Five Tips on Maintaining Company Culture Across Virtual Teams

As more and more companies embrace the remote work approach, creating and sustaining a strong company culture is a must. Although it was once an afterthought and limited to bean bag chairs, happy hours, and fun office traditions, company culture has become a staple across virtual and in-person teams. If your business is working remotely, use these five tips to maintain a welcoming and effective company culture:

1. Regularly Scheduled Check-Ins

Loneliness is often a primary struggle for remote workers, along with the inability to unplug. You can combat loneliness by having regularly scheduled check-ins with your team. These check-ins can be one-on-one to review work, see how they’re doing, or set goals for the future. Or, check-ins can be departmental, company-wide, or with a handful of people working on the same project. It’s all up to your team! Find different ways to check-in too. You don’t always have to talk about work. Create opportunities to talk about their hobbies, favorite music, latest travel experiences—anything!

2. Keep Employees Involved

When transferring to a remote workforce, companies often make the mistake of keeping employees in the dark about decisions, projects, and other important tasks. Instead, be transparent and keep employees involved in the future of the company. Ask for their help on projects. Consult them about future decisions. Let them know about upcoming changes or opportunities. The more involved your employees are, the stronger your company culture will be.

3. Use Tools to Stay Connected

Communication tools like Slack and GlobalMeet connect employees from all over the world. If your business is still relying on phone calls and emails to unite a remote workforce, you’ll have a world of challenges ahead! Rely on tools that enable employees to connect in real-time via video conferencing, chats, or webcasts!

4. Recognize Accomplishments

When we’re secluded in our home offices, our accomplishments may not seem like a big deal. And, this mentality can hurt the performance and productivity of your employees. Always find room to recognize employee accomplishments. This can be demonstrated through:

• Notifications in company-wide email newsletters
• Mentions during a town hall meeting or company webcast
• One-on-one conversations over video chat
• Team instant messaging conversations

5. Ask for Feedback

While your core company values will remain stagnant and concrete, your company culture is always evolving. This evolution happens as a result of employee feedback and suggestions. Remember to ask your virtual teams for feedback on how your company culture can improve to better serve their efforts, work/life balance, and the organization as a whole. Implement these tips into your remote workforce and develop a lasting company culture!