How to Set Remote Work Culture Standards for Better Work-Life Balance

Why is a positive remote company culture important?

Your business is only as strong as the people who run it. A Eurofound survey reports that over 55% of employees want to work remotely at least several times a week, if not daily.

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Both workers and employers stand to gain many advantages from fostering a positive remote work culture.

Benefits of a strong remote culture

Some of the benefits of a remote-first company culture include:

• Employee flexibility: team members can work around their personal lives. Parents can manage school drop-offs and pickups. Early risers and night owls can work when they’re most productive. 

• Global talent pool: widen your job selection pool and attract talent from all over the world. In a FlexJobs survey, 67% of respondents stated remote work options were the primary driver for career changes.

• Adaptable 24/7 operations: your business gains greater flexibility and adaptability to evolving and competitive markets. Having global team members also means you can always have someone working on something at all times of the day.

• Healthier, balanced lifestyle: team members feel less constrained and stressed by rigid working schedules and conditions. They have more control over their daily lives and can get work done at a pace that’s conducive to their routine. It all adds up to happier employees who are likely to stick around for the long term.

• Increased productivity: fewer meetings and fewer unexpected interruptions help build distraction-free work environments. Focused employees can get more done in less time, making them available for other tasks or projects. 

• Higher employee retention: a strong remote work culture strengthens relationships with your team, increasing loyalty and leading to higher retention.  

• Cost savings: reduce your office footprint by empowering more team members to work off-site. Higher employee retention means you spend less on recruiting and hiring due to attrition.  

The challenges of remote teams

While a remote work culture has many benefits, it also comes with unique challenges. Keep an eye on the following remote work challenges:

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• Loneliness and isolation: Gallup reports that fully remote employees experience feelings of loneliness at a rate 56% higher than fully on-site employees. There’s little or zero opportunity for long-distance employees to meet the office team in person. Phone calls and video calls can be too infrequent to develop team bonds. 

• Communication difficulties: remote teams heavily rely on written forms of communication, which lack verbal and non-verbal cues, often leading to a lack of context and misunderstanding. Working with global teams also introduces language barriers and cultural differences. 

• Boundaries: remote team members often work flexibly at flexible times, different from normal office hours. This can lead to pressure to be “always on”, responding to messages and working on tasks at all times of the day and night. 

• Lack of recognition: a lot of peer recognition and team celebrations happen in the office. Remote employees miss out on these opportunities and are less likely to be recognised for their achievements or excellent performance.

• Reduced visibility: managers and team leaders may find it difficult to observe remote team members and keep them aligned on a project or task. This can lead to a lack of trust, fostering a negative company culture.

• Cybersecurity risks: remote teams often use their own devices. If they aren’t set up correctly, they pose a cybersecurity risk to company portals. Likewise, those working out of the office may connect to your systems while on an unsecured Wi-Fi network, leaving you vulnerable to hackers and interlopers.

• Employee engagement: a lack of face time and personal interaction can lead to people disengaging from their work or “quiet quitting.”

How to set a remote work culture that prioritises work-life balance

With the right mindset and company culture, remote work simply works. In fact, Statista reports that 71% of remote employees worldwide prefer to be fully remote.

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Here are some best practices to create a better work–life balance for your remote and hybrid teams.

1. Set clear expectations and guidelines

People feel less anxious and uncertain when they know the score. Establish clear expectations in your company that place remote work front and centre. Your number one priority is to define communication protocols, including what channels to use and when people are expected to be available. Set reasonable and realistic response times for when people are “off the clock.”

In addition, be transparent about how overall job performance will be evaluated and what metrics will be monitored. Create an employee guidebook that covers topics such as what is hosted VoIP calling and how to use it, or email best practices.

Clear guidelines help remote and on-site employees understand their roles and responsibilities, and what boundaries need to be respected.

2. Be remote-first when recruiting and hiring

If you’re going to support remote workers, maximise the positive impact it has on your workforce talent. Design a recruiting and hiring process that prioritises remote work. You can accomplish this by posting job ads on remote job boards. Even when not posting on niche job boards, mention that a position is remote at the top of the ad.

