5 Tips for Building a Strong Office Culture (from home)
A lot has changed over the last 6 months of the COVID-19 pandemic and with it, there has been a monumental shift away from the traditional office landscape. Since then, millions of workers have left their offices to work from home and well-known corporate tech giants have announced the permanent closing of offices. Ready or not, telecommuting seems to be an inevitable trend that’s here to stay.
In the past, we’ve written about effective work-from-home hacks that boost productivity. Now that we’ve gotten the hang of things, we wanted to dig a little deeper. We decided to start with the core of every business: a company’s culture.
While there are many benefits to working from home, company culture can take a huge hit. With so many companies shifting to remote work, having a process for building a strong culture is more relevant than ever.
So what is company culture? For us, company culture is well, everything. It encompasses a company’s values and reflects the ways a team works together as a cohesive unit. It includes everything from communication methods to office perks and impacts the way employees perceive their work and goals.
Clearly, company culture is hugely important. In fact, according to a Glassdoor survey, 77% of adults would consider a company’s culture before applying for a job, and 56% of employees find a good workplace culture to be more important than salary.
If your team is still working from home with no end in sight, we’re here to help! Here’s a list of ways to celebrate your remote team and build a strong office culture while working from home.
1. Establish your company’s values
Establish your company’s values and communicate them to your employees. Better yet, ask your team to participate in the brainstorming process. Whether you are a small start-up or a seasoned business, creating and refining your company’s values is imperative to building a strong culture.
Asking employees to think about the types of values that drive their passion and commitment is a great way to start fueling a positive culture. Once completed, document your core values and distribute them to your company. Remember, your values will change as your company grows and should be continuously revised and revisited over time.
Pro Tip: No details are too small when articulating values. Include expectations, employee assessments for cultural fit, performance metrics and more. Having a clear set of values gives employees direction and guidance for goals and initiatives.
2. Prioritize “face-to-face” video meetings, when you can
When it comes to culture, there’s no replacement for seeing people in person, but you can sure try.
No matter how long you’ve been doing it, transitioning from a traditional office environment every day to working alone has its challenges. Without casual breakroom convos and in-person meetings, it’s hard to feel connected to anyone. Picking up on voice inflection, body language and tone are impossible without seeing and hearing people.
Meeting “face-to-face” – even if it’s on a screen – makes a tremendous difference. Seeing coworker’s faces and reactions can build trust and connection, leading to stronger teams.
On the flip side though, video fatigue is a real thing. Take it from us, too many back-to-back video calls can lead to exhaustion and burnout. Balancing video meetings with emailing and phone calls is a must. Establishing guidelines for employees that encourage a mix of different communication methods sets the tone for a supportive, healthy company culture.
3. Communicate, communicate, communicate
Over-communicate until you’re blue in the face.
When employees are in an office together, company decisions, benchmarks, and messages are naturally communicated and reinforced amongst colleagues. Remove the frequent office chatter and people are left feeling disconnected and uninformed. As both managers and employees, it’s hard to measure progress, job satisfaction, stress and overall commitment.
Establishing clear communication standards and leveraging the right technologies can break down these barriers. Providing structure around email etiquette, appropriate response times, and best practices for virtual meetings will give employees the tools they need to succeed.
Pro-tip: Provide weekly check-in surveys, send company-wide newsletters and host virtual Q&A meetings with executives to communicate the company’s happenings and progress.
4. Offer remote office perks
Just because offices have gone away, doesn't mean office perks should.
Over the last few years we’ve seen large companies go to great lengths to provide unique office perks as a way to stay competitive and attract candidates. It’s no surprise that according to a recent study, 48% of employees weigh company benefits and perks (like snack and drink options) in their decision to accept a job offer.
Whether it’s a fully stocked kitchen, transportation stipends, gym memberships, free lunches, unlimited PTO, or flexible schedules, employees look forward to the extra benefits that a company can provide. If your staff values specific perks, try replicating them while working from home. Send a monthly subscription snack box, offer to pay for lunch once a month, or encourage time-off.
If your office perks aren’t replicable, focus on adjusting them to match this new norm of remote work. Start small with little incentives and watch how they transform your company’s culture.
5. Get creative about engagement
Build camaraderie amongst employees by finding creative ways to keep people engaged.
Host virtual breakfasts, luncheons and happy hours across different teams. Give employees opportunities to bond and chat casually about their shared challenges and wins. Create a schedule of recurring events like mindfulness seminars, book clubs and cooking classes. It doesn’t matter if you are an intern or a CEO, the more people are able to connect and engage with their teams, the happier they will feel.
Above all make sure you are celebrating your staff. From hitting a company milestone to just getting through another virtual work week, it’s important that employees feel valued. Establish a reward system focused on boosting company morale with fun incentives along the way. Might we suggest celebrating them with a new company t-shirt or swag item? It’s the little things that make all the difference.
Remote work isn’t going away anytime soon and as it becomes more relevant, it’s crucial that today’s leaders focus on ways to work with remote teams to build strong companies. While it may seem far-fetched, a strong office culture has the power to make remote teams feel as tight-knit as on-site teams. Developing a productive, happy and satisfied workforce will help a company thrive for years to come.
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