Remote working is fast becoming the norm for businesses of every size across many industries. There are lots of benefits for businesses with a remote working policy, including increased productivity and reduced office overheads, but these benefits are contingent on having a motivated workforce and a strong company culture. Your employees need to feel connected and valued, or there is a high likelihood that their productivity will fall, and they may start to look elsewhere for an employer who will recognize their worth. If your business is starting to embrace remote working, here are some ways you can keep your company culture strong.
Hold regular video meetings
While email and instant messaging are great for some interactions, sometimes meaning can be lost through text alone. Video meetings or video conferencing, however, enables you to read facial expression and body language and adds a more personal note to the interaction. Rather than wait for a reason to meet, schedule a weekly team meeting to outline what is expected of everyone and to allow all team members the opportunity to raise any concerns. You should also plan in some time to catch up with employees on a one-to-one basis when you can address role-specific tasks and the individual’s ongoing development.
Make communication easy
Make sure that your employees are using the same software and technology for their work and communications to ensure everyone is well connected. You should also set rules about which channels should be used in certain situations, e.g., all documents should be edited in Google Suite, instant messaging via Slack, and all video meetings in Google Hangouts.
Try to be flexible, but set clear expectations
With remote working comes a certain degree of flexibility for employees, but this needs to be balanced with the needs of the business. For example, you may be able to give employees some more flexibility with their hours, but the rest of the company needs to be aware of what those hours are. Ensure that your employees have clear targets and deadlines to work to and understand what is expected of them during working hours in terms of availability and engagement.
Celebrate employee contributions
A big part of feeling motivated and valued at work is having your efforts and contributions recognized. There are several ways to do this including sharing updates and congratulations on a company social media page. You should also make it clear to employees that their opinions are important by giving them a way to contribute to some company decisions and provide suggestions for improvement. You might also want to consider rewarding progress and employee contributions with branded gifts from anthembranding.com.
Don’t forget about fun
One of the downsides of remote working is not interacting socially or developing relationships with colleagues. There are, however, ways to promote fun, relaxation, and socializing within a remote team. For example, you schedule in some extra time at the start or end of a meeting when employees can catch up socially or run lighthearted contests that encourage people to connect personally.