Besides pulling in interest from the majority of candidates who are interested in remote positions, you’ll also recruit from a much more diverse and skilled talent pool. By being a remote-first employer, you’re no longer fishing in a pond; you’re fishing in the ocean!

3. Prioritise asynchronous communication channels

Remote collaboration tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams allow off-site employees to have synchronous conversations much like those on-site. However, expecting immediate responses from remote team members cranks the pressure up and distracts from focused work. 

Asynchronous communication takes the stress out of conversations, giving your team the relief and flexibility to respond when convenient. It also gives them the time to give measured, accurate replies.

Empower your team by prioritising asynchronous communication channels such as:

 

• Email

• Messaging apps

• Project management tools

• Audio messages

• Video messages

4. Keep meetings less frequent and concise

Meetings aren’t most people's idea of a favourite pastime. In fact, a Project.co survey found that 61% of employees feel they waste time in meetings.

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Whether it’s an all-hands or a team huddle, meetings have a greater impact on your remote employees. Scheduled meetings require them to be available during specific hours of the day, regardless of their time zone or family obligations.

A basic filter on whether you should have a meeting or not is to ask, “Could this have been an email or a team message?” Additionally, keep meetings 30–45 minutes in length to maximise attention and participation. 

Create an agenda for every meeting, send it out in advance to all participants, and stick to the main talking points. 

5. Promote Flexible Work Hours

Flexibility is one of the biggest draws of remote work, so if you require remote teams to work the same hours as HQ every day, what is the point? 

Allow team members to structure their workday around personal commitments like school drop-offs, exercise, medical appointments, or caring for family members. This doesn’t mean completely abandoning any structure.

You can establish core collaboration hours when most team members are available for meetings or real-time discussions. This could be 10:00 to 14:00 in your primary time zone or that of the line manager or team leader. Outside of these hours, give employees the freedom to work when and how it pleases them.

By enabling your remote employees to tailor their work hours, you’ll be rewarded with better morale and increased productivity.

6. Focus on outcomes, not hours

Those who manage remote teams often obsess over how many hours are being worked, completely missing the mark. Instead, focus on what they're actually delivering. Set clear project deadlines, define quality standards, and give your team the freedom to achieve these goals on their own schedule.

This results-oriented approach builds trust and empowers team members to work during their most productive hours. Giving your team autonomy shows confidence in their abilities and frees them to do their best work.

Use regular check-ins to ask questions like "How's the project coming along?" instead of "How many hours did you work yesterday?" This shift in mindset creates a healthier, results-driven environment.

7. Provide the Right Collaboration Tools

Even if you hire the right people, they can’t get the job done without the right tools.  Invest in reliable, user-friendly technology to promote remote collaboration and communication. This includes project management platforms like Asana or Trello, communication tools like Slack or Microsoft Teams, and file-sharing systems like Google Drive or Dropbox.

Don't forget about the basics like reliable internet or network connectivity, proper hardware, and updated cybersecurity solutions. Spend some of the money you save on relocation packages to fund stipends for home office setups or co-working space memberships. This ensures remote employees have adequate resources regardless of where they’re located.

Of course, you’ll do your due diligence when choosing a collaboration tool. However, nobody understands what is working as well as people who rely on those tools. What good is a web video conferencing API if less tech-savvy team members can’t figure out how to use it?

Regularly evaluate your tech stack and ask your team for feedback. If people are struggling with a particular tool or process, be willing to make changes. 

Getting remote work culture right requires a balancing act

Remote work is here to stay. Employees want it, and competitive businesses will continue to support it. Working remotely has many benefits for your team and your organisation. The key is to create a company culture that maximises the pros and minimises the cons. 

Set clear expectations and use communication channels that level the playing field for remote and non-remote employees. Empower your flexible teams by giving them control over their schedules and using proper collaboration tools for project management, meetings, and conversations.