Creating Company Culture in a Virtual Workspace

By Matthew Moran

Company culture may sound like just another buzzword - but it can be the differentiator between a good organization and a successful organization! Dr. Yemisi Bolade-Ogunfodun PhD, SFHEA has explained that “Organizational culture can be defined as the patterns of thinking and behaving that are recognized mainly and espoused. However, at the heart of culture is the issue of core values.”

For many years, a physical office was the birthplace and home of workplace culture. It was where the foundation was laid out by leadership: What people wear in the office, what time people come in, the type of seating arrangement, group lunch breaks, office amenities, and so forth. This all changed in March 2020 with the arrival of COVID-19. Social distancing became the best defense against contracting COVID-19, and with that came the death of the office space. WeWork, which had a valuation of $47 billion in 2019, filed for bankruptcy just four years later. While many factors led to this, the cultural death of the office space was a major factor in its ultimate demise. This shift can also be seen in a 2023 study done by Forbes Advisor which found that in America, an estimated 32.6 million people will be working remotely by 2025, this equates to about 22% of the workforce.?

Where do we go from here? Even though office space is no longer a guarantee, it doesn’t change the fact that a strong workplace culture remains foundational to a successful organization.

It may seem daunting or almost impossible to create a lasting robust company culture in a virtual workspace. However, in the article below I will share some of the ways we at Excell HCA have created and continue to use to uphold our company culture while being primarily remote.

Camera on!

When working remotely, the only communication you will have with your co-workers/clients day-to-day will be through calls. Therefore, it is imperative to make the most of these.

Part of doing so is making sure to always have your camera on! While it may not seem like a big deal to have your camera off since you can still hear and talk to the person, the truth is a lot is being left on the table. Studies have shown that only 7% of the information humans transmit is done so with the language used. Another 38% is transmitted through the way people speak. (quality of voice, accent, voice projection, emphasis, expression, pace, volume, pitch, etc.)

Finally, a whopping 55% is transmitted through body language. (posture, position, eye contact, facial expression, head and body movements, gestures, touch, etc.) Taking a meeting with your camera off not only makes both people feel less connected but also takes away people's best communication tool, body language. Next time you hop on a call remind yourself that turning your camera on will allow for a more seamless conversation.

Happy Hour with Engaging Games

Hosting a happy hour is usually the first thing people think about when they are looking for ways to engage their team. With good reason – as it requires little set-up and it’s something everyone is familiar with. However, if your team is relatively new to each other conversation may not flow as naturally.

Introducing a game to your team happy hour is the perfect way to help your team engage more easily and get to know each other a bit more. Some of the games we have done in the past include Family Feud, Price Is Right, Heads Up, and Wavelength. Not only do the games help get the conversation started but they are also team-building games that will help your organization build up their communication & collaboration skills in a fun relaxed environment.

Collaborative Meetings

To a certain extent, everyone can relate to being in a room with a blank whiteboard ready for a brainstorming session. These sessions often lead to positive outcomes as they allow a team to lay all their thoughts down to make connections and more importantly hear from everyone in the room.

When working fully remotely these whiteboard brainstorming sessions are not a possibility. While hoping on an all-hands call and taking notes works, you lose a lot of the benefits that come from a traditional in-office brainstorming session. This is where leveraging technology and finding creative solutions to adapt to a new landscape is important. My manager, David Cohen , ?introduced the team to a neat tool called Miro , which has become a staple in our workflow.

Miro allows users to create a customized “whiteboard” by adding boxes and color-coding different sections of the board, however, its standout feature is the ease of collaboration. Each Miro board has a unique URL that can be shared easily once users access the board, they are free to add text, move boxes around, and read what else others are putting on the board in real-time! This makes it easier for people to share their ideas, as it doesn’t require them to raise their hand on a call or have to find an opening in a call to share their ideas. In my experience, this tool also works well with breaking the ice in larger groups, as it allows the group to read what everyone else is thinking, find commonality, and start discussions from there.

Increase Face Time

“Watercooler conversations” are another tool that was lost along with the office space. While these informal chats between co-workers may seem like a small loss, the truth is that they served as a great starting point to building rapport and trust with your team members.

In a virtual workspace, the only time you see/get to interact with your team members is moments before a meeting and in a meeting. This leaves little to no room for informal non-work-related conversations. To counter this consider having weekly office hours. A 1-hour block where you and your team can hop on a call and continue doing the work you would normally be doing, but doing it together and chatting while doing so. If you want to add more personality to these meetings it helps to create a collaborative playlist for the meeting, you can share the link with your team and have them add their favorite songs to it. This will not only give the meeting a fun soundtrack but also allow you to find out what kind of music your co-workers are into! All great relationships start with small talk, so create an opportunity for that small talk!

Constant Communication

Lastly, it is important to always keep in mind that being fully remote means not having many casual opportunities to interact with your team. This decline in interactions can lead to miscommunication and/or a lack of team identity. An easy way to mitigate these effects is to keep your team in constant communication. Make sure your team group chat isn’t stagnant. Use it to ask questions to one another, share ideas, share updates, and send memes! This will slowly start building that all-important team chemistry and get your team used to communicating. Best of all this is something that can be done throughout the day!

Creating a strong company culture has always been challenging, it goes beyond simply having a mission statement and a couple of company outings a year. It requires dedication, a clear vision, and a team that believes in what they are working towards. Take away the office space and suddenly it can seem nearly impossible to create a company culture for your organization. However, it is important to remember that the same technology that allows companies to be fully virtual can also be the key to overcoming the challenges associated with the virtual workspace. Remember to leverage tools and more importantly be innovative!