Remote Work Culture: Building a Strong & Vibrant Community

As many employees continue to do their jobs remotely, it is essential to ensure that everyone feels like a valued member of the team, no matter where they may be. Keeping morale high and building a strong remote work culture has never been more critical.

To keep company culture thriving, we must prioritize creating virtual work settings that are rife with connection. Below are some of the ways the Liquid Web Culture Team has been advocating to maintain a strong, vibrant, and connected company culture for remote work.

Social Interaction

Humans are social beings. Many thrive on face-to-face communication and have found it difficult switching to remote life as it eliminates most office interaction. Creating interesting and themed ways for groups to connect virtually is one of the most beneficial methods to foster remote work culture.

The Information Troll Booth

Our team decided to create an internal entertainment podcast. Each episode will have special employee guests, and showcase various topics ranging from technology and pop culture to food/drink preferences or video games. The goal of the podcast is to offer some lighthearted fun that employees can play in the background while working, which helps colleagues feel like they are back at their desks and hearing others talking around the office.

Hangout Roulette

A company like Liquid Web has workers that span multiple states. Hangout Roulette is an entertaining way to foster interaction between employees near and far. For this activity, employees sign up to participate in small, randomized groups every few weeks to have a 30-minute chat.

You can provide a list of questions and conversation starters, or people can feel free to let the conversation go where it pleases! Employees have found this to be a great way to decompress and break up their days.

Social Spotlights

Employees can submit pictures according to a weekly theme, like Mug with Your Favorite Mug, Unhelpful Coworkers, and I Like to Move It. It is an enjoyable window into employees’ lives and interests, and helps foster more connection for a stronger remote work culture.

Hobby Highlights

Everyone has a hobby or activity to help blow off steam. What better way to recognize employee greatness than by showing off that hobby or activity? Once a month, one employee is selected to show off their favorite skill or hobby in a social media post. We have writers, gardeners, woodworkers, tailors, and more!

Fun and Games

All work and no play is no fun for anyone. Happy employees are productive employees, and Liquid Web is creating new ways to build community by introducing voting championships, role-play gaming events, virtual card tournaments, and even showcasing our furry friends.

Voting Championships

When it comes to favorite foods, everyone has an opinion and wants to voice it. Increase social interaction by creating championships that require employees to vote for their favorites. It brings a bit of fun and frivolity to what can be an otherwise serious or busy day.

Company-wide voting in head-to-head matchups helped determine the best cereal (Cinnamon Toast Crunch), ice cream flavor (Mint Chocolate Chip), and movie snack (buttered popcorn)!

Acting and Role-Play Gaming Events

Several of our employees have been acting out characters and recording stories for collaborative projects with colleagues. Acting is a great way to enjoy stepping out of your usual comfort zones to pretend to be someone else, which helps alleviate stress and build remote work culture.

A group participated in a fairy-tale themed virtual mystery party where everyone played a character and had to work together to solve puzzles and clues to figure out which character was the saboteur.

We also have a group of employees doing an RPG (role-playing game) based on Wendy’s (the fast-food chain). They’re getting a real kick out of playing the characters and being part of different factions like Order of the Frosty and Order of the Baconator.

Summer 2020 Euchre Tournament

We also play card games virtually to blow off some steam. Our second Euchre tournament during social distancing is happening right now! Currently, ten teams are competing for the title of Euchre Champion. Games are played on an app called Trickster. Teams are encouraged to open their favorite chatting app for competitive chatter during games!

Vanity Fur

We all love our pets, so we decided to showcase them! Employees can submit pictures of their pets, which are then paired with the owner’s job title. Do you know how cute it is to see a German shepherd as part of our System Resources team or a salamander in Human Resources?

Health and Fitness

Group gatherings and outings have been decreased or eliminated due to the pandemic. Our employees have turned to exercising and cooking or baking activities as ways to stay engaged and healthy during this time, and showcasing fitness and health-related activities is a great way to build remote work culture.

Virtual Runs

For those feeling cooped up inside, virtual runs or races offer the opportunity for colleagues to join up and run a race near their home while still competing with others virtually. Liquid Web has graciously offered to reimburse employees up to $35 after they have completed a virtual run or race through the remainder of 2020.

Steppin’ in the Dome

Another excellent active option is to start a step-tracking group. It’s easy to participate because you are already moving around, and tracking is done automatically using an app. The top stepper each month wins a prize!

Iron Geeks (Fitness Blog)

As part of staying active and getting fit, we have started an internal fitness blog. We have various posts about topics such as training for an Ironman race, kickboxing classes, and even how to build your own gym in the basement. Any type of post showing how you stay active is welcome, which helps foster remote work culture.

Company Cookbook

We are working on putting together an everyday, healthy recipe cookbook based on recipes submitted by Liquid Web employees. A second cookbook is also in the works and will feature fall tradition and holiday recipes, which will be perfect for the upcoming holiday season.

Try Building a Remote Work Culture Using Fun Events

Strengthening remote work culture and engaging your colleagues is essential. A wide variety of activities that hit multiple interests will increase overall participation and employee interaction. Whichever ideas you try, keeping the atmosphere fun while engaging a variety of interests is crucial for successful participation across the company.

Get 11 More Ideas for Keeping the Company Culture Alive With Remote Teams