Building a Strong Team Culture in a Hybrid or Remote Workplace

Building and maintaining a strong team culture is challenging enough in person, add distance into the mix and it can feel even more daunting.  

Can you really build a strong team culture when half, or more, of your team is online? Absolutely.  

In fact, company culture matters more than ever in hybrid and remote settings. A recent survey found that 67% of workers believe culture is more critical to success than strategy or operations. Yet only 21% of U.S. employees feel connected to their company’s culture.  

The good news is that team culture can thrive outside a traditional office. How? Keep reading and we’ll break down practical steps to build an engaged team, no matter where they’re working. 

How Remote Work Impacts Company Culture 

There are a staggering number of benefits that come from working remotely, and most companies are now catching on. Since the onset of the work from home era, employees have reaped numerous benefits. Flexibility, avoiding long commutes (which significantly impacted job satisfaction), and maintaining a distraction-free workplace are all just the tip of the iceberg.  

Businesses have also saved on office management costs, a major win in costly cities like New York City and Toronto and can now recruit top talent internationally. However, with benefits come downsides, and remote work is no exception to that.  

In this case, it’s the impact on the company’s most precious asset: Company culture. 😥 

With charity events, business conferences, happy hours, meetings, or pretty much anything that brought people together being moved to the confines of a screen, maintaining company culture can be difficult. Even in the current digital age, nothing can substitute the real-life presence of people when collaboration, creativity, and communication are called for. 

But fear not, keep reading for 7 foolproof ways to build a strong team culture in a remote or hybrid setting. 

8 Ways to Build a Strong Remote Team Culture

#1 Define and Share Your Core Values 

Start by clarifying what team culture should look like at your organization.  

Ask yourself: What does our company stand for? Transparency? Innovation? Work-life balance?  

Write down a mission statement or a list of core values that you want every team member to embrace. Make sure they’re clearly defined and documented. This becomes the foundation on which everything else is built. 

For example, if balance or employee wellness is one of your pillars, this is a great time to clarify how your team handles time off and how you’re making that process more transparent and fairer. 

Don’t just define your values internally, share them widely in onboarding materials, employee handbooks, and even on your website or job postings. This way, current and prospective team members know what your company is all about from day one.   

#2 Hire and Onboard with Culture in Mind 

Every new person who joins your team will contribute, by either reinforcing or helping to reshape your culture. That’s why it’s crucial to hire with this in mind.  

During the hiring process for remote or hybrid roles, look past skills and experience and seek out candidates who align with your company’s values and ways of working. Ask interview questions about their work style and experience with a remote or hybrid working environment.  

Once you’ve brought the right people in, create a thoughtful onboarding process that is more than signing HR forms. Remember that this is the new hire’s first impression of your team culture, make them feel welcomed and connected from the get-go.  

Consider these easy strategies: 

• Welcome email: Send a welcome email before their first day with information about your culture and what to expect. Share your team values, the company handbook, and anything else you’d like them to know about your team or culture, including leave policies or other benefits. 
• Buddy system: Pair each new hire with a virtual buddy, a teammate who can show them the ropes, answer questions, and regularly check in.  
• Team meet-and-greets: Schedule video calls with key team members from different departments. Let the new hire put faces to names and understand everyone’s role and how the team collaborates. 

Bonus onboarding tip: Give new hires insight into how time off is managed and take the time to explain your company’s PTO policies to them. New employees are often reluctant to ask for time off, often because they don’t know how or if they’re even allowed to. Informing them from day one will not only make them feel like they’re part of the team, but it will also make them feel comfortable enough to request time off when they need it.  

A good onboarding experience sets the right tone and shows that even if you’re not in a physical office, your team is connected. It helps newcomers feel part of the team early, which is essential for engagement and retention. 

#3 Communicate, Communicate, Communicate! 

In hybrid and remote teams, communication is what drives culture. Without the casual office chatter or team lunches, you have to create opportunities for interaction. 

Make a habit of regular check-ins. A quick daily stand-up video call or a Monday morning catch-up can work wonders. These don’t need to be long, it’s all about consistency.  Leaders should also be visible and accessible. Consider a weekly Q&A session or office hours on Zoom where team members can drop in. 

While communication is great for alignment and productivity, don’t only talk about work. Casual convos and personal updates help your team connect on a human level.  

If your team is a mixture of remote and in-office employees, strategize to make sure remote employees feel equally involved in every discussion. This prevents remote employees feeling like they are not part of the team and instead allows everyone's voice to be heard. 

#4 Create Opportunities for Connection

A strong culture thrives on relationships. People who feel connected will communicate and collaborate better. In a remote or hybrid world, you have to create those connections by scheduling regular team-building activities. 

