9 Signs of Good Remote Work Culture

What is your ideal company culture? Do you imagine an open office without walls between the employees? They can collaborate with each other, tell jokes in the middle of the working process, and support each other when they go through personal challenges.

But with this pandemic outbreak, every company out there is trying to work remotely to ensure the safety of their employees. If you’re trying to manage a remote team, it’s hard to imagine such a great company culture.

Detachment from the work culture and social isolation – those are two of the greatest disadvantages of remote teams. The hiring managers and team managers have to work to improve those aspects of the team that works at home. They ought to put in extra efforts to keep the employees engaged.

Let us get inspired by successful remote teams, which have overcome those challenges. Those team members are close to each other, and they do not see the physical distance as an obstacle to connect with the positive culture. How are they different?

9 Signs of Proper Team Culture in Remote Teams

1. The Organization Has a Mentorship Program

Ask yourself again: what is your ideal company culture? The sense of belonging into the team and respecting the company’s values would pretty much outline the answer.

So you need to build trust between the team members, and make these distributed teams feel like they belong in that organization. Successful remote teams achieve that through mentorship programs.

Whenever you welcome a new member, team them up with a more experienced worker. They can guide the newbie remote employees through the process and reduce the overwhelming feeling during the onboarding process. Also, send an engaging welcome email to the new hires.

2. Successful Remote Teams Have Face-To-Face Meetups

Bringing everyone together at least once a year for a company retreat is essential. This should not be a mandatory event for your workers. Some of them have family responsibilities that do not allow them to travel.

In that case, you can make them feel like they are still part of the team by doing group FaceTime on Mac while playing board games or having the morning coffee. You can also conduct team meetings on a day to day basis.

3. They Measure the Engagement of Their Employees

With the team working at home, it is easy for the workers to become unmotivated. They do their best in the beginning, but their enthusiasm fades away. That is because they are isolated in their home offices. They are not talking about the job, and they usually spend their days alone, in quarantine.

Successful team leaders measure the level of satisfaction through surveys. They feel the employees’ pulse and take actions that would address the issues. If social isolation is turning out to be the biggest problem for having a good remote work culture, they will try to boost the working culture by activating social media tools.

4. A Professional Assessment Process Is Part of the HR Department’s Job

A formalized feedback loop is a must in a remote team. Everyone knows that remote workers are very prone to procrastination. They lack the structure of the work environment, and the flexibility in their schedule can take the wrong turn.

A clear feedback process should be part of everyday life in work from home situations. When the HR department sends feedback, they motivate the workers to do better. They also identify potential problems and offer incentives. Your efforts should aim towards the betterment of work life. This will in turn help you build a good remote work culture.

5. Online Service Perks Are Welcome!

In an actual office, the working culture is enhanced through brunches, desserts, and vouchers for local services. When the workers get presents, their satisfaction levels grow and the bond with their organization increases.

With your employees working at home, you need to find a substitute for such incentives. You can always offer membership for online services, such as Omstars for yoga or Fiit for cardio, strength and rebalance. You can also send out Google Play or iTunes credits, which your team members will greatly appreciate. Amazon gift cards are welcome, too!

6. Successful Teams Have Casual Skype Calls

Keeping the team members engaged through random video conferences is a great way to bring them together. Once a week, you can tell everyone to make themselves a cup of coffee and get in front of the computer screen. You can talk about the challenges, exchange photos of pets, and have a different theme each week.

Be careful; these conversations shouldn’t take their free time away. You should plan them while the team works at home. They will be brief; like 15-20 minutes. After that, everyone can resume their working activities.

7. The Team Members Are Aware of the Organization’s Mission

Let us ask that question again: what is your ideal company culture? It is an environment of successful collaboration, which is triggered by everyone’s awareness of the common goals and the organization’s mission.

In remote teams, that awareness is often nonexistent. The managers assign tasks, and the workers complete them as part of their routine. Freelance writers, for example, often have no ideas where their work ends up and what purpose it serves. Successful remote teams do things differently: the managers clearly communicate the company’s goals, so everyone can feel like they are doing something useful.

8. The Managers Set the Tone in Casual Communication

When your team works from home, the process is challenging because the workers feel isolated. Private Facebook groups can change that. The team members can share useful links, tell jokes, or talk about random topics. But if the management does not support this process, the spark in the conversations may quickly go out.

The managers of good remote teams take their time to stimulate communication through casual questions. What will everyone have for lunch today? What is your favorite movie? You can think of a new question every day, and be the first one to share your thoughts.

9. The Team Members Communicate, But They Get Things Done

When you use communication tools and you stimulate the workers to talk to each other, you will certainly contribute towards the development of a more relaxed work culture. However, there is a pitfall: you may also distract them with a casual call in the middle of the working process.

Successful teams get things done. That is the major priority. While the team members work, you should allow them to focus on that. Communication regarding the work process is allowed and welcome.

But leave the Facebook group chats, casual emails, and jokes on Skype for later. All tips suggested above take place after work hours.

Remote Teams Can Build a Successful and Good Remote Work Culture

A good remote work culture is based on effective communication and a positive attitude towards one’s colleagues. You can have that in a remote team, but it takes some work.

With adequate tools for virtual communication, clarifying the company’s mission, and various incentives, the management can support a process of ongoing collaboration.

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