Grow A Positive Remote Work Culture

Companies, big and small, are calling it, they’re working remote indefinitely. Some don’t expect to ever return to a brick and mortar model, while others are allowing for extended WFH.

None of us know what post-COVID-19 will look like, and employers don’t want to risk the health of their employees or their businesses. But, for many companies who were predominately in offices, the work culture is going to shift. It’s a learning gap, but one that can be easily bridged to promote a positive work environment. 

Knowing The Value of Remote Work

We know that when employees are happy and feel safe in their work environment, quality and productivity increases. Feeling valued makes us want to work harder for that consistent praise. Not only that, when an employee feels as though they are appreciated it makes them loyal. 

Remote work has been shown to increase:

• Employee satisfaction
• Work quality
• Work productivity
• The talent pool

There are downsides to everything, including having remote teams. As long as you are able to find a way to keep constant lines of communication open, and promote positive company culture, then you’ll find having a remote model easy to navigate successfully. 

Well Defined Roles

A chain of command is important in any type of work environment. But, it’s even more imperative to have well-defined roles when teams are remote.

Setting expectations, workflows, and having procedures in place early will set every employee up for success. 

Constant Communication

Communication is pivotal, which is why we talk about it numerous times throughout this article. From talking about your culture to your open-door policy, communicating your message to your employees will keep everyone aligned and have a consistent goal. 

A document where all the pertinent company information is housed, kept in a Wiki if you use Teams, Google documents, or another shareable format, will allow employees to reference it. As a living document, you are able to refine it as your company grows and changes. 

Creating a Remote Culture of Value

• Bridge the distance: No “us” vs. “them”, everyone is important, and that needs to be felt across all teams.
• Work AND play together: Sure, it’s remote. But, there are loads of fun activities that can be done over video conferencing. Check out some ideas here.  
• Team meetups: At the moment, this may prove impossible. But, when life gets itself together, and we have some semblance of normal, create team events that will bring the team together. 
• Communication: Stay in contact with your employees. As the boss or manager, let your teams know your virtual door is open, whether they want to talk shop or about a great beer they found and thought you might like. 
• Start a tradition: Office traditions are a core component of the culture. Maybe it’s a weekly video meet up to play MarioKart, or a regular Cocktail and Schmooze. Birthday and anniversary cards, a monthly employee spotlight can be little ways to start a tradition. 

Creating a positive work culture will not only keep your good employees happy, but you’ll be able to actually keep those good employees long term.