How to Strengthen Your Culture with Remote Teams
As we look for new ways to work together as teams, we need to create cultures that support purposeful work and community. Here are some tips for building a successful remote team.
Shared "No Meeting" Days
Create a structure for the week by defining which days your team has meetings. Giving team members days where they can have uninterrupted focus time allows them to plan their workloads. It also means they don't have to be camera ready every day if they don't want to.
For example, try having Tuesdays and Fridays as "no meeting" days.
Ask, "What did you get up to this weekend?"
Nathan Barry, CEO of ConvertKit, has a practice where every Monday morning, they have a bot post to Slack asking people, "what did you get into this weekend?" and prompts them to share a photo (or a few) from the weekend.
This prompter is a helpful way for co-workers to get to know each other on a personal level and learn about their families, interests and lives. This can help build connections amongst teammates learn and it helps humanize the workforce.
Build a robust onboarding program
Remote workers don't get the benefit of learning the ropes from observation. A thorough onboarding process will be essential if you have a new team member onboarded remotely.
Since thoughtful onboarding is time-consuming, spread the load amongst key employees who are champions of culture, process, and the brand. Let their enthusiasm help educate new hires about your company.
You can also create an automated email sequence for all new team members. Go beyond processes, and include things like how to find and save files, fun facts about team members, guides to internal acronyms, and ongoing jokes. Release this sequence during their first 30 days, so they learn more each day, strengthening their knowledge of the company while not overloading them in the first few weeks.
Provide Company Wide 3 Day Weekend
When teams are approaching burnout, give the company an extra day off. Screen fatigue and burnout are real. Giving everyone the same day off will slow down the volume of emails coming in since there won't be internal emails. Ensure you communicate the day off in advance so teams can block their calendars. Consider planning it in line with the completion of a significant deadline. (Caveat - The leadership team has a bigger problem if team burnout is consistent and will need solutions like increasing resources to create a better work balance verse offering an extra day off.)
We all love a long weekend; that extra day makes a big difference. Whether it’s used to get out of town, binge-watch a series, or tackle a DIY project, invite staff to share what they did through photos (Optional, of course).
Implement Cross Department Meet Ups
With remote teams, employees who aren't accountable for the same tasks don't have a reason to interact. In-person office teams have water cooler chat and casual collisions, but remote teams need a different approach.
That's where cross-department meet-ups come in. Using a randomizer, pick three people from different departments for a virtual meet-up. They can catch up or get to know each other and share what's happening in their department.
Cross-department meet-ups break down silos and build relationships across different departments, such as product development, marketing, operations, sales, etc.
If you use Slack, check out their S'up feature as a resource. "The most valuable relationships are not made of two people, they're made of three. A third person will always stabilize and grow the relationship between the other two. It's called a triad, and the more you create, the stronger your network. This bot passively generates fresh triads of company members to meet every week in an informal standup, or S'Up." Slack
Host In Person Retreats Two Times a Year
Work retreats are an excellent opportunity for strategic planning, building personal connections and strengthening your corporate culture. It can be a great opportunity to share company vision updates and have fun together as a team.
"Regularly gathering your team in person is one of the most important things you can do." - Nathan Barry, Founder and CEO ConvertKit.
Leave room in the schedule for teams to get to know each other. Keep a healthy balance of business-related communications and fun. The retreat should foster and build connections while inspiring your team.
Not only do these memorable retreats become something employees talk about well past the event, but they can also be great incentives for employee retention and recruiting.
Engage in your CSR strategy / Donate money together
Working together to help others is a great way to build morale. Whether you take a day off to get into the community to help people in need or do a fundraising marathon, giving back feels good.
There are a lot of creative ways to give back to the community. Use it as an opportunity to learn about what causes matter most to your team and move into action.
Create Non-Work Communication Channels
Work isn't just about to-do lists. It's about creating a community. Help build community by having a place that encourages employees to share. It could be music playlists, podcasts they find interesting, photos of their pets, what they are watching, etc. Drop prompts in to get the conversation going. It doesn't need to be serious; it could be as simple as a funny poll asking, "should grilled cheese be cut on an angle or in half." Office banter and playfulness are what make going to work fun.
Look for ways to bring moments of joy into the day each day.
Build a Culture of Kudos
Recognize your teammates and give Kudos in Slack by adding the free integration from WFHomie. You can also upgrade your service so you can easily give a teammate a gift card to thank them for their hard work. They offer a range of partners so that you can customize the gift card to their interests.
It feels good to have hard work acknowledged. Encourage staff to celebrate each other to boost morale.
If you have a remote team and are looking for ways to bring them together, reach out. We'd be happy to chat.
About KindCo
KindCo is a Vancouver-based brand engagement consultancy that specializes in employee engagement and corporate events. We bring people together through the art of gathering.
Founder, Nikki Hedstrom, has over 15 years experience as a brand engagement and event specialist.
