Company culture is not new, and neither is remote work. Combine the two and you just created a new challenge for your leadership team. In order to become a great brand, it is important that your company lives your brand culture from the inside out. Just like your brand, your company culture starts from the top. The leadership team’s values and norms are laid out for all to see and directly impact the values, norms, and behaviors of all of the employees.
The biggest difference between an office culture and a remote team culture is the ability to easily reinforce company values. In an office, you do this with your office space, all-hands meetings, hallway conversations, happy hours, team-building events, etc. Everyone on the team can see how the leadership team works and how they interact with employees. On a remote team, you can have a clear idea of what values and norms are important, but it is harder to see it all in actions.
Clear Values Reinforced By Leadership
It is always up to the leadership team to set the standards through their own behavior. Even though in a remote culture you are not casually interacting or observing the leadership team in action you are able to see what their priorities are through company wide meetings, company commitment, internal investments, employee growth initiatives and hiring practices. The way they manage, interact with team members and lead on a daily basis will give cues to how the rest of the organization is expected to behave. Instead of taking these cues indirectly remote teams can see these cues in their project management tools, communication tools and collaboration tools.
Over Communication
Leaders of remote teams need to over-communicate their goals, values, and norms. Simply expecting team members to understand the company culture through the handbook and website will not work. Use the tools that are available to continually reemphasize what is important to the organization and brand. Make sure that it is being repeated in every meeting, make sure that recommendations are based on your company’s values, and reward employees for living and practicing the company’s values in their daily interactions with customers and colleagues.
Meaningful Connections
Without the opportunity to get to know each other, team members will never find time to learn about each other and how they ended up in their role at the company. Why is this important? These get to know you conversations reinforce what values each individual has and how they align with the greater company values. Talent teams are tasked with using these values to find the best-fit candidates for positions. When team members learn that their colleagues share important values, norms, and behaviors it reinforces them in a very natural way.
About ChatFox
ChatFox is a Slack chatbot that builds remote teams and culture. Remote teams that only engage through projects, tasks, and deadlines do not foster a culture around shared values and goals. Build a strong remote team culture, improve remote team productivity, and eliminate team member isolation. Use ChatFox Icebreakers to build rapport with team members, use ChatFox Coffee Chats to have meaningful conversations with people across your organization, or use ChatFox Shout Outs to recommend a colleague and endorse their skills. Unlike other remote team solutions, ChatFox looks at remote team culture from a strategic perspective and has created engaging chats for your team that provide management with insights into remote team engagement, skills, contributions, and mobility.
References:
- https://www.shrm.org/hr-today/news/hr-magazine/book-blog/pages/want-a-great-brand-build-a-great-culture.aspx
- https://hbr.org/2020/03/15-questions-about-remote-work-answered?utm_medium=paidsearch&utm_source=google&utm_campaign=dsa&hideIntromercial=true&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI56Wy9pDB6gIVaz6tBh1ufguUEAAYASAAEgLxhfD_BwE
- https://www.forbes.com/sites/alankohll/2018/08/14/how-to-build-a-positive-company-culture/#3711142049b5
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