How do you develop and maintain a strong organizational culture in a virtual or hybrid work environment?

> Establish clear communication channels and ensure everyone understands the company's values and goals. > Use virtual tools to facilitate regular team meetings, one-on-ones, and company-wide updates. > Create opportunities for virtual team building activities, social events, and recognition programs. > Encourage employees to connect and collaborate outside of work to strengthen relationships. > Build trust by empowering employees with autonomy and providing them with the tools and resources they need to succeed. > Set clear expectations and provide regular feedback to maintain accountability and support.

Companies who have a strong work culture will succeed regardless of modality, but they still must work to maintain collaboration and community in a hybrid work environment, particularly for new hires who may be coming on-board without the ability to meet their new coworkers face-to-face. Companies that are intentional in their ways to connect, e.g., through mentorship programs or drop-in "coffee hours" with leaders are going to be more successful at sharing their culture with new workers.

Clearly define your organisational culture by outlining your vision, mission, core values, and expected behaviors. Communicate this information to your team through written documents or video presentations. Address questions regarding collaboration expectations, reward and recognition systems, as well as feedback and conflict resolution processes. By providing this roadmap, you create a shared understanding and alignment among employees, setting the stage for a positive and productive work environment.

Promoting Personal and Professional Connection: *Virtual Integration activities such as virtual coffee chats, trivia games, yoga sessions, or team-building activities, to foster camaraderie and help build stronger interpersonal relationships. *Informal Channels: create spaces within communication tools for social conversations, such as groups dedicated to hobbies or shared interests. *Celebrations: acknowledge birthdays, work anniversaries, and both personal and professional achievements. Celebrating milestones reinforces a culture of appreciation and makes team members feel valued.

After defining your culture, the next step is aligning practices and policies to support it. For instance, if innovation is a core value, provide tools and autonomy for experimentation. If diversity is key, ensure fair hiring and promotion practices. Likewise, for teamwork, create platforms for collaboration. By weaving these values into everyday operations, you reinforce the desired culture and create an environment where employees can thrive.

Be the leader that others want to work with. Culture stems from the top. if something looks wrong, examine your own behaviors.

Be careful about trying to foist too much virtual non-work activities onto workers. One of the perks of remote work is added flexibility and the ability to reduce some needless demands. Every single virtual activity adds a demand on workers' time and energy. I am not suggesting eschewing such activities, but remember that they come with trade-offs, and too many of them will produce more downsides than upsides.

Adapting to changes and challenges is crucial for maintaining a healthy organisational culture. Continuously monitor and evaluate your culture's impact using tools like surveys, interviews, or focus groups to gather insights from your team. Track indicators such as employee engagement, retention, productivity, and customer satisfaction to assess culture effectiveness. Use this data to pinpoint gaps and opportunities for improvement. By staying proactive and responsive, you can ensure your culture remains strong and aligned with organisational goals.

This is a good reminder, and one that should be applied to all changes made to the workplace. Even if an initial assessment suggests the changes went well, that doesn't mean everything is smooth sailing indefinitely. Therefore, ensure you identify ways to monitor the wellbeing of the workplace/culture and be willing to adapt proactively to issues that surface.

Leading by example is paramount for reinforcing organisational culture. Demonstrate your commitment to the culture through your actions and decisions. Praise and reward behaviors that align with it, while addressing deviations. Show genuine care for your employees' well-being and support their growth. By modeling the desired culture, you inspire and empower your team to embody it themselves, fostering a positive and cohesive work environment.

One of the ways in our company that we make sure we're alligned and model qualities we want to see is Regular Team Huddles where Senior Leadership present recent changes/growth examples they've done in their personal lives that impact their work and viceversa. It not only serves for an opportunity of accountability but it can be a vulnerability window that helps teams connect genuinely even in a remote setting.

While I would question the assertion that you must "demonstrate and embody your culture in everything you do and say" (as it is unrealistic), it is extremely important to be deliberate about aligning expectations with a remote work environment. It's also important to remember that more contextual clues exist in a face-to-face than a remote work environment. Therefore, it's important to consider ways to make up for some of those missing contextual clues (such as by being more explicit or regularly reminding employees of expectations).

Physically shifting from in-office to virtual or hybrid work environments happened quickly with little understanding of the mental and emotional impact. An array of new values, beliefs, norms, and behaviors has consequentially, been created and amplified through the challenges and benefits experienced in each individual's environment. Therefore, rather than trying to retrofit virtual or hybrid work into a company's in-office culture, it makes sense to rethink and be open to reestablishing values, norms, and behaviors that support a more individualistic approach to work.