Top ways to build a positive company culture with a remote team

There was a time when professionals were used to working from offices and anything different was unthinkable. However, over time, thanks to technological advances and openness towards flexibility, many companies started allowing employees to work remotely. In the light of the pandemic especially, companies have realized that remote working might be the future and they are gradually adapting to it. Now, while working from home or a co-working space can boost employee productivity, satisfaction, and save the employer a lot of overhead expenses, it can negatively affect communication and the company culture.

However, when it comes to building a positive company culture, working remotely is not an obstacle, if you follow these 6 tips:

1. Create values and let everyone know – Company values can go a long way in motivating employees to do their best and achieve goals efficiently, even if they are working remotely. So, either refine your old values or create new ones. Usually, top companies have values like integrity, performance, diversity, mutual respect, teamwork, and customer commitment. Depending on your industry and vision, you can also have values like innovation, responsibility, empathy, and sustainability. Make sure every department, team and employee knows about these values. Apart from communicating it via email, you can have a video conference to discuss these values upfront, so that everyone is on the same page. 
2. Ease everyday communication – Skype, Whatsapp, and Google Meet are some popular calling tools that are used by companies worldwide to ease the pains around daily communication among remote teams. Also, one of the best remote work culture ideas is to use innovative platforms like Basecamp, Slack and Trello to manage projects and supervise workflows easily. These platforms allow you to create different groups for different projects, assign tasks, have one-on-one or group chats, store important documents in one place, and decide who gets access to what.
3. Encourage innovation and leadership – To establish a positive organizational culture in virtual teams, give everyone (not just the senior managers) the freedom to experiment, come up with new ideas, share their thoughts over a weekly video call maybe, and appreciate the knowledge and skills of others. You never know when a new leader might emerge, if he or she gets the right boost of confidence. Establish an open feedback culture that goes both ways. This way, both executives and managers will know their strengths and weaknesses.
4. Prevent isolation by forming groups – When employees work remotely, they sometimes tend to feel disconnected from others in the team. You can resolve this situation by encouraging employees in the same team or even different teams to form sub-groups or go for bonding sessions that might not be work-related always. For instance, a few employees in the same team might arrange a weekly virtual meet to discuss what’s new in coding, or some who live near each other might want to meet for breakfast.
5. Ensure work-life balance – While remote employees don’t have to struggle in packed buses or trains to reach office, working in pajamas every day can take a mental toll. Or, they might be feeling guilty about taking leaves to get some rest after a tough few weeks. They might be overlooking their overall health too. So, provide a health insurance package that includes a variety of annual checkups and covers mental health. Take time out to understand what challenges your remote teams are going through.
6. Focus on regular online training – To build a positive work culture, make sure you provide frequent online trainings to your remote teams. This is a unifying exercise as well, as they can discuss ideas and problems and find solutions together. Plus, these trainings will enhance their skills, knowledge base and will make them ready for bigger roles. Webinars are especially a good idea.

To wrap up, creating a positive company culture with remote teams is possible if you follow the 6 tips above. Or, you can always hire a human resource management consultant to give you the latest ideas and handhold you through the process.