For example, encourage interaction early on in a new remote hire’s time with the company. Let them know that if they have questions, they can and should ask them freely, without fear of looking foolish or of repercussions. Reward people with shoutouts and positive messaging to reinforce the habit. Text-based communication will be your go-to, but be sure to make time to meet with your team face-to-face – even if it’s just by video. The beauty of these apps is that they create a sort of virtual water cooler for your team to gather around.

It shouldn’t surprise you that research shows employees are motivated by praise. On the flip side, employees whose work is unrecognized are three times more likely to say they plan how to build culture in a remote team to quit within the next year. According to a Gallup poll, a little more than 20% of the world’s employees felt engaged at work in 2021, with only 33% of employees thriving in 2022.

Complete Guide to Team Building for Remote & Hybrid Work

Another way to align as a team while remote is to take some time to revisit company goals and targets as a team. Transparency at work is essential to creating a group of people who trust you and your leadership moves. Since the pandemic, this number has boomed, and many organizations are deciding to stay remote.

Take the time to create or revisit your company values while working remotely. Then, use a recognition tool like Nectar to share those values and make them a part of your team’s vision. Use solutions like Slack to bring instant messaging to your teams and break down communication silos. Let remote team members communicate with each other, check in, and say ‘hi’, without the need to exchange phone numbers or personal email addresses.

Q: How can I choose tools for building a strong remote work culture?

We do this by sharing weekly updates on our internal blog (Async) every Friday—I bet you can imagine how it would feel to be the only one with nothing to show. That feeling creates a desire to finish something important each week. One of the challenges of remote work is building camaraderie and connection across individuals and teams – something that’s significantly easier when everyone works from the same office. Nectar fills that void by creating a fun, collaborative space where people can celebrate great everyday work that often goes unnoticed. Nectar makes it easier than ever to foster collaboration and connection across remote teams through recognition and rewards. Monday.com makes it easy for remote employees to visualize, organize, and complete their work.

• Plus, cultivating a consistent online presence builds a stronger connection between you and employees, and breeds a sense of loyalty.
• Then, sign up for our newsletter and we’ll deliver advice on landing the job right to you.
• Another way to align as a team while remote is to take some time to revisit company goals and targets as a team.
• Beyond customers, it’s their team that benefits from an increased trust in the company which has allowed the Buffer team to boast a 94% retention rate(2).
• You need to continue to make improvements, survey your employees, and ensure you are meeting their needs.
• According to Gallup, just 2 in 10 U.S. employees say they have a best friend at work.

Using rewards in addition to recognition can help you reach out to a broader number of your employees. One of the best ways to work on remote appreciation is to create a regular appreciation cadence. Well, you can’t lean on a pat on the back or a high-five, unfortunately!

Gather feedback and measure engagement

As a business, you should be a part of your culture-building story. If you take the reins now, you can build something you can be proud of. If not, you might end up producing something that strays far from the vision you’ve created for yourself and your company. Not only do you need to have all of the right resources ready for employee onboarding, but you should also make sure that the employee is introduced to everyone else on the team their very first day. Make their new environment as supportive as possible by initiating introductions and encouraging your team to be welcoming. Most people intuitively understand how shared values might lead to specific benefits.

The overall tone ideally should be congratulatory and positive and relate back to your company mission and values, and you should copiously recognize individuals’ success and accomplishments. Tools like Skype and Zoom make it easy to schedule regular video check-ins. Weekly or bi-weekly meetings to assess the status of your team (or an individual employee) in their work and in their life is how you keep people close and engaged.

Additionally, you can keep communication accessible and centralized if you make Wrike your all-in-one work management platform. With remote teams increasingly becoming a ‘new normal,’ it’s vital to step up and create the culture you want for your company. Building a strong remote work culture is a necessity for businesses today. In fact, it is top of mind for many organizations as they respond to business changes resulting from the global pandemic caused by COVID-19. Because there is an implicit trust in your teammates and because there is no other way to measure results in a remote team, the team inherently evaluates each other on what was completed that week.

This way, everyone can access it if they’re ever unsure whom to turn to for help, what channels they can use for collaboration, or where they can find a file. To keep all this info in one place and avoid losing files in between messages, choose a single project management software or team collaboration tool where all task-related discussions should be held.