The post 5 Ways To Nurture A Virtual Culture That Keeps Employees Connected appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.
]]>You may believe that a virtual culture already exists in your business, binding the team together with collaboration tools that are already relied on for the day to day processes that participate in your businesses success. Let’s not be naive though and start with a brief analysis on workplace culture.
Since time immemorial, organisational culture has always been a fundamental factor in employees’ decisions to work for a given company—and of course that’s also what influences their decision to stay there for longer.
More importantly, an organisation’s culture gives employees the feeling that they ‘fit’ in a certain workplace, something that has direct effect on their productivity, motivation and ultimately happiness.
Fast forward to 2020, Covid-19 has birthed unprecedented human, health and humanitarian issues. A myriad of forward-looking companies all over the world are rising to the occasion, moving in swiftly to protect their employees and migrate their operations to new ways of working that are beyond even the extreme business continuity plans.
Globally and prior to the novel coronavirus pandemic, the traditional wisdom was that offices were vital for culture, productivity, attracting and nurturing talent. It wasn’t a surprise to see companies fiercely compete for prime office space in notable urban centres as it’s clear that they share the focus on solutions aimed at promoting collaboration. Co-working, open-office designs and condensed were the craze. Not anymore.
Current Covid-19 Crisis
The current Covid-19 crisis has put company culture, teams, leadership and operations in many organisations to the test. A virtual workforce of remote workers is somewhat the new norm however this is not always the most practical solution. This being the case, it does not dismiss the need to pursue a virtual culture in the workplace. The engagement initiatives that worked before the pandemic aren’t translating to real and meaningful options in the new remote working culture. Consequently, teams are disengaging and managers forced to quickly adjust to improve employee experience and salvage the company culture.
Establishing a steady virtual culture is not a walk in the park and requires continuous nurturing through rapid and effective adoption of videoconferencing and other digital collaboration technology. Thankfully, for some companies, the results have been better than expected.
Closely involving employees in the transformation process makes them more engaged and dedicated to building a culture that would thrive. Managers should remain open-minded and receptive to feedback from employees.
And it’s expected, some of the new initiatives will work and others will no-doubtingly fail. This is definitely part of the process and should be considered when planning. Hence, it’s important for managers to keep their fingers on the pulse of the culture and ensure it works but adjust that which isn’t. The ultimate goal is to establish an effective virtual culture that SPELLS trust, collaboration, communication and engagement.
Here are five ways to create a virtual culture that keeps employees connected whilst they work from home through this global pandemic.
Virtual Team Building
There are various ways in which managers can leverage advanced technology to keep workers connected. For instance, managers can utilise Workplace groups, a tool integrated in Facebook’s Workplace platform designed to bolster relationships between teams and employees.
The platform is renowned for its ability to pair team members who don’t interact frequently and pushes them to connect. A quick scan through Workplace team walls confirms that employees are enjoying working with the tool as it enables them to meet and interact with individuals who would have otherwise never crossed their path.
Skill Share Development
Most companies are facing unexpected downtime that has brought about things social distancing and quarantine. But guess what, this can also be the best time for managers to up skill employees. Investing in workers’ development doesn’t really require a financial output. As a matter of fact, organisations can just leverage existing talent.
Skill-share workshops can be used to provide workers with the opportunity to speak on issues related to the company or share talents that are or not related to the business. These workshops can help impart soft-skills like leadership, negotiation, email etiquette, communication and much more.
Cross-training is also another way in which remote workers can acquire new skills that contribute to the company’s success. Employees can also broaden their skill set and then take up additional roles. This will keep them engaged as they continue to learn more about the company amidst the limited opportunities for advancement.
Finally, creating a content club is also an effective way to share knowledge and resources. Employees can share ebooks, articles, podcasts and video recommendations besides holding healthy discussions around them.
Wellness Initiatives
Self-discipline is one of the challenges that the practice of working virtually presents. Managers can encourage healthy habits by providing mobility breaks, virtual yoga, meditation sessions and mental wellness trainings. Such trainings can be on topics such as stress management, self-care and motivational talks. Managers can also encourage workers to stay connected by opting for face-time time instead of an email or phone call.
Team Huddles And Shout-Outs
During this time of crisis, many workers are feeling more isolated than ever. One of the biggest mistakes that managers keep repeating is failing to be hands-on as they usually are in the office. They should ensure communication is continuously fluid and praise given regularly. While most managers shy away from giving praise thinking that it’s not necessary to thank someone for doing their job, it’s worth mentioning that employees crave praise and recognition as this keeps them motivated. Praise should also come from peers.
Creating a team huddle at the beginning of each week is a great way to enhance productivity and accountability. Each employee should be allocated a minute or two to share their week’s work schedules, where they need support and what they hope to achieve. At the end of the week or start of the following week, the team should meet and review the progress made.
Happiness Boosts
Organisations can minimise anxiety levels amongst their employees by including fun into their day to day work schedules. Managers can encourage employees to share pictures of their children, pets, workstations, cooking skills, favourite memes etc. Even a simple #ThrowbackWednesday picture is an exciting way to keep workers engaged and connected. Various managers encourage their teams to participate in “two truths and one lie” situations so as to initiate a discussion around the things they know about their colleagues. This has proven to be an effective way to create connection and find a common ground among team members. Modern Spaces has leveraged TikTok to enable its marketing team to take on TikTok challenges and make funny, light-hearted videos to improve happiness among its employees.