For example, host virtual team events like trivia nights or casual video call hangouts over coffee. Even a 15-minute game or icebreaker during a team meeting can lighten the mood and bring folks closer. The idea is to replicate those bonding moments that happen naturally in an office. 

For hybrid teams, don’t forget in-person meetups if possible. Try organizing occasional on-site offsites or team retreats where everyone gets together face-to-face. If geography or budget makes that hard, even small local meetups with regional team members can help create stronger connections. 

#5 Make PTO a Priority 

When we think about team culture, it all boils down to employee wellness and happiness. We want our employees to feel their best so they can perform their best. While a lot of that happens in the (real or remote) office, giving them some time away to recharge often has them coming back more energized than ever.  

We know time off is important yet over 40% of US workers do not use all their PTO. With over 60% of Americans experiencing burnout, it’s rather clear why making time off feel accessible is essential. 

Want to learn more about preventing burnout? Watch our Webinar: Burnout? Fired. Here's How to Keep Your Team Going Strong

When leadership encourages time off, it sends a powerful message that the company genuinely cares about work-life balance. It helps reduce remote burnout, improves productivity, and fosters a healthier and more sustainable work environment. 

Encouraging vacation also helps normalize rest across your team. Without the subtle peer pressure of always being "on," team members are more likely to recharge fully and return more engaged. 

Tools like Vacation Tracker help reinforce this mindset by making it easy to request, approve, and view time off. This helps create a culture where taking PTO is not only accepted but also expected. 

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#6 Lead by Example 

Culture starts with leadership. In a hybrid or remote workplace, building trust and psychological safety is essential. Team members should feel they can speak up, share ideas, and even admit mistakes without fear for your team culture to flourish. 

Leaders and managers need to model these behaviors. For example, if you value balance, don’t send 11PM emails or praise 60-hour workweeks. Encourage employees to truly disconnect during vacations, clearly communicating policies around PTO and leave-taking. 

Show empathy in your communications and be mindful of different time zones and work schedules. For instance, avoid scheduling meetings at odd hours for remote folks, and respect boundaries like vacation time. 

Trust is a two-way street. Trust your employees to do their jobs without micromanagement. Hybrid and remote setups work best when you focus on results, not hours. When employees feel respected, they’re more likely to go the extra mile and invest in the team’s success. 

Additionally, encourage open dialogue and feedback. Make it clear that constructive input is welcome. You might set up an anonymous suggestion box (digital, of course) or do periodic surveys to gauge how people feel about their job, the company, and the culture.  

#7 Recognize and Celebrate Your Team 

One of the quickest ways to strengthen team culture is to celebrate wins. In the office, recognition might happen naturally with a shout-out in a meeting or a quick stand up. But it’s less obvious in distributed settings. 

Remote teams need to also make recognition a regular part of their culture. This can be as simple as a dedicated Slack channel for kudos where anyone can thank a colleague for helping out or doing awesome work. Managers should take the lead in praising good work publicly, whether in team emails or during video calls. 

Consider formal recognition programs as well. Some companies use peer-recognition software like Hey Taco and even send small gifts to recognize milestones like work anniversaries. The method matters less than the message you’re sending to your employees: You see and appreciate them. This reinforces positive behaviors and makes folks feel connected to the team’s success. 

#8 Keep Adapting 

Building a strong team culture is not a one-and-done project. It’s an ongoing process.  

Regularly check in on your team. Use short surveys or one-on-one check-ins to ask how things are going. Are people feeling included? Stressed? Motivated? Use those insights to adjust your approach. 

It can help to create a social committee, often a small team of employees focused on team building, to make sure culture is always top of mind. Their role is to plan engaging activities and ensure the company values are being lived day-to-day. But even if you don’t have dedicated staff for this, everyone should be empowered to contribute ideas.  

Finally, be patient and persistent. Building a strong hybrid and remote culture takes time. There may be bumps along the way but keep going, over time, your efforts will form a positive, supportive environment. 

Recap

While remote and hybrid work continues to be popular amongst employees and employers alike, it does not come without challenges. Keeping your remote team engaged and aligned can pose a challenge when there is little to no face-to-face interaction.  

Building a strong team culture requires a small shift in your company philosophy, making values front and center from recruitment, onboarding, and in your day-to-day operations. It will also require some work on the communication front, ensuring your team is making time to discuss work as well as bonding through more informal communication, and making it a habit to offer some recognition. 

These are all habits and processes that, while quite simple and accessible, will require some time to shift your employee's mentality.  

If your company culture needs an instant boost, try implementing a leave management system.

Vacation Tracker takes just 30 minutes to set up and suddenly, your team gains total visibility over their time off quotas, they feel empowered and comfortable with taking time off when needed and get an easy overview of team leave and holiday calendars. Plus, they enjoy full transparency, knowing that time off rules are being applied fairly and consistently. 

Sound like an easy win? Try it now.  

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