It is very important for companies to learn how to shift their organizational culture in order to accommodate the new remote workforce in a way that is efficient,productive and in line with the companies’ culture. As more and more organizations continue to adopt work from home policies it is time to transition conventional practices to the virtual format. 

Here are some ways companies can make this transition effectively:

Revise Any Organization’s Operational Fundamentals for Distributed Working:

Leaders should consider going back to the drawing board by reviewing their leadership’s fundamental values as a way of being able to promote remote working. Promoting culture and policies such as flexibility, self-organizing, openness, and utilizing collaboration tools that promotes togetherness will create a foundation for remote work environment. Promote working with reduced hours so that people can focus on delivering results on the little time that they will spend in the office.

Enhance Communication Practices

Communication could therefore be said to be the life wire of any remote culture. Several management practices offer an opportunity for the management of communications and remote workers. This includes:

Regular Updates: Schedule regular virtual meetings among your team members, for instance, daily check-ins, or weekly updates.

Multiple Channels: Use different platforms for communication where you could apply Slack, Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and etc for synchronous communication to achieve different goals – short informational discussions, idea generation, andothers, formal knowledge-sharing meetings.

Open Dialogue: In the formal organization, management should be receptive to feedback or questions from the employees irrespective of distance.

Ensure that there is Diversity and Team spirit.

The process of developing the feeling of togetherness in a remote working environment is not an easy task. Promote inclusivity by:

Virtual Social Events: Schedule daily, weekly or monthly virtual social interactions such as coffee meeting, quiz, or group exercise to foster fellowship among the employees.

Recognize Achievements: Promote achievements and recognize people’s contributions both verbally within your team (in person) and non-verbally, using digital (virtually permanent) means.

Support Diversity: Ensure that working remotely, people from various locations and with different backgrounds and working hours are treated in the same manner and do not feel left out of some company’s events.

There must be diversity and that there should be team players.

It is, however, important to understand that building the feeling of togetherness in a remote working environment is not a small achievement. Promote inclusivity by:

Virtual Social Events: Organise daily, weekly or monthly virtual social events like coffee meeting, quiz or group exercise to enhance social relationship of the employees.

Recognize Achievements: Reward people and acknowledge achievements verbally in the actual work group and secondly through technological (permanent) ways.

Support Diversity: Make sure that while working from home people from different places with different schedule do not feel neglected and left out some activities from the company.

Lead by Example

Company culture largely depends on the leadership of a particular organization. Leaders should:

Be Transparent: Teach your employees about the goals, problems and the decision-making process of the company to foster trust.

Model Behavior: Show the behaviour you wish to promote like efficient participation in zoom meetings, time and again, presence of mind in virtual meetings for inclusive working environment for all members.

Provide Support: Be available for the employees, advise them and be understanding about the new conditions of the home-based workplace.

Conclusion

For organizations to succeed in the new normal, there is need to adjust work culture for remote employees to embrace a new norm with changes in values, communication culture, and even policies. Through focusing on diversity, embracing technology, and setting the tone from the top, it is possible to foster and develop effective remote work atmosphere for employees, managers, and organization as a whole.