Whether temporary or permanent, working remotely indeed requires a company to build and endorse a culture that allows people to feel at their very best and productive selves. With more people turning to remote jobs, it’s high time to establish the fact that working remotely is far more than a choice or a work style per se.

Remote working is more than just phone calls, emails, and presentations, as that can be done gracefully through stable connectivity.

It’s a well-defined culture, and like every other culture, this requires a collective embracement too.

As said by Chris Herd, the CEO of Firstbase to Inc., “The rise of remote will lead to people re-prioritizing what is important to them. Organizing your work around your life will be the first noticeable switch. People realizing they are more than their job will lead to a deeper purpose in other areas.”

Establishing a remote working culture

Among an overabundance of questions, a few crucial ones come out to bug people the most as soon as they think of going remote –

How to build a culture without a physical office?

The answer is by building a coherent virtual working environment. To some, it might sound a little vague but hear us out. The only way the distance can be bridged is by mimicking the original plans into the current state of mind. This means staying in touch throughout the working hours and creating a free-flowing availability amongst the employees.

There are numerous smart companies known to promote a remote working culture. Some are strictly working with a distant team, even before the pandemic had hit us. Miro’s survey showed that 69% of companies had at least one team member working remotely on a full-time basis.

But what’s their secret? Surprisingly, it’s the same ones that made the physical world successful in the first place.

Communication is the key

An organization cannot reach the full potential unless its people learn to function as one big unified body. While working remotely, it is highly recommended that companies must grow their internal relations.

It’s easy to feel left out as a remote employee. Therefore, in a work-from-home environment, employees need to communicate as generously as possible.

By fostering an ecosystem with open communication, leaders can help the team to strengthen the bonds and diminish the feeling of isolation. There are many means to do it, from organizing ‘team huddle’ meetings to creating an unofficial channel on Slack.

Building a closely-knit network would be of the utmost importance since remote working is set to be the new norm for the agency world. The amount of people who work remotely at least once a week has grown by 400% since 2010.

Maintaining professionalism

Yes, it’s not easy for all to maintain the same professionalism while working remotely the way people work in offices. There’s a reason why people say – keep professional and personal things apart.

Sometimes staying focused and producing quality work from your bed or couch could be puzzling. Well, the good thing is with the right mindset; employees can bloom in a virtual set-up.

To alleviate distractions, initiate a practice of professionalism and communicate it with anyone working from home. Or turn to social media platforms like LinkedIn and share your thoughts. Getting dressed for work and not picking calls from the bed can also help put the employees in the right direction.

Using video calling to keep in contact with the team members can ensure that everyone is focused on the task at hand. A practice of preparing log sheets of daily tasks could further assure that things are going well among the team.

In fact, a Stanford study showed that the flexibility that comes when remote working is done methodically actually helped boost productivity by 13%. After all, when Buffer asked employees the most significant benefit of working from home, over 40% of them were happy with a flexible schedule.

Set up your work station

In addition to the previous point – employees working remotely should have a dedicated place in their house. It helps to put them in work mode.
Letting the family members know about the work time is very important, especially in the case of kids or pets. Reserving your time for work is the first thing one should do.

Agencies can step in by providing the team with a personal setup in the form of company-issued laptops and additional furniture support for those in need. By some estimates, telecommuting reduces the overall investment for a firm. These resources can be redirected to make the remote working environment more alluring.

Getting big on technology

Yes, like all the things around us, technology has graced the culture of working remotely as well. The adroitness of digital tools is a great help to every freelancer and remote worker alike. The technology that spars the “work from home” notion no longer leads to a communication breakdown; instead, it breeds creation.

In this digital age, it is effectively enriching the culture of home offices. Team chats, video calls, and virtual happy hours are the best way to keep the team and its beliefs intact. However, it is not all grind and no play. The increased adoption of collaborative software is also leading to cross-departmental networking and efficiencies.

There’s a way to virtually do all of the behind-the-scenes scenarios, from hosting a movie night where all the peers can watch a movie together to chat in real-time. Or you can go one step ahead to video call a colleague for a cup of coffee and a spark of conversation.