Your work culture defines what kind of organization you want to build. That said, a company without any set work culture also has a culture. After all, employees get intuitive of what the organization expects of them. Plus, how they should perform to get noticed, and where to seek permissions from higher authorities. However, such undefined culture may not enhance the organization’s work productivity or generate expected revenue.
In the current digital world, companies are leaving no stone unturned to establish an inclusive and productive work culture in their organization. Most of the employees are working remotely and with this growing remote workforce, it has now become imperative for firms to consider creating a remote work culture – introducing the right systems and tools to implement it.
In this blog, we shall discuss how to keep the spirits high of your employees while they work remotely. Keep reading to find out some exciting work from home solutions and tools that will help promote the engagement and productivity of your workforce.
What Is Remote Work Culture?
Remote work culture is defined as a digital culture within an enterprise that empowers employees to stay connected through shared experiences, interests, and work priorities. A resilient remote work culture provides employees with a sense of belonging that surpasses their physical limitations.
The Importance of Remote Work Culture
Research has shown that remote work culture has promoted employee’s productivity, happiness, and well-being. There are fewer absconded meetings and more collaboration. In the foreseeable future, remote work culture can offer a myriad of benefits to both the employee and employer.
However, the major drawback of having a remote team is – lack of communication. Being mindful of your employee’s needs and employer’s demands is crucial to create a win-win situation.
Is remote work culture important to increase an organization’s productivity? Here are our thoughts.
It curbs isolation
Loneliness is the worst feeling for any individual. An engaging remote work culture keeps the team united and gives them a sense of purpose in life. It also leads to real-time actions like checking out on each team member and making sure they don’t feel isolated.
It drives more success in the future
Working from home has become the new normal. Employees are finding it easy to manage their household chores and job responsibilities, single-handedly. Staying close to their family and friends creates a sense of happiness and satisfaction from within, which gives them a positive mindset towards work.
It creates long-term relationships
Building strong relationships with your team members via audio and video calls inaugurates trust and enhances communications, which also makes the transition from remote to office environment smooth and productive.
How To Promote a Healthy Remote Work Culture?
Here are a few tips that may help you build a strong remote work culture:
Trust your employees with their work
At the end of the day, the work output should matter instead of the total number of hours spent by them on their system. Micromanaging isn’t something your employees appreciate. Trust them with their job responsibilities so that, they can handle their work more efficiently. Give some space to the team to manage their work and check occasionally with follow-up mail or audio calls.
Keep your vision and mission transparent
While working remotely, each team member should feel they are equally contributing to build-up the project’s mission and vision. Find a concise and clear way of describing the company’s overall goals you are trying to achieve (both short term and long term). It works as a constant reminder for the team to always remember what they are trying to achieve together.
Create a remote work policy
Working remotely can mean differently for different people. Therefore, the organization needs to set some explicit remote work policy so that the employees are aware of their company’s expectations and requirements. The policy should give a clear picture of the following things:
- How many hours should the employee stay online at work?
- Do the employees need to stay online irrespective of their location and emergencies?
- Can the employees manage their work responsibilities at their convenience?
- Are the employees expected to remain online despite their work demands being fulfilled?
- Will there be any stipend or reimbursement to set up an office environment at home?
Face-to-face meetings are a must
Working in front of the computer screens for weeks may feel boring and tiresome. To keep your employee’s spirit high, engage them with regular video calls and team-bonding activities. Also, regular video calls close the communication gap, build strong relationships, establish trust, and rejoice in all employee’s achievements and efforts.
Be patient
Creating a healthy atmosphere for your employees, working remotely, is an ever-evolving process. You can always come up with new ideas and some changes to boost your team’s productivity. Nevertheless, the best thing you can do is be armed with all the right set of tools and policies for a streamlined workflow.
Final Thoughts
The global pandemic has entirely changed the concept of office jobs. Working remotely has become an effective solution for the world to keep going in these crucial times. Armed with the new tools and tips mentioned in this blog, one can confidently create an energetic, productive, positive, and profitable business with a remote team.
Looking for more remote infrastructure management services? Connect with our team on social platforms and watch how we collectively have improved our work culture while implementing robust work from home solutions.
FAQs on Remote Work Culture
- What should the leaders and managers do to help their employees work remotely?
- Focus on providing the right infrastructure to your employees.
- Provide them with a laptop
- Connect them with an IT team who can help the employees get software and apps for easy workflow
- Give them easy access to the resources they need to work
- Ask managers to ensure no employees feel left behind at work
- How to prepare the employees mentally for remote work?
- Develop a disciplined way to start and end the day.
- A morning stand-up call and quick catch-up call at EOD will keep the entire team on the same page
- Give your team a say on how the company can help them enjoy working from home
- Does working from home affect psychological health?
Employees do miss the conversation with their colleagues over a cup of coffee. Board meetings, team-bonding activities, and fun Friday’s act as fuel for extroverts to keep going at work. You can still give them that environment via video calls, online gaming activities, and monthly task challenges to nourish their brains and ensure their mental well-being.
- How to help an employee who is struggling, not focus, and lonely despite your best efforts at work?
- If you observe fewer calls, emails, or sudden changes in their way of delivering work, talk to them.
- Provide them with employee assistance at work.
- Create a team-engaging call where every team member shares their experience
- Suggest more ideas on how an individual can increase their work productivity while staying at home
- How to host a social event digitally?
- Connect with your and ask them to show their cooking skills or art or musical talents online.
- Ask the team to keep their videos ON and grab their family members to ask random questions (It will be fun!)
- Stage competitions for the best work-from-home environment or best work companion (a toy, pet, kids, or your partner)
- Take time to acknowledge the efforts of your team via gift cards or vouchers