How Do You Create a Culture When Working from Home?

By Allison Flitter Delaney

After the pandemic, many companies are switching to remote or hybrid options. Losing facetime in the office is one big negative to the work from home trend, but it does not have to be. There are many ways that teams and companies can continue to build a strong culture remotely. Throughout this post, I will highlight some ideas of how to build a good company culture while working from home.

  1. Team Happy Hours/ Lunch Meetings – If your team is spread out geographically, schedule a lunch meeting or happy hour with your team or whole organization. Take some time to enjoy some virtual drinks with each other while you show off your office, pet or kids!
  2. Schedule time with each team member – Although you may not be interacting with employees everyday (based on your job), why not schedule some time 1 on 1 with employees to catch up and learn about what they are doing. You do not need to be a manager to learn what others in the organization are working on. This is especially important when a new employee joins. When a new person joins, it would be great for them to have the opportunity to virtually meet with the individuals to make them feel welcomed.
  3. Set up a time to meet for an activity – During the pandemic, we were able to all meet at a charity event at a local organization. The organization had all the safety protocols in place to keep volunteers safe and we were able to give back while being together as an organization.
  4. Have a team activity or game – Play a game! Two Truths & a Lie and trivia are great games to play virtually. They can allow you to learn more about your team while being competitive!
  5. Start virtual meetings with an activity – Companies have meetings on the schedule all the time. Why not start a meeting with one person sharing a story, fun fact about themselves or something they are proud of from the previous work week. Since you are not in the office to see what each other are doing, sharing what you are working on will be a good way to continue working closely together.