Ping! Another Slack message pops up on your screen. As you scan the latest meme shared on your company’s #random channel, you can’t help but smile. Despite being dispersed across the country, your team still feels tightly knit through the inside jokes and camaraderie you share online.
Building company culture remotely requires effort, but it’s not impossible. In fact, strong culture is one of the most important factors in retaining employees and keeping them engaged, something we all want no matter if our workforce is 100% remote or if we do hybrid remote work.
In this article, we’ll explore key strategies to build a cohesive, positive culture that brings your distributed team together. You’ll discover tips for promoting connection through collaboration tools, social events, and thoughtful onboarding.
We’ll also cover ways to invest in your employees’ well-being and recognize their great work. Follow these steps, and you can foster a thriving culture that boosts morale across the miles.
TLDR; Building Company Culture in a Remote Work Environment
- Clearly define and communicate company values aligned to remote work
- Host regular virtual social events to connect distributed teams
- Promote work/life balance through flexible policies and leadership example
- Invest in latest collaboration tools and equipment for remote workers
- Recognize employee milestones and achievements virtually
- Welcome new hires with swag, 1:1s, and peer buddies
- Evaluate remote culture efforts through surveys and focus groups
- Iterate strategies based on feedback to meet evolving needs
- Building thriving culture remotely requires intention but is worthwhile
Define Your Company Values
Clearly articulating your company’s core values and mission is the first step to building culture remotely. Take time to define 3-5 key values that embody what your organization represents. For example, values like transparency, empathy, and collaboration are especially important in a distributed workforce.
Make sure the values you land on align with how your team operates day-to-day in a remote environment. They should feel authentic to the policies and practices you have in place for remote employees. Also consider involving your team members in shaping the values – this helps build buy-in.
Once defined, continuously communicate the company values. Feature them prominently on your website, job listings, and email signatures.
Bring them up frequently in all-hands meetings, new hire onboarding, and leadership presentations. When employees see the values activated and embodied by leadership regularly, they’ll feel a stronger cultural connection despite the physical distance.
Create Opportunities for Connection
Working remotely can feel isolating at times, so it’s important to create opportunities for employees to connect with each other. Schedule virtual social events like happy hours, game nights, birthday celebrations on platforms like Gather or Teamflow. Send e-giftcards for coffee breaks.
Arrange virtual cooking or crafting classes. Taking time to socialize and have fun together strengthens interpersonal bonds across remote teams.
In meetings, encourage everyone to join video if possible. Seeing each other’s faces and reactions helps build rapport and trust. Send care packages or company swag to employees’ homes around the holidays or as appreciation gifts.
Receiving these packages delivers a sense of being part of the organization. The little touchpoints all add up in making remote workers feel they belong to something bigger.
Promote Work/Life Balance
When employees are working from home, the boundaries between work and life can easily blur. That’s why actively promoting work/life balance is key for remote culture.
Be as flexible as possible with schedules, allowing team members to work hours that fit their lifestyles. Encourage people to take time off as needed – don’t perpetuate a culture where breaks are frowned upon.
Set clear expectations that people should avoid sending non-urgent messages outside of established work hours. Likewise, leaders should model good work/life balance habits.
If your team constantly sees you sending late-night emails, they will feel pressure to do the same. Send reminders about taking breaks, unplugging after hours, and recharging. A culture where balance is respected prevents burnout and helps remote employees thrive.
Invest in the Latest Collaboration Tools
Equipping your remote teams with the best online collaboration tools gives them seamless ways to work together. Do research regularly to stay on top of the latest and greatest apps and software that enable smooth communication, file sharing, brainstorming, and team management. Provide stipends or expense reimbursements for employees to optimize their home office setup for efficiency.
Make sure everyone has access to essential software and technical support when needed, so they have the resources to collaborate and produce their best work. Whether it’s implementing Slack, Miro, Asana, Zoom, or other popular remote work tools, the right tech stack keeps your dispersed team feeling connected.
Don’t stick with outdated tools that create bottlenecks. Investing in the latest collaborative tech pays dividends in terms of culture and innovation.
Industries like charter bus rental companies have been dealing with remote work and collaboration for decades already. With drivers out on the road and teams distributed across locations, they’ve adapted processes to coordinate schedules, routes, and logistics smoothly.
Effective communication tools help charter bus services collaborate internally and provide top-notch customer service. Investing in the right collaboration technology, like scheduling software and GPS tracking, allows charter bus companies to manage remote operations efficiently.
Recognize Employees and Milestones
When you have a remote team, it’s important to spotlight wins and achievements that may otherwise go unnoticed in a distributed environment. Make sure to call out great work in team meetings, Slack channels, and company newsletters.
Send kudos via email when someone goes above and beyond. Use recognition tools like Bonusly to allow peer-to-peer shoutouts.
Celebrating employee milestones also brings remote teams together. Send birthday and work anniversary cards to celebrate each person. Use video calls to commemorate promotions and work milestones.
Arrange virtual happy hours to toast to achievements. Having these rituals preserves the human moments that build camaraderie, even from afar.
Onboard Thoughtfully
A solid onboarding process is key for bringing remote employees into the fold. Send new hires welcome packages with company swag like shirts, notebooks, mugs to make them feel part of the team from day one.
Schedule 1:1 video calls during their first week to get to know them personally. Set them up with a peer buddy who can answer questions and show them the ropes over their first few months.
Make sure new remote hires are properly equipped with the right technology and access to collaborate seamlessly. Provide ample training on your company processes and communication norms. Onboarding sets the tone for an employee’s tenure, so putting thought into welcoming remote workers helps them build connections and thriving work relationships.
Evaluate Your Efforts
To refine your approach over time, evaluate your efforts at cultivating remote culture. Send out quarterly employee engagement surveys to gauge people’s sense of connection and belonging.
Track retention rates amongst remote employees to spot any issues. Hold focus groups to understand pain points and gather feedback on programs.
As you experiment with new initiatives, pay attention to what resonates most with your distributed teams and double down on those areas. The landscape may change as your company grows and evolves. Be ready to adapt your tactics based on feedback to stay ahead of the curve on building resilient culture remotely.
Key Takeaways: Building Company Culture in a Remote Work Environment
Creating connection remotely requires intention but pays dividends in retention and engagement. Use virtual events, collaboration tools, and recognition to bring your distributed team together. Promote work-life balance through policy and by leadership example. Onboard thoughtfully and invest in the best tech.
Most importantly, continuously evaluate your remote culture efforts and iterate based on feedback. Survey employees quarterly and hold focus groups to hear their needs.
There is no one-size-fits-all approach – you have to evolve along with your workforce. While challenging, building a thriving culture without central offices is absolutely possible with the right strategies.
Don’t let physical distance hamper the strong relationships and community vital to organizational health. With creativity and commitment to nurturing your culture, your employees will feel united in their purpose and belong to something special, whether they’re at headquarters or the home office. The culture you cultivate today remotely will become the fabric defining your company as it grows.
