5 ways to build team culture in a remote work environment

This post was originally published on the ISL Online blog.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought unforeseen circumstances across various aspects of society. Among all others, also enterprises had to adapt to the new normal. To do their part in curbing the growing number of confirmed cases, organizations have resorted to remote work strategies.

In the US alone, Stanford tallied 42% of the country’s labor force working from home full-time, showing how the nation has transformed into a work from home economy due to the lockdown’s restrictive measures.

Although it’s been months since establishments across the world have gone remote, some organizations continue to struggle with building remote team culture. Shifting to remote work means equally shifting company culture and without a physical workspace, the usual office perks, and the scheduled social events and excursions, organizations need to find other methods that can virtually nourish their workforce.

Upon understanding these challenges, we answer the main question enterprises now have in their minds: how to unify a remote team. We collected some tips that can help you with this predicament and make sure that you transition smoothly from your office operations to your new work from home scheme.

1. Enlist the help of a reliable remote work software

We’re pretty sure you already have a handful of remote company culture ideas in your head. You’re already gunning for productivity and you want your team to constantly develop strong communication and collaboration skills while maintaining professionalism.

While this can be tough to accomplish especially during a global crisis, you can lighten the load by acquiring a remote work software that’s suitable to your enterprise demands. If your goal is enhanced collaboration, acquire a platform that ensures smooth communication channels between your staff. If you’re concerned about deadlines and productivity, make sure to purchase a system like an employee monitoring software that’s focused on monitoring tasks and tracking team efficiency.

2. Consider acquiring a remote support software

Although there’s plenty of remote work systems available in the market, we highly recommend acquiring a platform that is focused on remote support.

Why? Well, with a remote support software, you can choose to display multiple remote monitors on one screen or view every connected monitor in a particular window as you take over a remote desktop.

Once connection has been secured, you can easily go between remote monitors and drag and drop pertinent documents from one desktop to another. Security won’t be a problem either, since most remote support platforms are equipped with strong remote security measures such as AES-256 encryption. It’s fast and easy to use, and usually does not require configuration and installation, making it the perfect solution for maintaining culture while working remotely, especially if your organization is focused on enhancing efficiency and convenient collaboration.

Remote support software is just one of the systems you could use for your remote work culture ideas.

3. Learn from companies that have successfully adopted remote work practices

Although experience is the best teacher, it’s never wrong to look at examples of effectively implemented remote work strategies from enterprises that have a robust remote workforce.

Read about the tactics and solutions applied by their IT professionals and desk technicians, and be sure to check out companies that thrive in the industry you’re in. If you see similarities with your operations, better learn from them and incorporate their remote company culture ideas. If you see them using any products such as remote support and collaboration services to streamline their remote work operations and enhance their collaboration, then consider using them too.

4. Swiftly resolve technical issues

Whether you’re assisting a customer or smoothing a bump in the road within your operations, you should be able to quickly fix any problem you encounter while your workforce is working remotely. Technical difficulties can cause major delays in your operations, which can cost you your customers and your revenue.

Internally, your remote workers can end up frustrated and unproductive. These negative feelings can cause low morale among your team members, which is something you’re definitely avoiding when executing your remote work culture ideas.

Deloitte claims that technical issues your workers might encounter can hinder them from accomplishing their tasks, getting into particular solutions or harnessing all the capabilities of digital meetings, workshops and lab tools.

This is why your company should be equipped with the appropriate solutions that can offer capabilities to resolve technical issues within your team and with your clients as well.

Let’s go back to incorporating a remote support software for your work from home scheme. With a platform like this, you have the ability to quickly connect with desktops and other devices in a remote location. You can easily pinpoint what’s wrong with these gadgets and troubleshoot them without having to travel to a particular location or dictate directions from the telephone. This saves you both time and effort, and as with the case of this global pandemic, it keeps you safe from contracting the virus.

All you have to do is to open your remote support software and open a session. Usually, your system will supply you with a code that you can copy to the communication channel your employees prefer. The worker on the other side of the desktop only needs to open your remote support software’s website, platform, live chat or your shared link, join the session and download the exit document. Before you know it, you’re already linked with their desktop.

From there on, you can quickly resolve whatever issue it is that needs to be addressed. You can easily hop back to smooth seas and allot more time towards other aspects involved in maintaining culture while working remotely.

5. Don’t forget to be professional but leave room for fun

While it’s important to maintain a professional work ethic and primarily focus on productivity, building remote team culture is not just about producing quality output. It’s also about fostering fun within your team.

Keeping up remote team culture in the long run requires bigger remote work culture ideas such as creating ways for employees to connect with each other regularly. For example, you can take a few minutes during meetings to catch up with one another via video calls. You can also ask what your employees have been up to or what they’re currently working on. You can also work with your current technology and tools to make work more dynamic and enjoyable.

Sprinkling a little bit of fun, organizing virtual events and delivering surprise incentives can greatly contribute to your remote team culture tactics, especially when you’re considering these remote work practices for the long stretch of your operations.

We hope that this guide has given you remote company culture ideas that can help nourish your team during these tough times.