INTRODUCTION

Since the Covid-19 pandemic, the US workforce has seen an exponential growth in remote and hybrid workers. It is estimated that by 2025, 32.6 million Americans will be working remote (Haan, 2023). Maintaining a strong relationship amongst employees/employers can be tough when communicating over video calls. So, what concrete strategies can your company use to sustain these connections?

WHAT BIO::NEOS DOES

Bio::Neos employs several remote/hybrid workers, alongside those who commute to the Iowa City office daily. Fostering a cohesive company culture among all our team members, regardless of their physical location, is crucial to us. So, how do we achieve this? Lots of communication! For our team gatherings, we provide video conferencing links to remote employees, ensuring that whether they're just 5 miles away or 500, they can be involved in our bonding sessions. We try to have at least one informal team gathering every month, where we do something fun together as a team. In the past we have shipped materials to our remote employees so that they can participate in activities with us, or sent them a DoorDash when we have lunch in the office together. 

In addition, for other meetings, we try to use video conference software even when several employees are together in the office. It puts everyone on an equal playing field for the conversation and helps remote employees feel as connected as they can be. It might feel a little awkward to video call someone that is in the same building (or even room) as you, but we think it is important for our remote employees and have all gotten used to doing it.

Monthly, we have an event we call Team Talks where everyone gets together in the virtual conference room and we take the time to discuss less work related topics. Things like professional development opportunities and challenges, how to stretch and move your body when behind a desk all day, how to spot phishing schemes, and of course some of the fun chit-chat and friendly banter as well.

We also have a bi-weekly meeting where we discuss more technical work, including our projects. This helps everyone on the team to understand the different projects that we’re taking on, and connects us in knowing how each person’s work affects everyone else.

Finally, we use Slack to communicate all day. Slack has become a hub for our team operations, so everyone can feel “connected” all of the time, and its flexibility across devices makes it effective even if someone is “on the go”.

WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT?

Building strong team bonds is essential for a business's success. Employees thrive in an environment where they have positive relationships with their colleagues, which motivates them to come to work each day. These connections foster a happy workplace, leading to a 13% increase in productivity (Oxford, 2019). While dedicating an hour each month to team talks may seem like a poor time investment, the resulting productivity boost compensates for it. Furthermore, encouraging employees to engage in open communication fosters a more transparent and supportive work environment. We have also received feedback from our remote/hybrid employees that this set up has eased their daily personal lives, allowed them to engage more in their personal commitments, and has taken the stress away of daily commute. Bio::Neos takes pride in knowing that our employees have the option to stay home and work - regardless of the reason!

CONCLUSION

Bio::Neos has several employees who do not work in our Iowa City office everyday, but our co-founders ensure that all our employees feel connected through several approaches, centered on open communication. And we always look at what we are doing and see if we can improve it over time. Contact us if you have any suggestions or improvements that you think we should consider.

Offering remote work to employees has become a modern day requirement for most businesses. But it seems everyone is still figuring out what works for their organizations and there is no clear “right answer”. We believe fostering good connections between employees is crucial to the success of a remote program, and we will continue to keep that goal in mind as we try improvements and other ideas to expand the way we support our remote and hybrid workforce.

References

Haan, K. (2023, June 12). Remote Work Statistics And Trends In 2023. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/advisor/business/remote-work-statistics/

Oxford University. (2019, October 24). Happy workers are 13% more productive. Www.ox.ac.uk; University of Oxford. https://www.ox.ac.uk/news/2019-10-24-happy-workers-are-13-more-productive