What is Remote Work Culture? 6 Ideas to Build a Remote Team Culture

While it can seem like a challenge to introduce and reinforce company culture throughout a dispersed workforce, building a strong remote work culture is not difficult. Schedule virtual meetings at least weekly to stay connected and offer open lines of communications to encourage feedback from your team. Having trust in your employees starts a great foundation for remote working. Keep your remote workers work from home experience informed of important decisions and any changes within the organization. Even though your employees are working remotely, it’s still important to show appreciation and acknowledge their achievements and hard work. In the “agile” project-based environment of a consulting firm, employees participate directly and pragmatically in the creative task of building a micro-culture for their teams.

To create a strong remote work culture, first model good behaviors as a manager. Regularly check in with your team, and encourage employees to bond and interact. Also, trust your teammates and nurture an atmosphere of accountability instead of micromanagement. Hosting regular virtual team building activities is another way to build and maintain a connected culture. A strong remote company culture helps employees stay connected and fosters the communication that builds trust.

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When Cat, 30, was offered a fully remote role last year, she didn’t think twice about accepting. By then, Cat, who lives in London and works in environmental services, had already been working mostly remotely for some time as a result of the pandemic. She thought that being based from home wouldn’t be much of a problem. Allowing employees to work remotely is productive, cost-saving and critical to attracting, retaining and engaging top talent.

Strengthening team bonds to work remotely will also benefit onsite work by deepening relationships, building trust, and enhancing communication. Buffer’s State of Remote Work Survey established “loneliness” as the second biggest struggle with working remotely. A strong remote work culture unites workers around a shared sense of purpose. This produces feelings of camaraderie and also leads to real actions—such as casual check-ins—that counteract isolation. GooseChase helps unite your team by giving employees a space to show off their personalities, capabilities, and creativity. The friendly competition will keep your colleagues engaged and build culture and camaraderie.

Remote Work: Is It a Virtual Threat to Your Culture?

You could create fun contests for different holidays or calendar events. These could be custom contests where everyone submits a photo of them in costume, then they vote who’s the winner. You could also do weight loss challenges, bakeoffs or cookoffs, Christmas tree decoration contents. These are fun ways to get your team involved and have fun while working. Our recent study found that only 15.5% of businesses intend to return to 100% office work. Make sure that your employees have plenty of ways to stay socially connected.

• It’s a great way to give people a glimpse into your company culture and make them want to be a part of it.
• You’ll see it in action when team members collaborate, communicate in real-time, and accelerate their productivity using powerful work management platforms like Wrike.
• Feeling that your voice is heard, even when your input is hard to consume, is the only means to have authentic and honest communication.
• Clearly articulate the company’s mission and both short-term and long-term objectives.
• Stoke day-to-day team building channels too, for instance, by posting a challenge or icebreaker question on team chats when channels go quiet.
• This gives everyone the chance to participate instead of always catching up with notes and the meeting recording.

Giving acknowledgment for their hard work and achievements during your virtual meetings is a good way to boost morale and encourage them to continue to do great work. You could also create a dedicated email where employees could give acknowledgments to co-workers that are then read out loud during meetings. Sending cards or gift cards to your team for accomplishments, birthdays, or anniversaries will make them feel special and part of the team. It’s important to communicate higher-level decisions with your team to build good relationships with them as it will help them feel like they are in fact, part of the team. It’s also important to let your employees know that you trust them and the work they do even though they are working remotely.