Any ideas to improve remote workplace culture?
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I led a remote team for a year before Covid. Offer the team a stipend for spending on standing desks, chairs, etc to make their home workplace more comfortable. No matter what is happening, have full team/company meetings once a week. Let people have fun in them. We did a Kahoot at the end of every company meeting. It was fun. Make sure your team is getting out of their house. I encouraged everyone to call in for meetings from a different town if they could at least once a week. So they would go to coffee shops or cafes or public spaces or parks. It got them out of the house and talking to real people. That’s really important. Unless you are a true introvert, remote working is hard on the psyche. I also sent care packages every quarter with something fun in it. And we would always ask about family, kids, etc. Relationship building still needs to happen. Don’t let people join a meet unless their camera is on. Except when they are driving/etc. It’s too easy for people to shrink inside their shells. Keep talking and connecting. Good luck!
What type of care packages were you sending?
I think if your team genuinely gets along this is possible. If your team doesn’t have a great dynamic - it’s hard. Some things my team does that I think really helps:
-We have biweekly happy hours at 5 pm and have a question for everyone to answer to each person gets to participate. We always have fun!
-Spirit weeks - but it’s optional. I’m not a fan of making anything forced
-Fun little questions at the end of standup occassionally
I think these little things help but again I think your team needs to get along and have a good rapport for these things to work
Give me more money to compensate for my upgraded internet costs and electricity usage.
And Wellbutrin and Zoloft
Send out culture survey, confirm that your culture is actually terrible, do nothing about it
Stop forcing people to turn on their cameras unless it’s with a client (sometimes you need a bra-less day, people). Don’t call happy hours mandatory. Start some interest-based (cooking, etc.) Slack channels and let people group as they will. Encourage people to take days off. Check in on random coworkers.
Promote people
Yep. Employers can no longer buffer low salaries with "work perks" like a ping pong table and moderately stocked beer fridge.
Play games together online😛✌️
Oh gawd no
Rising Star
Mail everyone a fancy velvet sack with a fancy rope that cinches when you pull it..... filled with millipedes.
A desk chair / and a bonus that helps pay for the move needed to accommodate actual office space.
The amount of money it costs for executive dumb-dumbs to sit in meetings talking about WFH culture is enough to give every employee $200 for things like a desk chair, lamp, and other supplies which would actually improve their happiness and quality of life. But they give us happy hours and cooking lessons instead. Wheeee. 😑
Double like
Chief
I’ve done some Zoom trivia nights (hired host) and they are honestly quite fun. I know some people don’t want “forced” happy hours. So something like this that is totally optional can be a great way to have some virtual drinks and laugh with your coworkers. It’s nice to see people’s faces and reconnect with zero talk about work.
Sounds dreadful
1. Invest in a large number of multicolored bouncy balls
2. Break into your employees homes
3. ???
4. PROFIT
Everyone has their own little ball pit it’ll be a great time, minus the larceny
Rising Star
Instead of Wellness Wednesdays or T-bag Thursdays or Fuck Off Fridays....why don’t you try letting your employees actually take a fucking day or even an hour off instead of grinding them down to nubs while pretending to care about their mental well-being? Start there.
With reason
Invent a vaccination and go back to an office with walls and doors and offices, and say open floor plans were what caused this whole thing, including the Trump presidency, so now we can all go back to being happy?
Yes. Get back to the office as soon as possible.
No. You go first.
Hiring is the biggest influence
Hold each person accountable for their work and behavior. In so many situations bias and underlying relationships shield a few from consequences while forcing others to shoulder harsh consequences. When HR is swift and predictable the culture has to improve.
Sign out MsTeams at 6pm. Actually Microsoft should add at teams your working hours so it set you online, at lunch and offline automatically. 💡
Buy an Xbox
Hold out for a month and buy your entire team PS5 consoles then send me one for this sick advice. Fire a junior if you need to.