We have heard and read tonnes about work culture. People know that it is a prime factor in a company’s growth. But how are companies today harnessing the power of remote team culture? Being stuck with the pandemic and almost forced into new normalcy, is it healthy to say that the world has changed? There can be multiple answers to it but one thing is for sure, this new normalcy has evolved into a big part of our work fabric. Working from home or working remotely is the new trend and it is staying here now. It is kind of refreshing to know that greek philosophers couldn’t predict this. We have some new stuff to write about!

Understanding the importance of Culture for an organization

A Culture within an organization is the combination and balance of every aspect within the teams. With the onset of the digital age, we have a new wing that needs our focus. Harnessing the strength of remote work culture has benefits in store for your company. It is also super important to understand that the efficiency of remote team culture is the direct key to efficiency in results. Experts suggest how working from home increases overall productivity for your company/brand. But also, on the other hand, building a remote team culture can become a task because sharing a physical workspace organically builds a culture within teammates. When you are operating remotely or digitally, this aspect is missing. So you have to put some work in to build a remote work culture.

The ‘TELL ME WHY’ of remote work culture

Companies spend good energy on strategies and the main game plan of how business should be done. But more than these meaty moves, the foundation of the fabric of how you work from within the organization is greater. Company values can build a strong sense of purpose in employees. Often juggling personal and professional lives, workers or teammates of a company are often in a gamble where the alignment of efficiency and work is lost. Here is where a remote work company culture proves the might. It makes sure productivity is not lost in the crowd. Apart from that, it also defines what your organization stands for. It will determine the difference between you and other companies. This is exactly why employee engagement and work ethic is important, and directly affects the output of a company.

7 Ways to create a remote work culture

1. Creating psychological safety and avoiding mistrust

The idea of some people coming together under a roof and working towards one purpose in itself is powerful. But when they are working from under different roofs, it becomes a challenge. Employees should feel psychologically invited and safe to discuss ideas, agreements, disagreements, and complaints. Setting this behavior can come from atop. Company leaders can set a standard of behaviors and constantly be in an inquiry of betterment through personal conversations, meetings, and surveys. There should also be constructive criticism accompanied by face to face meetings for boosting employee engagement and trust. Working remotely using an app should not be synonymous with throwing psychological safety out of the window. It still demands a strong work culture.

2. One-on-One meetings

Without overanalyzing, let’s understand this straight. We need one on one interactions. Chance meetings or “water cooler” conversations are important for productive functioning between employees. It is an active ingredient of a remote working team culture that is set out to conquer company goals. Employees should have these one-on-one conversations. How these individual conversations go is of course beyond and healthily, should stay away from massive interference. But it still needs to have a structure that does not break the foundation of your company values.

3. The water cooler effect

The grammar of your work culture is defined by shared attitudes, work ethic, social and psychological support, and cohesion of knowledge. It all works like different parts of the same machine under one vision. The water cooler conversations serve as a breather for employees. As a company leader, devise a plan for people to have these conversations, sparking the same effects. It can be through an app, a feature of an app, or maybe a shared window to virtually have water breaks together (that was a maybe).

4. Creative engagement

Please do not consider birthdays as the only “Michael Scott gives the mic to Pam” occasions. There should be a game plan, a creative lens to look at the engagement between employees. It is one of the most remote work culture activities. Build an app for employees to play games together that builds intrinsic value, harmony, and emotional rapport between them. It should be a genuine effort.

5. Announce the MVPs

For a team to constantly be motivated, even tho it’s a daily gamble, employees should get encouragement. It can be an emotional incentive too like shoutouts. In meetings or personally, shoutouts or public recognition of a task executed well works magically. Rather than bombarding with encouragement to ‘get the work done’ which becomes feeble in time, genuine efforts, encouragement, appreciation, and acknowledgment work eternally!

6. Feedbacks and improvement

Always encourage your employees to give constructive feedback. As Gary Vaynerchuck always quotes, “Your employees should not work as hard as you, it’s not their business”, things should be taken in full control by you as a leader. It is imperative to give your employees a chance for constructive criticisms and working upon them. Again, it is a very important exercise, in better words – one of the most significant remote team culture activities.

7. Face to Face Meetings

Seeing the face, literally, keeps us human. Yeah, that’s right! Your company can invest to build a video chat app that lets coworkers talk face to face while they work. It can be integrated into the UX of your digital working platform making it easier for work and chat go hand in hand.

There are many more remote work culture ideas at the pinnacle of building a productive workforce. All of those should be aimed at creating a higher productivity range and emotional wellness of employees. CONTUS DigitalTeams is locked and loaded with a digital remote development team to get your projects done. Build a scalable, fully customizable business communication app with robust tech stacks and end-to-end support. Be the best example of an efficient, result yielding, and emotionally healthy remote work culture.