Today is your lucky day. You are safe at home, healthy and have an internet connection so that you can read this guide.
Times have been turbulent during the past few weeks. The economy paused and businesses reached out to the tools of remote work, which certainly came in handy. Now there is no more doubt that remote work is here to stay.
Let’s start the conversation on why you should first define your company values in order to embrace remote work. Our company culture lays on the foundation of its values. Likewise, a human being has his or her own values on an individual level. The employees who recognize your company values as their own are the ones who stay.
Believe it or not, we human creatures incorporate our values into our behaviours beyond the conscious level. We are directed by them when making decisions. They guide us on the path of living life and finding meaning.
Let’s consider your company culture now. It is a living organism. It is a unique combination of values, norms, behaviours and rules. This creates the space where you are, the space where your team members craft amazing products and deliver outstanding customer experience. Company values are often adopted or inherited by its founder’s personal values. Which leads to the statement that
“The company values are to the organization as the personal values are to the individual.”
No matter at which stage of organizational development your company is, it’s not late to start the conversation about your values. You can either rethink them or create them. And, yes! It’s a process so give it the time and give it a chance.
“The well defined, communicated and shared values are what sets remote workers up for success.“
When being fully decentralized and asynchronous, each one of us lives in a different reality. Consider, too, the rich diversity of nationalities, local rituals and beliefs impacting the way we communicate.
On the vertical scale of international cross-cultural communication, there are two extremes. Low-context communication and high-content communication. An example for the low-context, straightforward and concise communication style is the United States. Have you read any prescriptions or instructions for use written by an American? Notice how explicit they are.
On the other extreme is the high-context communication. It’s most known representative is Japan. Japan is a country I heartily admire for their tolerance, discipline and gratefulness. Their communication style is described as reading in the air. They are mindful of how and what they say to always show respect to the other person.
What do you think will happen when you place two specialists together, each from a different country, and expect them to perform at their best? You see now that remote culture is not that simple, right?
So, here is the second thing to do after you have clearly defined your values clearly. Go communicate them to your team members! Empower these professionals to be creative, committed and extraordinary in their craft.
“Create a unified communication and behaviour style which is approved, adopted and rewarded.”
Expect everyone to follow it. Be open-minded and revise it at every milestone achieved in your growth strategy. Well-defined values serve you on many levels of your operations. They facilitate the recruitment and hiring process. They are transmitted to the new employees during the onboarding process. They are the ultimate performance review principles.
“Your company values are who you are as an organization and what you stand for.”
Let’s face it. Remote work is here to stay. Companies that allow remote workers already outpace companies that don't. How long will you survive to be the organization to source from?
If you choose to implement remote work and remote culture, I encourage you to do it properly.
At Remote IT World, we help tech startups hire remotely and transition to a suitable level of remote operations. We bring proven expertise and knowledge related to the best remote work practices. Our standards of work are high, equal to the satisfaction level of our partners. Because we build partnerships not accounts.
I’m happy to lead more companies into embracing remote culture because the world needs more remote companies.
Putting plans into action
Ready to embrace remote work as your post-Covid strategy? Send us a message and let’s start the conversation about how you can become a remote company.
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Yours remotely,
Yanny
Founder at Remote IT World
