Company culture and remote work

During the Covid pandemic many companies requested that their workforce work from home. For some companies, staff may have already been working from home at least on an infrequent basis (hybrid remote) whilst for others this step may have been a totally new experience (no remote).  

Of course there are many challenges to working remotely :

• having the right tools and equipment - e.g. laptops /desktops , video conferencing tools

• collaboration amongst team members - messaging / calls / task assignment

• formal and informal discussions and meetings - coffee chat versus formal check in calls

• how to work with customers - making sure your customers feel looked after and valued

• internal processes - e.g expense claims, submitting hours 

• work hours versus home life (clocking off) and ensuring good mental health

However perhaps the greatest challenge of a remote workforce is company culture.  This requires an intentional effort. Culture is driven by values - and these values are reinforced via management behaviour, hiring criteria, criteria used for bonuses and compensation as well as that used for managing underperformance. It is important to document culture and behaviours  and communicate this regularly.  Culture is about how you work - how you communicate and interact with co-workers and customers and get things done.  It is also trusting each other to get tasks done.  However it is important to still have in person meet-ups to create familiarity and reinforce company culture. 

There are some companies that have always operated 100% remotely.  Toptal, Gitlab, Articulate Inc, Zapier and Automattic are all examples of fully remote businesses. Interestingly, they all have very high Glassdoor ratings of employee satisfaction. These companies have managed to create great cultures with deliberate effort and planning.

It can be done!  A remote workforce can be highly functioning and efficient as well as being an appealing advantage over your competitors.