As flexible hours and the ‘zoom’ culture increase in popularity, more businesses are offering ‘Working from Home’ as a perk to their employees. But not every company culture is equipped to support working from home. Many employees struggle when they first transition to working remotely, as there are some inherent differences compared to an office setting. Some remote workers may find it challenging at first to balance their personal life with work responsibilities. The working from home culture must be clearly established within a business in order for the business to be successful and for employees to fully benefit from this new trend that has accelerated since the pandemic. Here’s everything you need to know about the remote work culture and how you can succeed!
What is the Working from Home Culture?
A working from home culture is a pattern and set of behaviours that indicate how employees work remotely. It includes how people interact with each other and how they approach projects and their contributions to the company. A remote work culture may be different from a traditional office setting. It’s important to understand the nuances of how people work remotely so you can thrive in those conditions.
Before you get started, you need to understand the difference between a remote work culture and a virtual workplace. A virtual workplace uses technology to bring people together without needing to be in the same location. A remote work culture is about the mindset of employees — it’s about how people approach their work, interact with one another, and organize tasks.
How to create a remote work culture
There are a few key components to a successful remote work culture. Skipping one of these steps can be the difference between a productive team and a team that struggles to grasp the needs of the business in the new work from home set up. It’s important to understand what each component does so you can create the best possible environment for your remote workers.
Communication
The foundation of any successful workplace is always communication. Without open lines of communication, it’s difficult to get things done. A remote work culture requires even more communication than a traditional office setting. It’s important to start with clear communication policies. These are best practices employees must follow when communicating with each other. These policies should cover topics like call schedules, meeting etiquette, and preferred methods of communication.
Roles and responsibilities
The next component to a successful remote work culture is roles and responsibilities. This includes job descriptions, project tracking, and milestone planning. It’s important to understand different teams may be organized a little differently depending on the company. Roles and responsibilities help employees see their place on the team as well as their part in achieving company goals.
Socialising
Socialising is one of the most important components of creating a remote work culture. This is where employees learn from one another, feel connected, and get motivated. It’s important to find a balance between team building and over-socialising.
2 key rules for the remote work culture
Be prepared
It’s important to be prepared for everything — even the unexpected. This includes having a plan in place for how to deal with sick employees, coping with internet outages, and preparing for unplanned meetings. Remote workers may have different schedules and operating hours compared to in-office employees. It’s important to consider those differences when planning meetings or project milestones.
Be open to change
Remote work is often described as a journey. It can be challenging, but it’s important to be open to change along the way. This might mean adding or removing team members from remote work. It also might mean adjusting expectations for remote work.
A word of caution for working from home cultures
Although there are many benefits to operating as a remote team, it is possible that some of your team members may feel isolated and disconnected. If this starts to happen, you may want to consider re-locating some of your team members to an in-person office setting. In many cases, this can be a temporary change until the team grows closer and their communication improves. It is important to note that operating as a remote team is very different from working from home. In fact, many remote teams are located in the same geographical area. Working from home, on the other hand, usually involves working for the same company as remote team members and having the same responsibilities and expectations.
Final thoughts
Remote work has been around for decades, but it has only recently become more accepted as a viable option for many different types of work. In some sectors, such as tech, remote work is almost standard, while in other sectors such as healthcare, it remains relatively rare. One of the main challenges in working remotely is building a strong culture that promotes collaboration and effective team communication while also giving workers the flexibility they need to be successful. Managing remote teams can be challenging, but the right tools and practices can help make it easier.