Don’t let distance fool you into thinking that maintaining a workplace identity for virtual teams is hard.
We’re about to share how establishing culture for a remote company greatly keeps your team motivated and invested in the mission.
Managing virtual teams with a strong company culture helps attract more ideal employees.
Having gained 40 staff members on 4 different continents, our ideology here at Support Adventure, the remote MSP staffing company, centers around career-driven expats, travelers and digital nomads who seek long-term online work.
Our business concept is so relatable to our ideal applicants and clients, that it is what has allowed us to grow so quickly in 2 years.
So let’s get into the ways you too can establish culture when managing your virtual team!
Make lifestyle a priority, even when remote.
Traditional brick and mortar businesses have often lacked any sort of lifestyle ethos. Instead they revolve around money-talk. Conversations amongst staff and managers is often about making money, results and profit and hitting sales targets.
With globalization and so much work being done online, the workforce today understands that businesses don’t have to be run in such a draconian and lifeless manner.
Job-seekers want to work with companies that actually encourage them to have a life outside of their job and positive experiences during working hours.
Having a distinct ethos about lifestyle will attract employees and clients, and reduce turnover. It would do you a world of good to find a quiet moment and write down a list of lifestyle attributes you want your employees to have, and goals you want for your company. Once you are finished with that, it’s important to not only include these attributes in your company’s messaging and branding, but you must truly start implementing those attributes today.
Breathing space encourages growth.
Another traditional business trope is that of the aggressive, control-freak boss, breathing down everyone’s neck and micro-managing every move anyone makes.
Haven’t we all experienced this way too many times in our careers, and isn’t it just the worst?
Those experiences taught us the kind of management we DON’T want to have.
Your employees need space to breathe. The less stressed they are, the more focused and productive they can be. They need to feel like their contributions are important and their ideas are valid. There is no way they will feel that way with a control-freak boss questioning everything they do. So don’t be that horrible boss. It’s not fun for anyone.
Trust your employees by holding them accountable.
Accountability can sometimes have a patronizing ring to it. But that’s not the case at all. Accountability is simply the learned routine of responsible actions–routines of clocking in remotely, taking notes, showing up to meetings, delivering progress reports, etc.
When your employees are autonomously holding themselves accountable to a list of defined expectations, guess what? You don’t have to check all the time. Just once in a while to identify anyone who is not following the written expectations they have been given and explained.
You can relax a little and let your inner control freak have the day off. It’s not fun to micromanage every little detail of what everyone is doing.
Accountability creates an environment of less stress for everyone during the work week. After all, your employees are intelligent. Your employees are talented. Your employees are creative and have common sense. Their accountability has proven those things to be true. So trust each other, and both sides can feel more at ease with their experience in the company.
Having fun is not a crime.
At our company, we have a social hour on Fridays. Yes, even remotely! The employees can sit at their computers an hour before the end of the work day and partake in a drink. Having these traditions helps create familial bonds and shared experiences amongst all those working for you. And when it comes to work life, a little fun always goes a long way.
Learn More about Remote Working
If you liked this article and want to see more, check out our In-Depth Remote Working Guide for our best tips and tricks!
Still confused about how to implement culture into a remote team? Let us know in the comments below. We are here to help!
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