Remote Work Culture: Why It’s Important & How To Build It

According to the US Census Bureau, between 2019-2021 the number of people primarily working remotely in the United States tripled from 5.7% to 17.9%.

The increase in employees working from home has led to company cultures needing to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of employees in this remote work world.

Many may hear company culture and immediately think that is fostered by physically bringing people together. While that is true, there are also so many ways to foster company culture digitally.

While building a remote culture may seem like a daunting task; it all starts with making sure you have a strong foundation to build upon.

What is remote work culture?

Remote work culture within an organization is what enables employees to stay connected without physically being in the same office. It is the combination of your company values, programs, processes, strategies, and the experiences you create to run the business with a bit of flexibility sprinkled in.

Culture — whether remote or in the workplace — is something that ultimately gives the employee a sense of overall belonging.

Why is remote work culture important?

Strong remote work culture is important because it builds trust and strengthens collaboration within an organization. It helps employees feel part of something bigger than themselves, and increase both productivity and profits if implemented efficiently.

Remote work culture is also important as it gives employees the opportunity to work in an environment that allows them to be comfortable: which leads to more engagement, happier staff members and a better work-life balance.

Remote work can strengthen workplace bonds

It ultimately comes down to human connections and providing employees with the tools and resources to build those connections.

A strong remote culture is one that has programs and processes in place that allows employees to build and strengthen bonds digitally.

These opportunities will also positively affect overall employee engagement within an organization.

Remote work can actually improve communication between employees

Communication has a big learning curve when shifting from an in-office culture to a remote work culture.

Through office culture, you learn the tone, mannerisms, nonverbals, and style of communication from those around you.

Through technology and remote work, sometimes all of these things get lost. Having a strong remote culture allows for room for growth and learning.

Remote work can build trust within the workplace 

Trusting in yourself, your team, and your leadership.

A remote culture of trust is one that welcomes authenticity, creativity, autonomy, and productivity. A few ways to build trust remotely are being open to vulnerability, effective communication, and setting clear expectations.

8 steps to build a strong remote work culture:

1. Define your company values
2. Be intentional with your strategy
3. Remain transparent with your employees
4. Be consistent with your actions
5. Prioritize life / work balance
6. Inject some fun & enjoyment into the workplace
7. Remain accountable to your team
8. course correct when needed

Get clear on your company values

Having defined company values is one thing but getting clear on defining those and what those company values mean to you is another.

Having clear company values helps employees understand what you stand for, what you don’t; what you will tolerate, and what you won’t.

Be intentional with your strategy

One of the biggest pieces here in building a strong remote work culture is recognizing that culture is not a one size fits all approach.

Understanding what remote culture means to individuals and how you can positively make the greatest impact on their individual experience is key.

Remain transparent with your employees

People like knowing where they stand, it’s as simple as that. Transparency leads to job satisfaction, trust, morale, motivation, and growth.

Transparency also strengthens accountability within an organization and an individual. 

Be consistent with your actions

As said by John Maxwell, “Small disciplines repeated with consistency every day lead to great achievements gained slowly over time.”

Through a leadership lens, consistency on your part prevents uncertainty within your teams.

Looking through the lens of an employee, consistency in your job, whether it be hitting your numbers or constantly meeting project deadlines can lead to self-discipline and ultimate autonomy.

Prioritize life / work balance

Balance is a big one in avoiding employee burnout while working remotely and building a strong remote culture.

Prioritizing work-life balance and flexibility is key. My biggest advice for creating balance is to set a routine, and identify what your non-negotiables are!

There is nothing more important in creating a strong culture than ensuring employees completely turn off outside of working hours.

Inject some fun & enjoyment into the workplace

Both at work, and outside of work! Virtual events are a great way to break up the work day, allow people to get to know each other personally, and let employee personalities shine through. A 1-hour virtual team event can go a very long way.

Once your work day is over, prioritize what is fun in your life! Go to the beach, play a sport, spend time with family or friends; do something that brings you joy that will carry over into the next day.

Remain accountable to your team

Do what you say you will do. Bad news early, good news often, never any surprises! 

Keeping your team and yourself accountable is important to remain successful.

Having a culture of accountability leads to success for all parties involved, and should be a priority when trying to build an ultimate remote work culture.

Course correct when needed

Create a culture that is open and receptive to feedback. Within a strong remote culture course correcting and feedback is looked at as room to learn, grow, and improve.

5 remote workplace culture trends for 2023:

1. Preventing burnout
2. Diversity & Inclusion
3. Open communication & listening to employee feedback
4. Value-based hiring strategies
5. Virtual Team building

Preventing burnout

Prioritize employee mental health! Here it’s important to prioritize balance and make sure you’re creating an environment where employees feel comfortable talking about burnout with you.

Another piece is ensuring your employees have tools and resources offered to them to cope with and help identify burnout.

Diversity & Inclusion

A focus on DE&I within organizations has become a top priority over the last couple of years and will continue to be prominent as we enter 2023. DE&I in the workplace will increase creativity, performance, engagement & retention.

Bringing individuals together who come from different walks of life and have different approaches and different perspectives creates an environment for innovation to reach new heights.

Open communication & listening to employee feedback

In a remote work culture, open communication and employee feedback have never been more important.

As you are looking ahead into the future navigating communication in the workplace, be personal and empathetic.

An organization is nothing without the people who keep the business going. Gathering employee feedback is one piece, but showing the action leadership is taking and the changes from the feedback is where you can really move the needle.

Value-based hiring strategies

Research shows that value-based hiring leads to enhanced collaboration, increased productivity, reduction in turnover, increased morale, and stable company culture.

There is so much value in looking at hiring someone as an ‘add’ rather than a ‘fit.’

Virtual team building

There is an increased need to go the extra mile to provide team building and team bonding opportunities for employees.

Through remote work, you lose the water cooler chats around the office. Get creative, and really hone in on what your employees are interested in.

Whether it is a virtual happy hour or an organized event like cocktail making or bingo, both provide the opportunity to get to know your teams.

Building a strong remote work culture

In conclusion, creating a strong remote work culture requires effort, communication, and dedication from leadership.

Prioritizing mental health, value-based hiring strategies, open communication, and employee feedback is vital for success in any organization.

With the tips mentioned above, 2023 will be a great year to create an exceptional remote work culture!

At the end of the day, do what you can to ensure that everyone feels heard and valued. A strong remote workspace culture is a team effort.

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