Remember back in 2020 when companies that had never had remote workers sent people home “temporarily” and we thought everybody would be back in the office in a couple of weeks?
That was cute. How naïve were we? 😆
Anyway, according to a Forrester survey, more than half of Australian workers are still working from home. And a lot of them like it – a global survey by Ivanti found almost three-quarters of workers would pass up a promotion if it cost them the freedom to work from anywhere.
Office work has its upsides, even besides the free coffee. Collaboration, culture and a collective sense of purpose develop naturally there. Remote teams can have those things, too. They just have to be more deliberate about building them.
Zembr’s always been remote. We have employees in every time zone. But time and again, our people say the culture is one of the things they love about working here.
So if you’re struggling to have your culture and remote teams too, here are some pointers from a company that’s been there.
Get obsessed with communication
Remote work can be lonely. People miss the chance to catch up in the break room or joke in the hall.
The solution? Create opportunities for conversation. You might schedule regular team meetings just to share what everyone is working on, their achievements and anything they’re struggling with.
Use tools like Slack to give people in different time zones a way to chat asynchronously. When it comes to tools, remember the boss sets the tone; if you don’t use them, neither will your team. Once you’ve provided the channel, get on it yourself and make the effort to start conversations.
Share the vision
People feel more connected and inspired when they share a common vision and when they can see progress.
Share the Big Goal the company is working toward and tell people how their individual and team goals contribute to getting there. Publicly applaud teams and individuals doing a great job, and share testimonials and client feedback.
Sharing goals, vision and feedback strengthens the feeling of being on a team even if there’s no one else physically in the room.
Give everyone a Rock
Rocks are big goals for the company outside of employees’ day-to-day projects. Everyone on your staff should have a Rock they are contributing to when time permits.
Rocks keep staff engaged and enthusiastic, especially if you welcome input and ideas to help shape them. It also helps people remain productive on slow days when they complete daily tasks early - whether they’re in office or remote.
Break down silos
Cliques don’t end after high school. Keep an eye out for them, especially if you have a hybrid workforce. When some employees are in-office and others are remote, you can end up with two parallel cultures in unhealthy competition. Nip any “us-vs-them” attitudes in the bud.
Support managers
Front-line managers got kind of a raw deal in the shift to remote work. Managing a remote team takes different skills than managing in-person, and few companies invested in training people how to do it. Teams follow their manager’s lead, so it’s important managers use the tools and systems the company implemented for remote work, help people overcome work-from-home challenges and keep lines of communication open.
Establish KPIs
Some bosses fear that, free from a manager’s watchful eye, employees will spend their working hours sipping cocktails and shopping online.
The solution is not to increase monitoring to stalker levels. It’s to establish clearly trackable KPIs, make sure employees know them and make sure they know what happens if their KPIs are missed.
If your employees’ jobs are task-focussed, it doesn’t really matter when they’re working - whether it’s 9-5 or 4-12 or in four-hour bursts while the kids are asleep or at school. For workers, one of the top benefits of being remote is the flexibility to work when they are the most productive. That flexibility actually benefits the company, too - the work is done to a high standard because the worker was engaged and focused. As long as the KPIs are reached, the company will flourish.
Dive deeper into ways to manage remote teams with our ISOL8 video series. Or book a free 15-minute consultation to uncover ways you can pump up your remote management game.
Global crisis or not, remote work is here to stay. Embracing it and developing a way to make it work for you will put your company on good footing for reduced overhead and happy employees.
