The COVID19 pandemic shifted everyone indoors overnight, and its subsequent waves have made it difficult for businesses but to adopt the remote work culture. As easy as working from the comfort of your couch seems, it does make it challenging to build and maintain the company culture.
Now that there is absolutely no other way for businesses to operate while at the same time ensuring employee safety, building a healthy and positive remote work culture has become paramount. Such a culture can keep employees motivated to perform and ensure they keep delivering good results.
Considering the situation is going to be the same for quite some time now, here are some of the best practices businesses can adopt to build a successful remote work culture:
Empower them with the necessary tools:
Unlike the office setup, remote employees do not have a dedicated workspace or the tools to work smoothly from home. Therefore, the first step to building a successful remote work culture is to ensure employees have all the tools to carry out their responsibilities efficiently.
This includes setup elements like a computer, stable internet connection, a desk & chair, office supplies, etc. It also involves providing them with the necessary software to communicate and collaborate with each other. This will ensure they don’t have to struggle on a daily basis while doing their work.
Provide clarity:
There is a lot of scope for confusion in remote work as employees always feel left out. This makes it crucial to clearly establish remote work policies. This will help employees know what is expected of them and understand what guidelines to follow.
In addition, there has to be constant and clear communication on a regular basis to provide employees with a feeling of belongingness. This has dual benefits – it will ensure employees are on the same page about important work information, and also help managers understand if employees are in need of any guidance.
Provide growth opportunities:
Just because remote employees are out of sight, does not mean their growth should be sidelined. Businesses need to ensure they invest in the growth and development of virtual teams by providing them with relevant online training solutions.
Not only does training keeps employees involved but also improves their performance by helping them learn better ways to execute tasks. And developing interactive online training courses is a piece of cake with tools like Captivate Adobe. When a business spends on providing such courses, the employees feel valued.
Develop trust:
This has to be executed by the manager handling a set of remote employees. Remote employees feel a lack of connection since they are physically at a distance. This often leads to reduced participation and they may hesitate from speaking up. This prevents them from feeling inclusive in the company culture and affects their well-being.
Remote team managers must communicate often with employees and develop trust in them by being earnest. Keeping the communication channels open and actively listening to employee concerns can make them feel psychologically safe. It shows support and assures them they can ask for help whenever they need it without feeling judged for it.
Seek Employee Opinion:
There is no definition of perfect to follow for building a great remote work culture. Because just like everything else, you can always work towards making it better. One of the best ways to do this is regularly taking feedback from employees.
It helps you understand what’s working and what needs to be changed. Additionally, it makes employees feel they are an important part of the company when you show them that their opinions and ideas matter to the company.
Conclusion:
Whether your business has shifted to remote work due to the pandemic or had already been operating remotely beforehand, these tips can help you build a company culture that is successful in enhancing the employee experience.