The COVID19 pandemic accelerated major changes in the workplace. In particular, it established remote working as a viable solution. For many companies, there are clear financial benefits to supporting remote work. The challenge is to build a company culture in a remote environment. Here are three tips to help.

Brand your employees’ work environments

From an employee’s perspective, one of the main benefits of remote working is the ability to set up your own home office just how you like it. One of the key differences between an employee and a freelancer, however, is that an employee will typically have all their necessary equipment provided by their employer.

This gives employers an opportunity to put their branding on the equipment. For example, you could have branded decals on laptops, branded stationery, and even branded accessories. In fact, providing employees with a few non-essential branded items (e.g. water bottles) can be a very nice touch. Quite simply, it shows you care.

Communicate to the max

In a business setting, it’s almost always better to overcommunicate than to under-communicate. This is especially true when you’re in a remote environment. With that said, however, it’s important to manage the communication so that it’s coherent. Again, this is especially true when you’re in a remote environment.

Generally, the secret to success is to have clear channels for each topic plus a way to search for topics. It’s best to have a dashboard for critical numbers. You may even want to provide employees with a physical guide to key numbers.  

For example, if they have IT issues, they may need to contact your IT provider. They may not, however, be able to access their contact details online due to these IT issues. If you’re using an external provider, they may be able to find their details online but only if the employee knows (and remembers) who they are (e.g. The LCO Group or Kenny Natiss).

You might also want to create online “water cooler” areas for informal chats. In fact, you might even want to schedule time for your employees to hang out in them. This can do a lot to replace the social element of being in an on-site workplace.

Run effective online meetings

In principle, online meetings are exactly the same as offline ones. In practice, there are differences between the two formats and it makes sense to recognize them.  

Firstly, it’s important to communicate when people are and are not expected to have their cameras switched on. In terms of building culture, it’s better to have cameras switched on unless there is a specific reason not to use them.

Secondly, it’s generally preferable for people to use headsets with microphones. This generally provides vastly better sound quality than using in-built speakers and microphones. It also provides for much better privacy. That may not be relevant to every situation but thinking about privacy at all times is a good habit to instill.

Thirdly, it’s advisable to educate managers on how to run effective meetings. In particular, make sure they appreciate the importance of respecting everyone’s time. Even though videoconferences can be run without booking a room, they should still have an appropriate and realistic agenda.