We live in a world where employees are working from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic. While working from home has its perks, it can also cause employees to feel less connected to their company. How can leaders keep company culture thriving while working remotely? Here’s how companies can preserve office culture while working from home.
An important thing a remote workforce needs is a clear communication strategy. Before working from home, if a team member had a question, they could go to someone’s desk and ask. Now, that simply can’t be done.
Be clear about how communication should be handled in your remote workforce. Establish a Slack channel or a Gchat that includes your team members so you can message them as you need. Also, establish a chain of authority in your communication strategy. Be clear about who should go to whom when they have questions or concerns.
Communication is an essential skill all workers need, especially in a time of remote work. Having a clear strategy will help decrease workflow issues and give support to your team members.
Workers can feel disconnected from their company when working from home. To help curb this disconnection, host daily morning coffee sessions for your team. You can use this time however you please. You could talk about projects and priorities, upcoming events, or even take the time to talk about your lives.
The goal of these meetings should be to connect with your team members and let them know you’re there for them. It gives everyone a chance to connect and catch up with co-workers they may not have regular contact with throughout the week. The more connected the team feels, the better.
It can feel like the days go on and on when working from home. It can also be easy to overlook team accomplishments since everyone is busy with their own work. Something you can do to keep your company culture intact is meet at the end of the week and go over your team’s big wins. This allows the team to share what they are most proud of and gives them recognition for a job well done.
This also opens up the conversation for what these big wins mean for the company moving forward, and how each department can be part of that shared goal. Setting goals and celebrating one another’s accomplishments establishes a feeling of camaraderie and purpose, which makes employees feel more connected to their company.
Just because your team is working from home doesn’t mean your office culture has to disappear. You can keep your team motivated and engaged while working from home through open communication, goal setting, and celebrating accomplishments. Each member of your team is a valuable asset to the company, so treat them as such while working from home. If employees feel connected and appreciated, the office culture will take care of itself.