Remote work has arrived, and it’s not going anywhere soon. But what happens to the company culture you’ve worked so hard to cultivate when your company goes remote?
Well, the good news is that company culture can still exist and thrive remotely. You just need to learn how to foster it.
Why is Remote Company Culture Important?
Put as plainly as possible, company culture is a set of shared values, goals, attitudes and practices that define the shape and character of a company.
Remote company culture is vital for the same reasons traditional company culture is essential: workers are more likely to enjoy their work and be more productive when their needs and values match their bosses and the company.
These needs are more accentuated in work from home models. Employees are literally and figuratively isolated. Promoting your company culture for remote workers reinforces the idea that they’re needed, valued, and part of something together.
Know Your Values; Share Your Values
Here’s the thing, you can’t promote a company culture – remote or otherwise – if you don’t have one.
Before you start thinking about promoting remote company culture, rethink and consolidate what that culture is. Whether it’s updating or reminding yourself of your values or just taking a second to define your company culture, it will give you greater motivation and emphasis when sharing it.
Ask your team what is important to them, what the company means to them. What ideas do they have about the direction of the company and what its culture should be? Even the gesture of asking them for their input could go a long way.
Make Your Meetings Face-to-Face
Nothing can replace in-person face-to-face communication. But thanks to the miracle of video technology, we can make a commendable effort to replace it.
Meetings with face-to-face video conferencing can be quick reprieves from the loneliness of staring at a computer screen all day and are a great way to promote remote company culture and relationships.
It doesn’t even have to be business-related calls. Why not try Buddy Calls? Buddy Calls are when two team members are paired up for the week. They take ten minutes on Monday and Friday mornings to have a ten-minute chat (or more, if your workload allows it). They can talk about their workweek, their life, or just general nonsense.
You could also try doing some creative ice-breakers when preparing for longer brainstorming sessions or virtual team events. A good ice-breaking session is excellent for inducing effective communication and creative thinking. And what’s more, they’re fun!
Make Fun Company-Wide Initiatives
In the olden days, when people worked in offices, in person, together, company bonding was as simple as walking to the bar on the corner.
These days, you need to be creative to engage your team regarding logging off time. The trick is to choose something where people are active and involved, not something where they have one eye on Netflix or their Xbox.
It could be as simple as having after-work drinks to chat away and just be friends. Virtual after-works have all the perks of a social event while having the comforts of your own home.
To make it more of an event, you could do an old fashioned virtual pub quiz. They’re fun, give you a chance to show off your knowledge, and more importantly, the thrill of the competition will light a fire under everyone!
Or for something more unique, what about a Cook-a-Long? A cook-a-long is when a team member leads a cooking workshop for the whole team. They choose a dish they know and send out a shopping list to everyone else. You turn on your zooms, and you cook together! The only caveat is that it can’t be too expensive, too complex, or too time-consuming.
CEO of Spacehutnr Dietrich Moens told us, “We love doing monthly cook-a-longs. We have a team of foodies, so it’s popular. It’s great because it demands engagement; if you miss a step, your dish is ruined! They’re loud and frantic; they’re a great substitute for a traditional after-work, and more often than not, you learn something!”
Working Wellness
It’s essential that your team has the space and opportunity to share how they feel about working from home, the company, their work, and anything else that can affect their well being while working with the company.
As we said earlier, it’s also essential to allow your team to have a say in what the company culture is going forward. Likewise, having feedback channels is vital for a healthy workplace, especially in this new environment that is still finding its form.
Wrapping up
So to wrap up, remote work offers new challenges not only for productivity but with company culture too. But if it’s important to you, there are ways to foster it. If you have any cool ideas of your own, we’d love to hear them!
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Source: http://hrnews.co.uk/how-to-promote-remote-company-culture/
