Today, most people do their work outside the office. This trend is quite positive: people who work remotely report greater job satisfaction, less stress and a better work-life balance. According to many studies, they are also more productive.
However, there is one element of the business that working remotely makes it more difficult, and that is creating and maintaining a healthy and consistent company culture.
After all, it can be hard enough to feel connected to people you only interact with sporadically. But wait, does the culture apply even if your entire team is remote?
It’s a fair question, but the answer is definitely “yes.”
Corporate culture is not just the sum of what people see, do and communicate in the physical space in which they work, it is also what they see, do and communicate when they interact with each other.
In other words, culture is not something you choose to have or not have in an organization; it exists by itself, and your job as a leader is to shape it into something beneficial.
While the criteria for a good corporate culture can vary widely, there is at least one facet of it that no new company cannot afford to prioritize, and that is integrity.
Establishing a culture that emphasizes integrity means that every team member shares a sense of mutual trust and accountability.
The question is how to build that mutual trust when your team members are separated by miles, countries or even time zones.
Defining your organization’s values
We all have our own set of core personal values, even if we never articulate them precisely. But for an organization to function effectively, it must have its own set of values that are shared by its team members.
As the leader of your organization, it is up to you to define the values of your company. These values are crucial because, in the context of your business, integrity refers to honesty and principles, but also to unity and strength.
Teams with integrity stick together, and values are the common ground on which they build.
Check your culture with new hires
In many cases, great skills can’t make up for a personality that clashes with existing team members, and this applies to both remote workers and on-site employees. Bringing someone onto your team who doesn’t fit the culture of your company can have a much bigger impact than if you had several super-star employees.
The risk is not worth it and could have an overall negative effect on the integrity of your team.
Make sure your team knows each other
When team members have little to no contact with each other, it’s extremely easy for your team to become siloed, which doesn’t help build trust.
With modern technology, being separated by distance and time doesn’t prevent introductions, meetings and conversations that create a sense of cohesion and unity within the team. This will also result in greater efficiency in the (virtual) workplace, which is good for your business results.
Focus on transparency
Researchers have isolated many benefits of transparency in the workplace, and this list of positives is likely to grow. But while technology has made remote work both possible and cost-effective, it also tends to make transparency harder to achieve.
While you may not be able to “see” others in the same way as you would in a shared office, there are many software services that allow you to monitor and track employee activity and output – and you can choose to make as much data as you want available to your organization.
When productivity, communication and transparency are key points in your company culture, integrity takes place.
There is no simple formula for creating a healthy corporate culture, and certainly no shortcut to running your own business based on integrity. Entrepreneurs must be very careful to ensure that their leadership, hiring and management practices reflect the type of organization they want to be known for.