- 1. Formulate your company\u2019s values\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 2. Communicate your expectations\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 3. Define roles and responsibilities\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 4. Establish a strong onboarding process\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 5. Talk with your team\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 6. Check up on each other\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 7. Set up regular virtual meetings with clear agenda\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 8. Encourage your team to configure notifications<\/a><\/li>
- 9. Create polls for discussing new ideas\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
- 10. Track your team\u2019s wellbeing\u00a0<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nHow to build a healthy remote work culture with Microsoft Teams?<\/strong> <\/h2>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n1. Formulate your company\u2019s values <\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nFirst things first \u2013 before nourishing your work culture, you need to take time to formulate your company\u2019s values. Holloway<\/a> describes it as a key step for driving business success. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These values serve as a compass for decision-making and inspiration to work towards achieving collective goal. You also attract the \u2018right\u2019 talents that share your values and demonstrate to your clients and partners what your organization stands for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In order to formulate your company\u2019s values, ask yourself: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- What\u2019s the most important thing to your company? <\/li>
- What would you like to achieve? <\/li>
- What do you strive for? <\/li>
- Which qualities do you value most? <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n
Here\u2019s an example of values by Coca-Cola<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Coca-Cola](\"https:\/\/www.coca-colacompany.com\/content\/dam\/journey\/us\/en\/careers\/coca-cola-values.gif\")
\u00a9 The Coca-Cola Company<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n Make sure to communicate your company\u2019s values both to your staff and external stakeholders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
It is not enough to share them once at a corporate meeting. Your values should be visible to everyone at their workplace and be a part of your communication strategy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do so with Microsoft 365, create a SharePoint Site where you would describe your company\u2019s culture, way of working, roles and responsibilities, and include a section of your company\u2019s values. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Make this site a tab in the General channel of your organization\u2019s corporate team to ensure it\u2019s accessible and visible to everyone in the company. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You could also leverage Microsoft Teams Live Event capability to communicate your company’s values and culture in a remote way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"remote](\"https:\/\/docs.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoftteams\/media\/teams-live-events-external-encoder.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n2. Communicate your expectations<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nIt is important to establish rules of remote working specific to your organization. Let your remote workers know what is expected from them.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do they have to work 9-5 or are they are free to choose their own schedule? Or perhaps they will need to be present at certain meetings at a dedicated time and the rest of the working day they are free to stick to their own working hours?\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Flexible working day can mean different things for different people. To avoid any confusion, set up how many hours you expect employees to work: when to start, when to finish, how much work should be done, and so on. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try to give as many details as possible and make sure to share these rules in advance so that they know what they\u2019re signing up for. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"remote](\"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/remote-work-1.png\")
<\/a>\u00a9 Betterteam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n In Microsoft Teams, if you create an Onboarding team for each of your new hire, you can specify these rules in a word document and then add it as a tab in a specific channel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
If you decide to follow our previous recommendation and create a SharePoint Site where you would formulate your company\u2019s culture and values, you can also add a page describing remote working rules and expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
En savoir plus<\/a> about how you can use SharePoint in your organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n3. Define roles and responsibilities<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\nAnother important moment. It often happens in the workplace that a person takes charge of activities that are not their direct responsibilities. Or the other way around, an employee is supposed to be in charge of certain tasks but has no idea about it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This happens due to lack of communication and written documents stating roles and duties of the staff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To address this issue, you can create a document, formulating responsibilities of all the different departments within your company. If you work in a big organization, you can ask managers of each department to specify duties for each employee. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Do not leave it entirely up to your employees to decide who\u2019s in charge of what. It is great if they can do it, but oftentimes they will need help to distribute tasks, especially in young teams. This way you\u2019ll make sure all the activities are covered and no tasks are repeated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Add these guidelines in your SharePoint Site or write them in a Word document and as a tab in relevant teams to make sure this information is accessible to everyone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n4. Establish a strong onboarding process<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Difficult onboarding is one of the greatest challenges of remote working, that we discuss in detail in our article Remote Working Pros and Cons<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Fresh grads are not the only ones who need help, even experienced professionals will need assistance to adjust to a new environment and learn about new responsibilities. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make this initial period less stressful for your new hires, establish a strong onboarding process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can easily do it with Planner with Microsoft Teams. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
