How to Build and Maintain a Remote Work Culture

As the saying goes, there’s no “I” in “team.” And whether you’re working with a team of four or forty, or building out multiple project teams for a variety of clients, it’s critical for teams to collaborate together in the process.

A successful remote team culture only really excels when everyone is all in. If a team member is opening a program to input task details and notes, and everyone else is working on separate platforms, that team will likely be disjointed.

On the other hand, when collaborating as a project team via an intuitive centralized dashboard—well, that forms a new kind of synergy and can help streamline projects. Before you know it, you and your team will be working collaboratively together. You’ll soon start to develop the remote team culture you always dreamed of.

Now, the question becomes, “How to build and maintain a remote work culture?” 

How to Build a Remote Work Culture

There’s often a disconnect in remote work culture. That’s why transparency and autonomy are crucial for the success of remote teams. Precautions are necessary to ensure real-time communication and collaborative practices are effective in a remote work environment.

By using collaboration tools for task, project, and calendar management, you will cover all the bases of the specific project, individual, and team needs of your remote workers. A built-in chat channel will enable you to communicate in real-time, any time. And task and calendar project management will help you accomplish projects on time and on budget.

Essential Task Management Features

When project team members share the ability to collaborate on tasks, view project details, due dates, and prioritized projects, it’s easy to accomplish more together.

For project managers and leads, a collaborative platform is especially beneficial for:

• Organizing remote project resources and teams
• Viewing reports on project and team accomplishments
• Having real-time conversations regarding project launches 
• Viewing team member workloads
• Seeing individual and project work within Kanban boards
• Integrating team calendars and timelines 
• Evaluating project and task information
• Adding followers to tasks so that all collaborators are in the loop Integrating apps into a single platform; GoogleSuite, DropBox, Slack, Zapier, and other tools can be incorporated into one location
• Updating tasks when dates change 
• Including comments regarding project plans
• Prioritizing tasks for teams
• Setting recurring tasks for project team members

When team members work collaboratively together, it immediately benefits team culture, encouraging autonomy and accountability. And there are a variety of ways to not only work together but also develop a more positive, thriving remote work culture.

Maintaining a Positive Remote Project Management Culture

Maximizing virtual team productivity and a collaborative remote work culture call for best practices for working remotely. Here are some ways to build rapport with your distributed team:

• Gather for virtual team meetings via Zoom or host a live chat via a built-in chat channel
• Offer themed chat channels, such as “watercooler” or “team updates”, and channels for various interests like reading, exercise, or movies.
• Celebrate individual, project, and company milestones via Zoom or a built-in chat channel named “milestones” or “team wins.”
• Announce celebratory events such as birthdays or work anniversaries in a channel called “celebrations.”  
• Host annual retreats and plan for them with your teams online
• Engage in virtual games, lunches, or happy hours

Celebrating accomplishments, as well as engaging in real-time chat sessions, is essential for creating a meaningful virtual workplace and community.

Implement a Remote Team Platform that Works

Implementing a task and project management system that your entire team can collaborate on effectively and productively ensures projects are complete and on time. And communicating regular updates on project progress enables the open communication necessary for a positive and productive remote work culture.

It’s also so important to recognize customer, team, and individual wins on a regular basis. Celebrating major milestones and achievements online via Zoom or built-in chat messaging sessions helps you to appreciate a remote work culture that really works and bolsters team morale.

It’s all about establishing a remote work culture that everybody can enjoy and feel proud of. Because, after all, there’s no “I” in “team,” and celebrating team victories together is the best way to do it!

Flow provides a feature-rich virtual collaboration platform that gives your team an enjoyable way to celebrate remote work culture. Try it free today!