Introduction

Shift to Remote Work and Its Impact on Traditional Office Culture

There are specific attributes that characterise the traditional office culture. Work 9-5 (in most cases), business attire, team workspaces, and business lunches are some of them. Remote work has become a thing in the last few years. During COVID, many jobs faced limitations on the number of people they could occupy. The decision to transition from a 5-day presence at work to a hybrid or even fully remote format definitely changed the entire workplace culture. Things have become more casual and much more fluid. The typical 9-5 work schedule has been adjusted to fit different individuals, sometimes even bypassed for professions that allow it, i.e., online customer service, graphics design, etc. Dress codes have become more relaxed in comparison to the strict ones of the traditional office culture, while at the same time, teams do not need to be in the same workspace when working on a project.

Figure 1 – An illustrative comparison between working from home and working on site (Dealer Support, 2023).
Figure 1 – An illustrative comparison between working from home and working on site (Dealer Support, 2023).

In general, it would be safe to say that remote work has changed the way businesses operate. In fact, more and more businesses prefer to allow their employees to work from home when they can and if an employee prefers to go to work every day. We could argue that remote vs. in-office work has plenty of benefits, yet there are instances where remote team collaboration is poor, and it has to be ensured that all team members can indeed collaborate remotely. In this article, we will examine how office culture has changed with the establishment of remote working format as a norm, and how workplace dynamics are influenced, and we will try to find the answer to how to collaborate effectively if your team is remote.

The Decline of Traditional Office Culture

How Remote Work Disrupts Face-to-Face Interactions

Surely enough, we save a lot of time when working from home. There is no need to commute to work, which means that we do not have to wake up much earlier than when we start working. If we do not need to turn on our camera, we also save money because we do not need to use as many cosmetics. However, the time you spend commuting to work, and even the process of getting dressed instead of working in your pyjamas or the people you meet on the metro or on the bus, is part of a routine that prepares you for the day. In addition to that, face-to-face interactions with your colleagues can really make your day. Remote work can potentially negatively affect the entire structure of a company. Hierarchy is not as strict, often skipped for the sake of getting things done faster. This is not only impolite and against office culture but also against the foundation of any company, often resulting in frustration among employees and team members alike.

Figure 2 – Lack of essential communication in the digital era, a situation that greatly spreads in the work environment (Newcom, n.d.).
Figure 2 – Lack of essential communication in the digital era, a situation that greatly spreads in the work environment (Newcom, n.d.).

The Challenges of Maintaining Corporate Culture Without Physical Presence

Let us now look at the bigger picture. Is it really possible to maintain a corporate culture without being there? Remote work can indeed disrupt the interaction between team members, often leading to poor employee engagement due to a lack of sense of belonging or frustration. People are social beings and operate better in routines, and skipping these can be devastating for the evolution of a company. Physical presence at work means more direct interactions and effective communication with fewer misunderstandings and certainly helps employees set work-life boundaries. Moreover, individuals who never leave their homes to go to work or to or hobby activities have higher chances of becoming workaholics, and for some people, going to work is their only interaction with the outside world. Working remotely takes that away from them, potentially leading to a depressive attitude that only worsens over time (Forbes. Chamorro-Premuzic, 30.09.2024).

Remote Collaboration and Employee Engagement

The Role of Collaboration Tools in Improving Employee Engagement

Are you familiar with ‘Zoom fatigue’? Well, it is not made up. People who mostly participate in online meetings express more fatigue than those who go to work. Fatigue is as physical as it is emotional. Regarding physical fatigue, it is definitely not healthy to be in front of a screen for an extended period of time. Emotionally, the reason is that people expect to engage in some sort of fulfilment when seeing their work friends, yet the lack of physical contact makes this impossible, making their brains feel depressed due to their basic need for connection not being met. Furthermore, studies have shown that when we are so close to someone’s face (even digitally), our brains are in a hyper-aroused state (Ramachandran, 2021). Therefore, it is mandatory to improve our collaboration tools so that employee health and overall engagement remain intact.

When working from home, you are cut off from many things, such as socialising. Also, you spend a lot of time in front of your computer screen, not only during work but also during lunch breaks. Indeed, if a project is demanding or a deadline is approaching and the team is behind, we are going to spend more time working. However, if this becomes the standard approach of a company constantly, it is sure that many team members are not going to be happy, often becoming depressive, which could increase the likelihood of burnout. As managers, it is good to remind the team to take a break every so often. Why can’t a remote collaboration tool remind them to do the same? Or, might we say, even force them! Short breaks during work can definitely help the mind empty, making it more focused while working, resulting in increased employee engagement. If the tools that the employees used were built in a way that promoted production through proper use, the work-life balance could be kept intact.

Enhancing Communication and Teamwork in a Virtual Environment

So far, it has been established that communicating online is not the optimal thing to do. It is easier for employees who work remotely to skip or neglect tasks, probably due to the lack of checks on their productivity. Furthermore, the lack of physical interaction during these checks could reduce the amount of ‘guilt’ on the employee side. Since virtual environments have become an extension of our workplace when working remotely, why not make them so that communication and teamwork are enhanced? Is there a solution? Thankfully, yes, and all the tools we need are out there. Team chat? Check. Calls? Double check. Video calls? Triple check!

