Remote work culture

Matt Sumner 23rd March 2023

Remote work has become increasingly popular over the past 3 years, with many businesses adopting this approach to work due to the pandemic. As a result, this has become an important topic for businesses to consider. In this blog post, we will discuss the importance of remote work culture and how businesses can create a positive remote work environment.

Communication is key. It's essential to have open communication channels between team members and management. This includes regular check-ins, team meetings, and individual feedback sessions. Businesses should ensure that they use a variety of communication tools to keep everyone connected, including video conferencing, chat apps and email. Conversely, over communication and pointless meetings can become a source of frustration to employees. There’s been a shift in the effectiveness of an employee. The office model often celebrates who has their bum on a seat for the longest, or who stays latest, rather than being KPI driven.

Productivity has increased, with studies showing that intense bursts (1-2 hours) of deep work far outweigh a distracted 4-6 hour block of work in an office. What this tells us is that a more effective method for measuring success, particularly in sales teams, is based on results and KPIs, rather than making sure people are logged in or flat out ‘working’ for an entire day.

Trust is essential when it comes to remote work culture. Employers need to trust that their employees are doing their work and are accountable for their responsibilities. As above, the onus is really on the leaders to have clearly defined goals and KPIs which take an employee through to success. This starts from the top. Without a clearly defined vision and company goal, it's unreasonable to expect a junior employee will be able to determine their own goals, let alone marry these up with the company vision.

One of the biggest benefits of remote work culture is flexibility. Businesses should embrace this by allowing employees to work flexible hours that suit their lifestyles. This can improve employee morale, reduce burnout, and increase productivity. There’s a global move towards a shorter work week, so it’s important that a solid framework is implemented in preparation for this shift. In 2019, Microsoft Japan experimented with a 4 day work week. The shortened weeks led to more efficient meetings, happier employees and increased productivity by 40%. "Work a short time, rest well and learn a lot" Microsoft Japan president and CEO Takuya Hirano said in a statement to Microsoft Japan’s website. “I want employees to think about and experience how they can achieve the same results with 20% less working time.”

Technology is an essential part of remote work culture. Businesses should provide their employees with the necessary technology, such as laptops, high-speed internet, and project management tools, to ensure they can work efficiently and effectively. However, most employees experience a cost saving when they work from home (decrease in travel costs, increase in ‘work/life balance’ opportunities), so the cost of setting up a home office should be a shared responsibility.

Businesses should recognise the hard work of their employees. In a remote environment `ad-hoc' feedback (negative or positive) is harder to provide. Recognition can be done through a variety of ways, such as employee shoutouts or public recognition during team meetings, or delivered through automation, tied to the completion of a project, training course or the attainment of a KPI. Recognition helps to motivate employees and improve their engagement overall and depending on the employees DISC profile, it might be the most important aspect of the role for them.

Businesses should consider boosting up their wellness programs, if they even have one in place. Providing self led education (non work specific), mindfulness, personal training programs etc have demonstrated tangible positive changes in company employee surveys.

Finally, creating a positive remote work culture is all about maintaining a positive team dynamic. This includes team-building activities, virtual coffee breaks, and team challenges. These activities help to build trust, improve communication, and strengthen relationships. Sales teams thrive on competition, banter and personal connection so ensure that your communication strategy supports this. A strong goal setting framework that is consistent across the company hierarchy is the first step in creating the desired culture, as Managers gain insight into what drives an employee, from a personal perspective. These personal goals can then be mapped to professional goals, and ultimately feed into what the vision for the company is.

If your business needs help in establishing or determining your culture, Revenue Rise are market leaders in providing the framework required to uncover this. Reach out and see if we can help!