One of the biggest challenges faced by any leader is the growth and nurturing of the culture in the team. The recent global health crisis did necessitate a sudden shift to remote working for almost every single company on the planet, and that has fundamentally changed how we work forever. At Fractal Ink, I led the charge for establishing our remote working culture. A cultural transformation is by no means a solo endeavour and many cultural transformations fail without sufficient support from all employees. However, it is vital for the leadership to set an example and demonstrate the culture they wish to create.
While the cultural transformation is still in progress, and every new employee we onboard has to be imbibed with the best practices of our new ways of working, we set our north star with certain guiding principles. Some of these I have learnt first hand working at RightScale, and others have been adopted by observed what others in the industry are doing well.
1) Enhance asynchronous messaging:
The biggest noticeable impact of being remote is that the the people we wish to communicate are not in the same room. This also means that our communication style has to allow for the fact that the recipient of our communication may not be consuming our information immediately and may have to reply to it when we are not there to receive their reply. This has led to a prioritisation of written communication and dedicated channels of communication per project to ensure inclusion if people with different work schedules, and the continuity of the project as designers get staffed in downstream.
2) Prioritize shared communication spaces:
One of the biggest challenges with being remote is that the tap on the shoulder moments completely disappear. In a co-located setting, it is easy enough to quickly include colleagues in informal discussions and keep everyone in the loop. Being remote necessitates a creation of communication channels that are inclusive by default. And it’s a culture shift to consciously include remote team mates in conversations that happen in co-located contexts Microsoft Teams and Slack are especially useful for this purpose.
3) Creating centralized knowledge repositories:
While not exactly an intervention that works only for remote-first companies, centralised knowledge repositories are part of a long term plan to ensure that organisational knowlege is easily accessible and available to all employees at all times, without having to go through IT and ask around for who has what material for reference.
4) Organizing regular virtual get-togethers:
The last century has marked a remarkable shift in the role of the job in one’s life. There is an increased expectation from employees that their work life will provide not just professional fulfilment, but also fulfil their emotional and social needs. Being well aware of the isolation that is brought forth by the sudden shift to remote work in 2020, I moved to make Friday evening board games an essential part of the work week. It’s helped the team stay connected, spend time with each other in context outside of work, and learn more about each other as human beings.
5) Create spaces for informal conversations:
Before 2020, all online communication channels used by the company were only ever used for official company work. Being remote has necessitated the creation of online channels for non-official work. We leveraged Teams to help employees connect about their day to day activities, share photos of their hobbies and passions, and even help each other with house hunting in the city!
6) Emphasize the importance of in-person gatherings:
While virtual is good, in person is even better. The water-cooler discussions are typically this messy back and forth between people with fast paced, excited conversations and many people talking at once. I don’t think online meetings are a good place for many people to talk to each other at once, it just sounds like noise. For this reason, it was critically important to get the teams I work with to regularly spend time being co-located. Weekly in-office activities, our annual employee retreat, weekend hiking and camping activities have seen the support of many of our employees who have developed deeper bonds with their co workers after participating in such activities.
The 2020 global health crisis has made everyone reconsider their relationship with their work, their personal lives, and with their peers. As a people leader and mentor, I was happy to be able to help my team find the new work life dynamic that was best suited for their own lifestyles, and ensured a satisfying professional and personal experience at Fractal Ink.