In my article “Remote Team: The Top Secret to Good Communication”, I discussed how to manage communication within a remote team. But, an important focus of communication should be CULTURE.
In Tony Hsieh book “Delivering Happiness”, Tony talks about what makes people happy. And he lists just four items;
i. Perceived growth,
ii. Perceived control,
iii. Connectedness, and
iv. Higher purpose.
Simple as that. Want a performing team? Want a happy team? Deliver on all four. The first two can easily be solved by having a fair and accurate work tracking system with clear goals and deliverables... and by having a solid approach to learning and how you encourage it inside your organization.
The third one, you handle by creating the virtual water cooler, but also try to have some face time as well. Have weekly video calls where you maybe talk about work for 30 minutes and just socialize the rest of the call. And depending on your location, have at least a yearly event where you all meet up and review, plan, and have fun.
In fact, most organizations that work remotely share that they have such in-person events once or twice a year and that it has become essential to their growth.
And the last requirement for team happiness is solved from the synergy of all your actions by having clear goals, delivering on your promises, having an open communication system, fair reviews, and acknowledgement.
Simply said, actively defining and maintaining your culture. Or as Gary Vaynerchuk says it, culture is simple;
• The thing you wish you were doing,
• The things you're saying that you're doing, and
• The things you actually do.
So make sure there is consistency and alignment between your mission, your actions, and your processes and policies... if you want your team to embrace the culture.
And I'll remind you the benefits here;
• Increased motivation,
• Increased performance,
• Loyalty, and
• A healthy work environment.
And culture has become more important than ever. If you managed a team before, you know for sure how damaging the departure of key member is... and how difficult it is to keep good people in such a competitive market.
Good organizational culture motivates and keeps the best hands.
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