Company culture defines goals, ideals, and values. In an in-house setting, fostering company culture is easier thanks to in-person meetings, how the office is set up, and even where it’s located.
We don’t have that luxury with remote teams. Working remotely demands leaders approach building company culture uniquely. There are several strategies that help cultivate company culture. But to fully understand them, we need to learn the basics.
What Is Remote Company Culture?
A company’s culture defines how workers behave within the company. It’s used to measure how values are reinforced within the company.
With a well-established company culture, you can foster a more productive environment, despite working remotely.
Building an amazing company culture takes a lot of effort. But taking the time to build the foundations creates the necessary building blocks for success.
Why Is Company Culture For Remote Teams Necessary For Success?
Without proactively defining culture, the values and ideals your company represents can become misaligned. But doing so can help leaders with the following:
Defining company values
Clearly defining company values helps remote teams find meaning in what they do. Done right, this can attract amazing people, amplify your team’s abilities, and boost productivity.
Building the foundation for organizational best practices
Your organizational best practices define how a company runs itself. It can include a company’s brand story, mission, values, goals, and how it goes about communication.
Establishing best practices also helps create a dynamic company culture. That doesn’t mean changing it completely but expanding on the foundations your company built.
Representing how your company is unique
Your company culture will define its individuality. It represents how your business is perceived by your remote team and the industry that you’re in.
Companies can be unique at an individual or team level. According to a study from Gallop, celebrating how unique your remote workers are at an individual level helps boost engagement.
Promoting inclusion and diversity
A diverse and inclusive remote team is fundamental to your company’s success. This helps create a working environment where your team, regardless of where they are, can thrive. Companies need their remote team to feel like they belong no matter what background they’re from.
Getting remote workers excited and engaged
Research from Quantum Workplace suggests a positive company culture makes employees 3.8x more engaged. It also noted how 66% of employees say their culture impacts their positivity and behavior.
7 Actionable Company Culture Best Practices
Now that we’ve run through the basics, here are seven actionable company culture best practices you can use to help build an amazing company culture remotely.
Define your company culture
The first step to defining your company culture is identifying your company values. More than that, you need to communicate these values to your team effectively.
Start with defining what your company’s goals are, what it wants to be recognized for, and the characteristics it values from employees.
Focus on the onboarding process
A great onboarding experience sets the tone for your company culture. You need to provide new remote team members with all the resources they need to succeed to succeed.
Forbes conducted a study suggesting that a lack of good onboarding results in companies losing 17% of new hires within the first three months.
Good onboarding can include the following discussions:
- Remote work policies
- How workers contribute to achieving company goals
- What’s expected of new hires
- How management tracks employee performance
- Communication guidelines
Show that you value and appreciate your remote team
Always take a proactive approach to make sure that your team knows that their efforts are valued. This should go beyond just praising their work.
You can also invite team members to get more involved in decision-making, providing opportunities for career growth, and much more.
Conduct virtual recreational activities
Try doing virtual team-building activities with your remote team. This increases engagement, helps your team get to know each other, and promotes collaboration.
According to statistics from TeamStage, 75% of workers believe teamwork and collaboration are integral to success. And, 33% of workers say a collaborative company culture results in increased loyalty.
Use Asynchronous Communication
Working remotely can mean that your team members won’t be in the same time zones. This can make communication difficult. Implementing asynchronous communication can help with this.
It means that remote team members can communicate at times that make sense within their time frames. This shows that your company cares and considers your remote team.
Key Takeaways
Company culture helps guide the behavior of your remote team by clearly defining goals, values, and expectations.
If you want to build an amazing company culture remotely, consider the following:
- Building a well-established company culture starts with defining your values.
- Make sure to provide an excellent onboarding experience
- Virtual team-building activities promote a positive company culture.
- Promote inclusion and diversity to help your team feel like they belong.
- Always show your appreciation to your team and make them feel valued.
