You're building a startup culture with remote team members. How do you ensure they feel connected?

The pandemic has taught us that working remote and being successful is possible. I've built teams from scratch remotely and worked with them and the recipe is not difficult to conjure up. Daily meetings - Formal and Informal, Communicate (sometimes more if need be) regularly about work priorities, Check-Ins on how they are doing on a daily basis and ofcourse a weekly fun hour with different ways to use a plethora of fun apps to get them warmed up and connect better with each other. Learning about their hobbies, past work successes, bonding over interests (sports, music, blogging etc etc) and much more was really helpful. The virtual team lunches and coffee catch-ups were a hit.

The most important and often neglected aspect of remote team management is ensuring every team member understands and aligns with the company’s mission and vision. A shared purpose fosters unity and motivation. Follow this with transparent goals and expectations, regular check-ins, and virtual team-building activities to create a cohesive and engaged remote team culture that thrives despite the physical distance.

The value of good crisp open communication in a world where your team colleagues are not in the same location is very important. In any form it is imperative to have the right communication done and people are asked if they understand what is being said, planned, done and discussed. It is also important to have structures but the ones that allow for more dialogue b/w members of the squad and use of sharing technologies that allow seamless and quick share of information.

Clear Goals are always necessary but in a world of remote working this is amplified. Knowing the purpose of why we are doing what we are doing and having the right stake in each of the goals and decisions is very important to succeed as a Team. So in addition to crisp Individual Goals, it is all but right to setup Team Goals that are shared which allow for the right degree of collaboration to achieve team success while also ensuring individual growth.

Trust is a tricky topic and it is easy to always build Trust by Granting Trust by default rather than try and second guess/doubt people's intentions. This ensures that you demonstrate that you trust the colleague to get the right things done but be sure to be aware if that trust is being misused. With Trust comes Autonomy where it is seen that while we need to know what is happening and there are processes in place for it, trying to be over bearing may have a counter-intuitive result, so granting the right degree of autonomy while setting up the appropriate checks to ensure things are smooth are the right things to do.

Building a startup culture with remote team members doesn't have to be that hard, as long as you are clear with your communication but also open with your channels. I always let my team brainstorm with me and I am open in taking new ideas for making my company better. I understand that several minds work better than one and so I create a space in which I let my employees have their freedom not only because our communication is very good but because I have shared my goals and vison for the business with them, so all we have to worry about is building that, and it doesn't have to be one way.

Each individual on the team wants to Grow and Learning on regular basis is one way to achieve that. Be sure to understand what clicks wrt Learning for each colleague on the team, get them to chart their learning journey and help them find the right resources, time and opportunities to learn and apply those learnings. There are many ways to offer online programs, support their specific learning needs by reimbursing the costs, offering time, helping with certifications as deemed relevant, bringing in Subject matter Experts to distribute their knowledge and many more such opportunities to foster better and continuous learning.

To create a cohesive startup culture with remote team members, maintain regular and open communication using video calls, instant messaging, and scheduled virtual meetings. Foster team relationships through virtual coffee breaks, informal chats, and team-building activities. Encourage collaboration on shared projects and creative sessions to strengthen teamwork. Celebrate successes together to reinforce unity and recognition. Ensure transparency and inclusivity by keeping all team members informed and involved. These steps will help remote team members feel connected and engaged, even when working from different locations. #ahmedalaali11