When you work remotely, how do you maintain a healthy culture?

Here are 5 questions to ask to see if you have the right mindset when it comes to remote work.

1. Do you still treat your client/partner relationships like a true partnership?

For some, this might mean, continue to view your relationships as true partnerships. We’ve talked in the past how we want our relationships with vendors and clients to be seen, by both sides, as partnerships. This doesn’t change when you go remote. There really is (still) nothing to hide, you just are now office-less, and really better able to service your clients. This is what we assist companies with when this kind of a culture is not in place.

In some cases, this may mean you still need to stay on communication platforms that best serve your customers. For example, we may not use email regularly internally at Edoc, but that doesn’t mean we don’t email our clients or partners, since most of them regularly use email.

When you consistently look to put clients first, this can help continue to guide your decision-making—and that stays true as a remote workplace, too.

2. Do you strive to make expectations as clear as possible?  

Generally speaking, the longer expectations are ill-defined, the more potential for a misunderstanding in the remote realm. That’s why it’s a good idea to end calls or meetings with a follow-up note so you help make sure everyone comes away from a meeting with a common understanding. You could argue this isn’t different than a traditional 9-5 office setup, but the importance is amplified in a virtual setup.

No matter how or when the general ideas about a project are formed, the best work comes from projects that have clear expectations, or at the very least, clear progress being made, throughout the process. The underlying key of course is communication. In a virtual setting, we have to continue to take initiative when it comes to communication.

It’s a day-to-day commitment.

Wonder where that document is you’ve been waiting on? Are you going to be late with an email a client was expecting by the end of the day?

Always default to being proactive when it comes to communication with clients.

Although you could potentially over-communicate if you aren’t recognizing the time sensitivity of a certain type of message, if you’re clarifying an issue or giving a status update, you are helping things run smoothly. The trust will build naturally from there.

3.  If a problem occurs, are you able to hold your team accountable to improve for the future?  

Mistakes, maybe just a horrible idea, or some form of miscommunication will happen. Something that can lower morale is bound to happen at some point, especially when you have a relationship with a client over a period of years.

Ideally, we take the lead, take responsibility, and help move everyone on the team rebound when a mistake has been made.

A client might be at fault, you might have had a hiccup in a project, or maybe they might have brought up an off-strategy idea, but for the sake of the longevity of the relationship (and for the sake of having every onboard feel open and committed to the project), there’s no harm in stepping in and taking blame. At the very least, it helps build trust and a genuine connection for everyone involved.

4. Is your team able to rally behind milestones, objectives, or similar?

As with any project, sometimes we can lose sight of the big picture. Sound familiar? Maybe you noticed the positioning of a certain digital campaign is slowly changing over time, and the underlying insight is getting lost. Or maybe the original timeframe has completely changed on an ongoing project.

At the conclusion of virtual projects, even if you’re in agreement with the client that something has been a success, it’s still important to carry out the process of tying your output to those initial goals, and to that strategy you set out with. This is one we can all work on, since at times, it can be easier to simply move forward to the next milestone.

5. Are you able to stop and think about the big picture?

It can be easy to see differences in the way we operate versus how a client or partner functions—especially if that client or partner does not embrace virtuality.

We can respect that, and it’s best to keep in mind that most of the time, both companies are coming together to in some way move their businesses forward.

Of course for Edoc Virtual, we are reminded of this often: we are looking to move companies to a virtual setting so that they can find sustainable and unrestrained growth. But for other projects, or in other key relationships we have, we can lose sight of the big picture! Recognize that both parties are looking to move their businesses forward, and it’s our duty to help each other do just that.  

Relationship-building over time with your partners and clients when you go virtual is quite similar to in a traditional office setup, when done right.

In the end, thriving as a remote team is most often about your mindset.