To be able to build the culture of your remote team, it’s a good idea to start with an understanding of what company culture is.

There are many scholarly articles, books and online analyses examining the deep depths of company culture, and we’ve done some exploring ourselves here, but it does remain a complex and varied part of working life, and one for which there may never be a singular definition. Because whilst every company has culture, each company’s culture is unique to them.

In a nutshell, company culture is about the way we work. It’s the way we do things, it’s the values and beliefs we hold, it’s the collective approach to how we conduct our business, and it’s the compass that shows us the way.

An organisation’s culture affects all aspects including being able to attract talent and keep team members engaged and aligned to the company mission.

The Tricky Bit

Building up your remote team culture can be trickier than if your team was based on-site; the most obvious barrier being the lack of physical presence. When your staff are in the same office, working together day-to-day, they can breathe in the culture because they’re living it with each other. They can learn the values of the organisation, they can watch how they should interact with clients, they can see first-hand the norms and behaviours they are expected to follow.  

Remove the physical proximity, and opportunities to closely absorb and build culture become harder to find. And if your office has adopted a hybrid work schedule, there is a risk of creating a two-tier culture, with those present in the office at an advantage over their remote colleagues.

Establishing Your Culture

To be able to build a successful company culture, you need to establish what that means for your company. What does it look like? What are the company values and key messages? How do you want your team members to conduct themselves and portray the wider ethos of your brand? How do you want your clients to be treated? What is your purpose, and how do you want your staff to understand and become aligned with this?

Creating a culture is about more than just having a mission statement; it is a collective approach that everybody should be part of and committed to. And whilst it is harder to build this without regular face-to-face interaction, it isn’t impossible.  

Build by Design

The building blocks of your company’s culture should be cemented into every part of the business. From your hiring and onboarding procedures to your mission statement and brand messages.  

With the advancements in virtual technology, it’s now possible to have virtual tours for new hires as part of their onboarding, and it’s a good idea to introduce a mentor or buddy programme, to connect experienced and new staff; this can be particularly helpful for new remote workers who won’t have intensive time in the office to get to know everybody.

Communication

Communication is the cornerstone of successful remote working, so it makes sense that a solid culture with high employee engagement can arise from having a strong communication infrastructure.  

Communication with remote teams should be constant, accessible, multi-way and multi-channelled. It should be open, and information sharing should be efficient. Asynchronous communication should be the norm here, which will enable teams to work at their pace and will recognise the fluid nature of remote and hybrid teams.

Ways in which managers can adopt a good communications strategy include having regular catchups, holding virtual meetings, and finding ways for staff to have virtual ‘water cooler’ moments. There are apps designed to help with the latter, such as Donut, though you may prefer to take a less structured approach.  

Where you might typically have settling-in time at the start of an on-site meeting for people to chat informally, you can include on virtual meetings some ‘buffer’ time, where the host logs in early and leaves the meeting open for attendees to chat until it is time to begin.Whilst it doesn’t quite replicate the face-to-face impromptu small talk and chats about who made what food last night, it does provide a space for ad hoc exchanges.

Career development and learning opportunities should be available to all team members, regardless of location, and should be in formats that include remote access.

And managers should facilitate space and time for remote teams to connect and get to know one another socially. Again, this can be informal time, such as arranging monthly face-to-face team meetings, making sure these have a clear purpose and perhaps including some collaborative activities, or it could be more planned, for example arranging team building events.

Your People

Empower your remote workforce so that they have autonomy over their work and feel they want to be part of the company’s mission and purpose.  

Avoid micro-managing as it can create a sense of unease if your teams don’t feel you trust them enough to work without constant direction. Managers should however regularly catch-up and check-in, but this should be about supporting your staff and building relationships, so they become more engaged.  

Work should be delegated that helps teams to grow and to adopt a growth mindset. Remote workers are an integral part of any organisation and managers should demonstrate how much they are valued.

Build into your culture the things that come easily in on-site working but can be overlooked in remote teams; theFriday cake afternoon, the celebrations, the birthdays, the team quizzes.  There are lots of ways to introduce new rituals into your remote team culture. Make time to celebrate contributions and successes. Make time for supportive reflection if things haven’t gone well. Celebrate things that have. Provide new team members with welcome packs and remote-first inductions. Arrange virtual coffee breaks.

Not all of these need to be planned; it’s nice sometimes to have an element of surprise. With virtual teams this is slightly harder but there are ways to incorporate surprises. For example, you could have a virtual mindfulness session or even arrange a remote team retreat. The opportunities are plentiful and will help to bring your team together. It’s also important to recognise the nuances of personality in your team. Not all will be extroverts who want to shout loudly, some will be quieter souls and you need to temper your communication to suit your people.  

Your Leadership

And of course, your leadership is crucial. By having an open-door approach, by promoting honesty and trust, and by practicing what you preach, you will show your team you’re with them and you’re leading the way.  

Leaders should also strive to provide a psychologically safe workplace, where active participation is encouraged, diverse and varied viewpoints are listened to and supported, ideas can be shared without fear of judgment or negative consequences, and everybody feels safe to be able to make mistakes and learn together.

Ultimately, your company culture is not static and it should not be neglected. It should be nurtured and watered, and care should be taken to ensure it keeps serving the company and employees and keeps driving your mission.    

For more insights and articles about hybrid working from Team Today, visit our blog here.