold a video conference to welcome new employees and use that opportunity to share the company values. Likewise, it would help if you encouraged or rather schedule a one-to-one meeting for new members to interact with various people, especially those not in the same department.
4. Create an Environment that Encourages Open Communication and Feedback
In open offices, peer communication thrives as colleagues can get along over the tea or lunch break or when passing files across. However, remote workers are mostly isolated at a home office; hence providing a way to interact among themselves is critical.
When remote teams have an open platform to communicate, company culture is not only enhanced, but you get the much-needed important feedback from even the most introverted worker. You can use collaboration tools to create fun chat channels where employees can virtually bond over shared interests.
5. Embrace Transparency
Maintaining a positive company culture will require you to be transparent with your employees about any situation the business is passing through. If all the staff feel they are kept well-informed, they'll be more than willing to advance the culture you've worked so hard to build.
This also has a reverse consequence where the staff will feel free to give out feedback and communicate about anything before it escalates to undesirable levels.
Key Takeaway
To advance remote culture, you need tools that enhance collaboration and remote working. At Network Connections, we got you covered in all the technology solutions you need to make your business a success. Get in touch with us today to learn more.