(P.S. This is exactly how we do the onboarding here at SalesTim) <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"Remote](\"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot_2-1024x618.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nCreate a list of tasks for your new employees, add comments to each of them to help them understand what they need to do. Attach files and links to learning materials, tutorials and other documents they need to work on. You will be able to track their progress and help them set deadlines for different tasks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nWould you like to have a pre-built onboarding template with pre-configured tabs and apps? There are lots of cas d'utilisation<\/a> that you can benefit from. Contact us<\/a> and we’ll help you get the best out of Teams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\nAnd don\u2019t forget to introduce new hires to the whole team through a virtual meeting. This will make them feel welcomed and will set you on the right track for establishing good working relationships within a team. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To make these virtual meetings more engaging and to break the ice you can prepare a list of creative questions that will help your team members better know each other. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n5. Talk with your team<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
It\u2019s hard to be productive 100% of our working time. We need breaks, some distractions or simply switch to a different work activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try using it as a way to connect with your employees. Create a Fun channel in your team where your teammates will share not work-related stuff. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"remote](\"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/woman-working-remotely-from-home-with-laptop-and-d-URKJKFR-1024x683.jpg\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\nChoose a day, say Friday, and dedicate a specific time when you will engage with your team through this channel. You can ask them to share their experience during certain events or simply ask everyone to answer simple questions. For example: What made your week? What made you smile today? What\u2019s the last song you listened to? What are you going to do this weekend? What\u2019s your spirit animal? <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These questions will help you understand your colleagues on a more personal level and can help establish a bond with your colleagues. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n6. Check up on each other<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Your remote workers might miss coffee and lunch breaks at the office when they could socialize with their colleagues. Encourage having virtual breaks, or set up a specific day and time where you will gather all of your team in a virtual meeting and just have a talk for 15-20 minutes about how everyone\u2019s day goes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
See how well your team responds to this kind of meetings and if you get a positive feedback, make it a weekly thing! This will foster team spirit and motivate your staff for the whole week ahead. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To do so, you will just need to use Calendar in Microsoft Teams, configure the day and time of the meeting and choose to repeat it weekly. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n7. Set up regular virtual meetings with clear agenda<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
One of the challenges of remote working in some organizations is overcompensating for the lack of physical presence in the office by organizing multiple virtual meetings. In order to avoid that and to foster remote work culture, make sure that all the meetings have a clear agenda. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Plan every meeting beforehand, communicate to your team what kind of topics will be discussed at each meeting. This will help them organize their work better, prepare questions in advance, and plan their weekly work. Additionally, it will help you avoid holding ad-hoc meetings each time a new question arises, unless it is an urgent matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Set up monthly meetings for analyzing your organization\u2019s, department\u2019s or team\u2019s performance, weekly meetings for reviews of specific tasks, etc. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Try to give your meetings a structure. This will ensure you and your teams get the most value out of team meetings and will have more time on performing their main duties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To ensure the time for these meetings suits everyone in a team, use Scheduling assistant in Microsoft Teams that will help you choose the right time slot. Then choose the frequency of the meeting, and you\u2019re all set. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n8. Encourage your team to configure notifications<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When working remotely, it can be hard to separate your working life from your personal life since they intertwine in the same space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/nboldapp.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Screenshot-2020-10-30-at-17.59.19-176x300.png\")
<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nEveryone should feel free to work whenever they are more productive, that might be on a Sunday night. But at the same time, others might prefer to spend this time with their families and shouldn\u2019t feel obliged to reply to a message sent outside their working hours. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
An essential point of a healthy remote work culture is to encourage maintaining the work-life balance and letting your remote teams know that their well-being and personal time matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Encourage them to configure notifications in Microsoft Teams on weekends and outside working hours.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Additionally, it will help them stay concentrated on their job if they set a not-disturb mode while working on an important task. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Having personal space while working and especially after work is important to avoid burn-outs and increase job satisfaction. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/div>\n\n\n\n9. Create polls for discussing new ideas<\/strong> <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If you\u2019d like to get your workers\u2019 opinion on some ideas or proposals (e.g. teambuilding activities, the color palette of a post for your social media campaign, Christmas presents, etc.) try engaging them through polls and surveys. There are a variety of apps that you could use for it, both from Microsoft and third parties. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
- 2. Communicate your expectations\u00a0\u00a0<\/a><\/li>
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/support.content.office.net\/en-us\/media\/10cfe240-db8d-47fd-b0f3-acc2963047d9.png\")
<\/figure>\n\n\n\n