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]]>The post Why Are Remote Workers Outperforming Office Workers? appeared first on Darryn Van Hout.
]]>The trend of digital nomads working remotely is becoming more rewarding than you ever thought it could—and there are no indications of slowing down anytime soon especially in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
In a remote work survey released last year, 16% of global companies were fully remote while 52% of the workforce around the world worked from home at least once a week.
On the flip side, the modern office of the 21st century—all adorned with gimmicky designs that spell freedom and avant-garde; from candy dispensers in board/conference rooms to indoor treehouses and Hammocks—all perfect distractions that mostly attract new talents.
Remarkably, tech companies seem to be the worst offenders at this, spoiling workers with the so called startup favourites—table tennis and beer taps.
Of course it feels good to pop a candy bar from its jar, but does all the investment in gimmicks add any value to the company or the workers productivity?
Even though setting up, hiring and organising a remote workforce comes with its own challenges, it is worthwhile to note that in the end it becomes one of the best decisions a business owner could ever make.
Ask the founder of Storm Assist who has been using remote workers for nearly two years now and says with his remote workforce, he is a digital nomad happily working from anywhere.
“I’m yet to understand why company founders are increasingly becoming obsessed with availing in-office ‘perks’ for their workers. I hear the main goal is to create a fun environment and promote collaboration among the team(s). But I think this approach does more harm than good and recent studies indicate that the problem is worsening”, he said.
I for one know first hand how powerful a virtual workforce can be after proving the model over the past ten years with Australian Solar Quotes. In my professional opinion, the benefits of managing staff that work from home far outweigh the challenges that I faced through pioneering the model since 2010. I will talk more about this in a future post though.
Office Workers Unhappy
In one study, the number of employees who can’t concentrate at their office desks has shot by 16 per cent since 2008. Another shocking statistic is that the number of employees with no access to a serene work environment to perform more focused assignments has risen by 13 per cent.
Ideally, the place where workers perform their tasks from doesn’t matter—even if it’s at the beach or cafe, as long as they remain focused and work hard to deliver as expected each day.
This is one of the reasons why Aha! came into existence. The company was founded on the premise and promise of working remotely. Working remotely has and is working well for this company.
Currently, Aha! is one of the fastest growing software companies within the United States and has a 100 per cent virtually distributed team.
Many experts concur on this one thing, and various surveys and studies have proved it—remote working is more rewarding in the context of productivity as compared to working from the office.
Below are three points that confirm the ideology that remote workers outperform office workers:
1. Productivity
With the new Covid-19 pandemic that demands social distancing, remote working is becoming a flexible, safe and convenient way to keep your workforce at it, productively. In the absence of the many office distractions and enhanced autonomy, a remote workforce churns out good volumes consistently; an outcome that most managers desire. A remotely working team gets more done in less time, enabling workers to start new projects, spend extra time doing what they love and ultimately boosting your bottom line.
According to one survey carried nationwide, 65 per cent of workers noted that working remotely would enhance their productivity. Again, 86 per cent of the participants said that working remotely enabled them to achieve maximum productivity.
And it’s easy to understand why as the workers:
- Don’t have to commute to work
- Can complete their tasks on their own time and in the comfort of their home
- Aren’t distracted by coworkers.
- Can take breaks whenever they feel like
- Plan their schedules or workday in a way that is flexible
- Are enthusiastic and self-motivated.
2. Teamwork
Regardless of the distance, remote workers create the best team players. This is because the distance demands regular communication. In the absence of physical proximity, remote workers are forced to contact each other frequently and when there’s need. This strengthens collaboration and comradeship. And guess what? A staggering 92 per cent of the participants say the long-distance video chats and collaboration enhanced teamwork.
3. Presence
Offices are synonymous with absenteeism as some workers get sick or sneak out early to run their own errands or attend an event on time. Other workers like sales and marketing teams are forced from time to time to go out to the field. However, remote workers don’t have to sneak around or give excuses as they are not bound to an office and hence can create their workday to ensure they meet the other demands in their personal lives.
If they fall ill with a cold, they can still work from home without spreading germs to colleagues. And if they have to run an errand, they can rearrange their work schedule and handle it quickly and still deliver on the day’s target. This eventually makes remote workers more available for their teams and assigned tasks.
These are just a few reasons that compel me to conclude that remote workers are the most effective compared to those who work from the office. Remote workers can cut through the noise and fix their attention on what really matters—meaningful work and feeling fulfilled while doing it.
At the end of the day, results are what matters and remotely, they can be delivered without hammocks or beer taps.
Final Thoughts
Remote workers can be just as efficient and effective—if not more effective than your traditional, in-house team. Even though this approach requires some level of coordination, it allows every team player to be more flexible, helping the team to maintain a healthy and balanced work-life. Undoubtedly, the general benefits to your workers and business are evident.
So, what’s your take? Who do you think is more effective, remote workers or office workers? Share your thoughts below.
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