‘Culture’ was little more than a buzzword just a few years ago. But since then it’s become a vital ingredient in business success. Workplaces are no longer a one-way street; there’s an increasing back-and-forth, give-and-take, between managers and their teams which is fostering a new environment that nurtures talent and drives motivation and innovation. In fact, according to insights firm McKinsey, companies with a strong culture see a 60% higher shareholder return than firms with a so-so culture.
Today, however, an increasing number of employees are working from home, and growing a strong and positive culture amongst a group of geographically dispersed individuals isn’t quite as easy. We can’t rely on all those tried-and-tested processes that we’ve been using; we can’t hold face-to-face meetings, we’re not always able to offer instantaneous feedback, we can’t lead by visual example, we don’t have control over the working environment, and we can’t watch and learn from other teams around us…
… but why would we want to?
One of the biggest mistakes that managers are making today is that they’re trying to carry on as if nothing’s different. It is. Creating a strong culture across a remote team IS different to creating a strong culture when you have your team all together in one place. It’s time to adapt and introduce new techniques for building a great culture.
Here are 6 vital steps that can help you achieve this:
1. Rewrite the Rules
You may find that it’s impossible to simply lift and transfer your existing team values from the workplace to the home, and that’s OK. In fact, it offers a unique opportunity to rewrite the rules so that they’re tailored for this exact situation and relevant to your new ways of working. But rewriting the rules isn’t as important as communicating them with your team. Remember that less than one third of the UK workforce had experience working from home prior to the COVID-19 outbreak. Not everyone knows what to expect, so it’s important that your values, and your expectations, are communicated.
2. Rethink Remote Working
It’s no secret that remote working isn’t universally loved by organisations. Some businesses have long frowned upon working from home, so it’s not surprising that there’s still a bit of stigma attached to it. Remote teams may feel as though they are not valued as much as on-site teams, which can create an obstacle to building that strong culture that you’re trying to achieve. Now is the time to rethink remote working, and show it in a different light. Highlight research which shows that remote working boosts productivity, and be sure to have some employee appreciation ideas up your sleeve.
3. Create a Connection
A big part of building a strong culture is ensuring that employees can see the bigger picture; that they can see how they fit into the organisation and the impact that they’re having on the core business. This connection happens naturally at the workplace, but is harder to create at home. When teams are working remotely, it can be tricky to demonstrate how individual efforts combine to drive success. Creating a strong culture amongst remote teams means being able to create a connection between home and the office. Try to ensure that your team members know exactly how they contribute.
4. Communicate Often
In an office environment, culture is built organically just as much as it’s built through effort and determination. Employees are heavily influenced by their surroundings. For example, we can create a collaborative culture through open plan layouts, or an informal culture through our body language. We can’t do that with remote teams. So it’s essential to communicate; to focus on inclusive communications that boost transparency without alienating. If you aren’t already using digital collaboration software that allows for real time communications then now is the time to do so.
5. Focus on Team Building
Team building isn’t just for on-site teams. In fact, forming positive relationships is actually MORE important in remote teams who don’t have the opportunity to form natural relationships. Just like in the office, it’s not essential that your team all like each other, or that they all enjoy a ‘water cooler’ style chat after hours. But it IS important that they feel that they can trust each other, and that they can rely on each other, if we are to build a strong team culture. That’s where team building comes in. Consider being flexible when it comes to off-topic chat, or even hosting a virtual quiz night sometimes!
6. Don’t Forget About Professional Development
Regardless of how well your team works together, if an individual member feels that they’re not on the right path to achieving their goals, they can disrupt the culture and bring the team crashing down around them. When you’re not around your team everyday, it’s easy to become complacent; to think of them as faces inside a box, rather than real people, with real dreams. A great way to build a positive culture is to provide employees with something that benefits them; with continued learning opportunities or online training sessions that satisfy them and show them they’re valued.
