5 Steps in Building a Good Remote Team Culture

Managers prioritize efficient and effective tools and processes, given multiple remote teams at this time of the pandemic. They dedicate the necessary resources to ensure that they work perfectly, and keep the team connected and engaged . However, the prolonged Work-From-Home period also means that they run the risk of abandoning other aspects behind which may be just as significant. One of the main elements exemplifying this is the aspect of a remote team culture.

The aspect of making sure that employees are connected is important, but managers cannot afford failing to maintain and adapt team culture either. Failing to set firm policies on how remote team culture should develop can be disastrous for a company already occupied with myriad business processes. Switching to the remote work lifestyle means a prolonged degree of social distancing. That’s exactly why companies need to realign their interest and focus on creating a strong team culture.

Among many benefits, doing so would provide opportunities to ensure high employee productivity and wellness, while retaining top talent and reduce hiring and training costs that would result from losing your existing employees. On that note, here’s to building a remote team culture in just 5 steps.

Re-align the company mission statement toward remote work.

What do you stand for? What makes you different from the others? These are precisely the questions that a mission statement would clarify. The statement has a focus on highlighting how you stand in your sector’s market, how you help your customers, but most importantly, how the company treats its employees.

Regardless of whether your team is distributed, or simply working remotely for the year, aspects of remote work will need to be melded into the mission statement. Doing so helps guide the workflow your team faces, and branding efforts amid this crisis as well. As we saw from what learnings COVID-19 had to offer, rethinking social interactions along with internal environment management was of the essence. It also helps in the selection of the right team members from the very beginning, ensuring lower attrition rates long-term.

Set appropriate communication tools and policies.

The very operation of a business, the start of any relationship, the ability to lead and the building of trust, all are dependent on effective communication. Communication is also quintessential in team building and acquiring each team member’s optimal value. This can only be done by ensuring synergy in one another’s roles, and minimizing conflicts.

So it becomes a rather appropriate stem for remote team culture building to make improvements toward communication, both external and internal. Doing so within a remote culture warrants conducting feedback sessions on a regular basis. You could discuss with your team to share how they’d wish the collaboration process to change.

“Do you have that in writing?”

Prioritize one-on-one meetings

As a result of working remotely, we get to know our team in a different light. One-on-one meetings in particular allow managers to talk to each employee and receive their honest feedback, and to discuss growth and self-development. But above all else, they’re a perfect opportunity to regularly check in with your employees. Minimizing communication barriers has always been key to effective group communication.

Speaking one-to-one averts interruptions or time constraints, if need be. This lets managers act upon their feedback and ensure their needs are met. For dedicating your team meetings, MultiCall can assist you with its Call Scheduling feature. You can schedule calls, with the option to set on a repeat-basis. While doing so, it would be efficient to autonomize certain decision-making capabilities for team members in each project.

Offer merit-based recognition and rewards to remote employees.

It’s one thing that managers need to commit to progressing in their work goals toward a plan. But simply this is not enough; progress must also be also apprised to everyone who is involved. Performance updates are critical in allowing everyone to understand whether or not you are on track to hit the goals you have outlined. Providing feedback and recognizing employees for their hard work is one way to provide such updates. Positive feedback boosts confidence, and shows people you value them. It helps people to understand and develop their skills. Most of all, it helps motivate them on call, which makes it integral to a remote team culture