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4 tips on building remote team culture across Cloud

Remote Working

Article posted by Charlotte Proudmore

Building team culture remotely in 2021 should now be a key consideration for businesses across the cloud space. Uniting Cloud’s 2021 Software Engineering & DevOps Salary Guide revealed that a staggering 90% of the Software Engineering & DevOps professionals surveyed said that remote work is important to them. In addition, 69% revealed that working from home is the most popular benefit that they could be offered.

So, what does this mean for team culture? How do you effectively build a cohesive team when everyone is out of the office?


“The most important thing any business leader can do is build a strong, happy, highly motivated and aligned team. That means when you’re working remotely you need to over-emphasise teamwork, culture, and communication.”
Mike Tuchen, the “remote CEO”, Onfido.

 

1) What does winning look like?
Reinforce your culture by setting rules that determine what winning looks like and how to work together. These rules will unite the team to drive towards one common goal. This should be communicated regularly and followed up with tangible results.


Take the time to celebrate success and reward employees who are performing well. They will set an example for the team. Teams who adhere to the rules to live by and align with company values deliver results.

 

2) Open communication
Open communication is vital within a remote team. Without it, processes and projects start falling apart. Everyone should be able to communicate through video or voice recording and keep a channel of communication open.

It’s also important to consider new ways of sending messages. For example, voice notes may be a new way your team communicates when working remotely. This adds an important personal, human touch to communicating that is missing from email and traditional messaging. Talk to your team and find out what suits them.

3) Hire top talent
Whether hiring for a remote role, fully onsite or hybrid, you want the best. A candidate’s technical skill is normally a primary consideration but for remote working soft skills may be even more important. Organisation, time management, collaborating within a team and the ability to focus and stay motivated all get put to the test when working remotely.

It’s important you identify the soft skills that are important for the role and the wider business culture then look for those during the hiring process.

For more insight on attracting the best candidates across Software and DevOps, read our 2021 Software Engineering & DevOps Salary Guide.

4) Take work off the agenda

With remote working, there isn’t the option for a lunch break with a colleague or a catch up over coffee. Meetings also become more of a utility and can usually miss out the small talk that naturally occurs around an in-person meeting agenda.

Schedule in time for a casual chat with the team and make sure it becomes part of the working week. Stick to topics outside of work and add in a beer, mocktail, quiz or online game to keep things fun and casual. You’ll soon start learning more about the team and what makes them tick!

Remote working offers an abundance of benefits to employees, and it’s clear to see why there’s such a strong shift in preference towards remote working from specialists across Software Engineering and DevOps.

Building culture is a continuous process but the above tips should give you a good foundation for supporting a remote culture.

For more insights on motives and drivers of Software and DevOps professionals, please download our salary guide:

Read the Salary Guide