Article -> Article Details

If the pandemic has taught us anything about office culture it is that culture in an office is extremely important. It has also taught us that we can function remotely and away from the office. Many companies will be sticking with their new-found remote-work success even after the pandemic. Among the many questions that decision will bring up is – how can you have office culture if there’s no office?

‘Culture’ is not limited to going out for drinks or free lunches with your team, there is a lot more that work culture involves. And it also takes a lot more for culture to have the desired effect on the team. Even a lack of culture is a culture. But that’s not a very useful or effective one.

It’s harder to change the culture of an existing team rather than introduce culture to new hires. The personality of the company is reflected in the culture of the company so it is extremely important for the culture of a company to be well-thought through before planning and implementing it.

For many, remotely work is something of a new concept that they plunged head-first into in 2020. For those accustomed to physical office spaces, sharing space with colleagues, having lunch together, taking breaks together, maybe spending time after work as well, the sudden isolation might be difficult to get the hang of. If your team is still struggling with working remotely, maybe it is time to revise the culture and revise the idea of culture to build company culture that suits our current situation. Remote work doesn’t mean a lack of work culture because everyone is far apart, it just means new work culture. And it is still very important, if not more so.

Talk to your team

The best way to begin is to talk to your team. Each might miss a different aspect of the office culture. While some might miss the ease of turning around to ask someone’s opinion on a work matter, another might miss the routine, and yet others might miss the effectiveness of face-to-face meetings. You need insights to rethink how your employees can work together. Your team will be able to tell you what they need to function better and create a new work culture that inspires and motivates them to work together.

Start slow

Don’t try and establish a whole new set of rules all at once. Start small so that your employees can become familiar with this slowly evolving remote work culture. Fix one problem at a time rather than implementing multiple solutions. It will be hard for your employees to grasp and in a challenging situation they will be lost with no familiar process to hold on to. This will cause more chaos than clarity. So start with simple processes and changes and gradually increase the number and intensity of changes to build company culture that is suited to working remotely.

Be consistent and clear

When It is vital for you to follow the new processes and rules consistently for it to be effective. Your team is looking to you for guidance and leadership so they will emulate your behavior. So whatever the situation you must be consistent with the new processes and new remote work culture, especially during challenging times. Spend more time communicating the new policies and actions the company will take. Review the effects of these new processes regularly. And make sure you are being extra clear about what is expected, leaving nothing to assumption and understanding.

Focus on collaboration

It is much easier to encourage collaboration in a traditional office environment through team activities and projects. It is more organic through shared in-person experiences. Collaboration while working remotely is a relatively new idea. It takes mindfulness and intention, from you as the leader, as well as the employees, to build company culture remotely. You will need to be deliberate when setting up processes and changing routines to introduce collaborative actions and activities for the employees to engage. A good way to do that is to start by establishing rituals – daily meetings at a particular time, project reviews every 2 weeks, etc. These will help the team work together and will ensure productivity.