Maintaining a Positive Company Culture with Remote Work

Strategies for Preserving Company-Wide Culture Remotely

Undoubtedly, the transition from working full-time to working remotely happened very quickly. The idea of being free to work in total freedom can alter the concept of office culture, yet it is the company that is responsible for its employees. Just as employees should adjust to the guidelines of the company they work for, companies also need to adjust to the new status quo to create the right conditions to optimise productivity. It would be naïve for a company to expect the same results between a typical 9-5 and a fully remote employee. We believe that each company should come up with its own strategy or solutions on how to maintain a company culture remotely. Such solutions might include a set of rules, i.e., a regular check on the work environment, clothing, or start and finish time (if the typical 9-5 must be followed), making compliance with these rules mandatory. Solutions such as these are not meant to limit the freedom of employees but rather to establish the foundation for company-wide behaviour during working hours, thus maintaining a positive work environment.

Figure 3 – How remote working can affect clothing by at least 50% (Adamedes, 2018).
Figure 3 – How remote working can affect clothing by at least 50% (Adamedes, 2018).

The Importance of Mentorship Programmes and Leadership Initiatives in a Virtual Workspace

A virtual workspace is not that different from a physical one, yet it has its own twists; hence, it is important to correctly train employees on how to have a corporate attitude when using one. This goal could be achieved through mentorship programmes and leadership initiatives for virtual workspaces. Communication in real life is much more direct than when we are behind a screen, making soft skills and work ethic even more important. A trained mentor could transfer their knowledge to a newcomer (or a mentee in general), providing them with the necessary tools on how to handle situations in the digital world. The trainee can then become a business leader in different initiatives within the company, properly applying the knowledge they have received in real life. The true benefit of virtual mentorship programmes is not only the possibility to train a higher number of mentees simultaneously from a larger pool of mentors, but with the power of asynchronous training, a company can reach out to people from every part of the world, attracting individuals who otherwise could not have such a chance (Schnieders, 2020).

How Remote Collaboration Redefines Office Dynamics

Redefining Employee Roles, Autonomy, and Accountability

To ensure that the full potential of a company is reached during remote work, we need to ensure intact office dynamics. A similar set of rules or guidelines, such as those suggested above, could be a way to seal performance, yet a company must be flexible and understand the individual needs of its employees. How employees feel can affect their performance in the long term, and job satisfaction has proven to be key to someone’s balance. Therefore, it is almost mandatory for a company to be lenient with the degree of autonomy of an employee, but accountability for one’s actions must be clearly stated when defining employee roles during remote collaboration.

Figure 4 – Being part of a team is like a gear being part of a mechanism (We School, 2023).
Figure 4 – Being part of a team is like a gear being part of a mechanism (We School, 2023).

Impact of Remote Work on Customer Service and Client Relations

Companies are mainly established to offer services or goods, targeting either other companies or individuals. A company does not only wish to acquire new clients, but also retain them, and the way to do it is through building a trust-based relationship. On the one hand, building such relationships can be tricky when working remotely, mainly towards individuals who are not as accustomed to digital communication and prefer face-to-face contact. On the other hand, customer service has never been easier. Accepting support requests before, during, or after a product or a service has been purchased means faster processing speed, increased efficiency, and reduced costs.

Long-Term Effects of Remote Work on Employee Retention

How Remote Collaboration Tools Can Improve Employee Retention

Some people prefer working offline. But what happens when your plans change? Maybe someone needs to be absent for a while, or maybe someone is forced to relocate to a place where it is impossible to commute to work. Companies establishing partnerships with individuals from afar is not a new concept. This enhances the feeling of diversity, equity, and inclusion in a company. A talented professional can certainly fit into a remote work environment. All it takes is proper planning and guidance from the project leader, making sure to take advantage of the benefits of online workspaces to their maximum.

Adapting Corporate Culture to Retain Talent in a Remote Work Environment

If an employee is truly an asset to a company, it would be foolish to let them go for technicalities, considering the fact that we live in a digital era. Employee retention is an easy task with remote collaboration tools. Meetings can still be held, projects can be delivered on time, and such flexibility, in general, is definitely something that an employee would appreciate. In conclusion, people want to be as free as possible. In the long term, remote work surely solves the addressed problem, providing flexibility, working conditions that are mostly favourable for the employee, and, most likely, talent retention.

Conclusion

Summary of Remote Collaboration in Redefining Office Culture

Considering all that was mentioned in this article, we think you would agree that, without a doubt, working and collaborating remotely has definitely reformed office culture. The need for physical presence on the job to get things done has been eliminated, work schedules have become more flexible, and teams can consist of members from any part of the world, working asynchronously but following the management’s project plan. Such a scenario would have been sci-fi 30 or even 20 years ago, yet here we are, enjoying all the benefits of remote collaboration!

Who knows what the future holds for remote workers? It is one of those cases where it is almost impossible to imagine. We already have the Internet connecting us all, video conferencing has solved the issue of remote live communication, and the Internet has become fast and accessible even in isolated parts of the world. Perhaps in the distant future, the means of communication we have now will become obsolete and replaced by other more advanced methods that our minds cannot perceive now. Of course, something like this won’t happen overnight. Therefore, it is safe to say that in the near future, we could easily expect improvements in the means we now have. Perhaps better interfaces? Perhaps an improved interaction? Time will tell.

List of References