Ways How to Build a Culture in a Remote Team
Many researches have shown that working remotely has valuable effects on employee productivity, happiness and general well being.
Company culture is vital because it affects how your employees and customers perceive you—and this greatly determines how successful your business is going to be. Since remote teams are physically distanced, building a culture may be a bigger challenge, but the necessity is even greater without in-person interactions to create culture.
When an organization lives up to its core values, its culture will transform employees into advocates, enrich their well being, and confirm the corporate retains its top talent. And with the Covid-19 pandemic shifting much of the planet to performing from home overnight.
Add to this another element of the unknown—a freelance remote worker— and it seems that the bulk companies simply accept that a freelancer in India can never meld with their company’s culture. As a result, most companies tend to treat freelancers with a degree of professionalism and courtesy that’s almost impersonal. While this might help get the work done, winning the loyalty of a freelancer is like winning the loyalty of a full-time worker—they perform better, retention rates are going to be more and freelancer attrition rates will be less.
If you’ve got a foreign team, here are a couple of ways to create camaraderie and acquaint them together with your company culture:
1. Onboard your freelancers:
While several companies have a procedure to onboard full-time employees, they distribute this practice for Indian freelancers. Give freelancers a small look at your company and its culture. Convey the personality of your company and permit them to understand what the company values. Communicating your long-term visions and goals help remote workers feel a neighbourhood of a team that’s working together to understand something larger than themselves.
2. Be explicit about your work policy:
“Flexible” or “remote” work can mean various things to different people—are employees expected to be online a particular number of hours each day? Will they have to visit HQ on a daily basis? Put those specific expectations in your job descriptions, so the candidate is 100% clear about what they’re signing up for.
3. Schedule some face time:
It’s always great to place a face to the person you’re working with. Whenever feasible, schedule video meetings to debate the project. Introduce members of the team that the freelancer from India is perhaps getting to figure with via video. You’ll even ‘show them around the office.’ This provides your company an identity within the freelancer’s mind and builds how of loyalty and solidarity alongside your company. It’ll also reflect within the keenness with which they approach your projects.
4. Keep communication lines open:
If there are important events happening at your office do let your freelancers know. Perhaps you’re moving buildings or you’re refurbishing the office space. While the event in itself may make no difference to your remote workers, keeping them within the loop helps them feel valued.
5. Include them within the brainstorming process:
Most top freelancers in India are brought on board after decisions are taken. This approach could work with a replacement freelancer that you’re engaging. However, if there are regular freelancers that you simply work with, include them within the ideation process.
Many freelancers report that they miss the joys of bouncing off ideas with team mates. You’ll also invite to contribute towards regular group meetings. Technologies today support remote working and there are several group meetings tools that allow freelancers to network with the core team and with each other. Besides building rapport, this is often ready to cause valuable perspectives from specialists in various fields.
6. Appreciate them permanently work:
Most of the freelancer’s dearth a feedback system that indicates how they’re progressing in their careers. There aren’t any appraisals and promotions to recognize efforts. While companies offer year-on-year hikes—a freelancer cannot ask for this from a client with whom he/she has an ongoing relationship.
Take the primary step and supply financial incentives if you actually expect the freelancer to continue onboard. Not only will this confirm that they priorities your project over others, but they’ll feel how of loyalty which can be no but that of your full-timer.
7. Create mentorship programs:
One of the foremost important aspects of building trust and a way of belonging during a remote team helps people grow and learn from their peers. Incorporate rituals which will help everyone grow individually also as a group: discuss each person’s goal at a performance review and set a metric to live progress, host a workshop on giving feedback, or start time weekly for normal lunch and learns.
8. Prioritize health and wellness as a part of corporate culture:
When working with remote teams, it’s easy to assume that employees have a far better time of finding work-life balance. But dodging the daily commute and dealing in their slippers features a darker side.
Many remote workers feel awkward about taking leave, with 55% taking fewer than 15 vacation days annually. Overall, most remote employees find that employment disbalances their personal lives more easily, and that they have a harder time making healthy choices.
Unfortunately, your remote team can’t win championships if all its members aren’t physically fit.
That’s why you would like to form health and wellness a high priority when building corporate culture for remote teams.
Regular one-on-one health and wellness check-ins are an honest start. Take time to debate and understand employees’ challenges – some may have specific reasons to figure remotely that need sensitivity and a nuanced approach. Try to find out what resists employees from taking leave, and work toward solutions so that they can get some rest and relaxation.