We spend a bunch of time on relationship-building, hosting semi-annual company retreats and quarterly leadership off-sites, and we use video services like Zoom and Appear.in. It gives both sides a lot of time to carefully consider whether this is a perfect fit, and it gives the candidate the chance to get to know several people on the team. When the process is more thorough and involves more people, it’s also easier to steer clear of unconscious bias. I can only remember one time in seven years that we lost out on someone for not moving fast enough.
As a business, you should be a part of your culture-building story. If you take the reins now, you can build something you can be proud how to build culture in a remote team of. If not, you might end up producing something that strays far from the vision you’ve created for yourself and your company.
Make remote part of your brand
One way to ensure visibility is by scheduling regular check-ins between senior leaders and remote team members. These check-ins don’t have to be formal; they could be a quick chat over a video call or messaging app. Being available allows senior leaders to set the tone for open communication within the team. In addition, this relaxed communication style demonstrates a commitment to creating a positive work environment, which is crucial when working remotely.
By combining the convenience of remote work with the benefits and perks of a traditional full-time job they truly stand out as a phenomenal remote employer. Establishing clear expectations will help to avoid any possible confusion related to the deliverables that must be met. While often the employee is somewhat to blame, employers need to be responsible for cultivating a structured work environment that will encourage productivity.
Hiring and onboarding for remote teams
You can also invite feedback in a public setting, such as an all-hands meeting, and encourage honest feedback on the direction of the company or how work gets done. Measuring engagement and happiness is an important part of defining and maintaining culture in a company, and remote teams are no exception. Tools like Skype and Zoom make it easy to schedule regular video check-ins. Weekly or bi-weekly meetings to assess the status of your team (or an individual employee) in their work and in their life is how you keep people close and engaged.
By offering support and resources to help them maintain a healthy work-life balance, you enhance their overall job satisfaction and contribute to a positive remote team culture. Effective communication is the backbone of successful remote teams. Additionally, organizing events like semi-annual company retreats and quarterly leadership off-sites can help facilitate relationship-building in a remote culture. Virtual office software has revolutionized the landscape of remote work, and leading this transformation is Kumospace.
steps to build culture and team connections remotely
One of the best decisions we’ve made at Help Scout is to build a remote culture. Some people like words of affirmation, but some members of your team probably appreciate physical gifts more. Using rewards in addition to recognition can help you reach out to a broader number of your employees. Are you getting a yes before passing a task to another person on your team? Delegation is a significant key to success, but poorly managed delegation can lead to disasters, missed deadlines, and dropped tasks at work.
- As a leader, your primary job is to make sure that your remote team is motivated and eager to deliver quality work.
- In-person experiences or physical gifts can dispel the fear of missing out on the perks of a more traditional office setting.
- Promoting your unique culture will attract candidates who are not only high-performing, but also aligned with your core values.
- But it’s always better to create the culture you want rather than build one as you go along.
Ask clarification questions to ensure you fully understand your team members’ perspective. Use open-ended questions that encourage team members to share their thoughts and ideas in detail. Provide feedback on the team member’s performance, including strengths and areas for improvement. Encourage the team member to provide feedback on your performance as well. Giving your team a safe environment to discuss concerns or issues allows managers to identify and resolve hiccups before they escalate and become bigger problems.
When you hire people who love the work, they might end up doing it for hours before they even realize it. Obviously this isn’t sustainable or healthy, which is why we look for a high level of self-discipline and work-life harmony when hiring people. While I’d like to think of Help Scout as a collaborative environment, a lot of people on the team spend 4-6 hours heads down every day, working on hard problems.
Your team members can use it to buy courses to help them grow in their career. A regular schedule of informal catch-ups are a great chance for team-building because it replicates the conversations people would have on their coffee breaks. Some of your communication will be synchronous (real-time virtual meetings on platforms like Vowel,Google Meet, and Zoom) and some asynchronous (email, Slack, etc.). Those decisions and values create culture in remote companies more than a ping pong table would because our work is our lifeblood. Maybe you were one of the first companies to rely solely on asynchronous communication or you have a one-of-a-kind cause you’re already contributing too to some extent.