Building a strong company culture with in-house employees is not easy. It’s even harder for remote or offshore employees. These days, working with in-house and remote employees is becoming the new normal for most companies and businesses worldwide.
Communication is key of course if you want to fortify your professional and personal relationship with a co-worker. If you’re trying to figure out how to build and maintain strong and solid company culture, here are the best tips you should get on board with.
Share or initiate an inside joke
Our clients with remote teams here have inside jokes. Most of these jokes have something to do with their day to day operations. They’re keen on sharing it with others but it’ll be difficult or nearly impossible to pick up.
We realized that having an inside joke in a team boosts morale and makes it easy to liven things up even during stressful times.
Know everybody’s names and nicknames
Let’s say you have a team of 50 to 100 employees overseas. This is not unlikely as some companies and businesses work with hundreds of employees officed in other countries. Knowing and calling someone by their name, better yet their nickname is a small step to productivity and building a professional relationship that borders on respect and camaraderie.
Recognise and understand unique things about your employees
We’re not talking about personal stuff about them. There is something unique in every employee, that’s one thing they have in common. Let’s take Mike for example, not a real person (as far as you know). Mike is a hard worker and takes initiative well.
He’s working for HR and he is awesome at it. Not all people know but Mark is also great in content writing and graphic design. You noticed that and asked him if he can sit in on the next creative meeting for some fresh ideas.
Not all of these qualities, skills, attributes and personalities stand out, so why not help them do so.
Establish Virtual Interactions
This is a given of course. With modern technology, it is easy for in-house and remote teams to work together efficiently. Why not a virtual platform where employees can just catch up, hangout or even play games with or against each other. There are dozens of online chat and/or messaging websites for that.
Now that the virtual office is active all the time. People can share some photos from their recent trips, music selections, jokes, memes and more. A fun office is a productive office. Fun and productivity should go hand in hand and never overlap each other.
Promote Shared Leadership
Leadership does not lie on one person alone. Every member of a team can be a leader. Empower and encourage people to lead and trust in their ideas. Give them opportunities to elevate their contributions and professional positioning. You are not only helping them further their career but their self-confidence, critical thinking and work ethic.
This will also benefit your business. If you’re thinking of leveraging a remote team for your business, talk to us today and we’ll help you find that professional you’ve been looking for.