Building company culture across miles and screens feels like trying to grow a garden in different climate zones. You know it’s possible, but the usual methods just don’t apply. After watching my last startup crumble partly due to our disconnected remote team, I’ve become somewhat obsessed with solving this puzzle.
Remote work isn’t just a pandemic hangover it’s here to stay. According to Buffer’s 2023 State of Remote Work report, 98% of remote workers want to continue working remotely, at least part-time, for the rest of their careers. Yet many companies struggle to transfer their in-office culture to virtual environments.
Creating meaningful connections between people who rarely (if ever) meet face-to-face requires deliberate action. The casual conversations by the coffee machine, impromptu lunch outings, and Friday happy hours don’t happen naturally in remote settings. But that doesn’t mean remote teams can’t build cultures that rival or even surpass traditional office environments.
Beyond Zoom Happy Hours
Let’s be honest: forced fun isn’t fun. Many companies’ first attempt at remote culture building involves scheduling virtual happy hours where everyone awkwardly stares at each other while sipping beverages in different time zones. While these gatherings can occasionally serve a purpose, they barely scratch the surface of true culture building.
A stronger approach focuses on creating systems and rituals that reinforce your values daily, not just during designated “culture time.” Take Gitlab, a company that’s been fully remote since its inception. They maintain a 3,000+ page handbook documenting everything about their company, including their culture. This transparency gives every team member access to the same information and expectations, regardless of location.
Buffer takes a different approach by practicing “default to transparency.” They publish their salaries, equity formulas, and even their revenue. This radical openness creates trust among team members who never meet in person.
What works for your team depends on your specific values. Do you value creativity? Try starting meetings with a quick round of show-and-tell where team members share something inspiring they’ve encountered recently. Value accountability? Create public dashboards where everyone can see progress toward goals.
The key is consistency. One-off events don’t build culture regular practices do. As Jason Fried from Basecamp writes in “Remote: Office Not Required,” remote culture is built through “deliberate practices repeated over time.”
My own failed startup attempted weekly virtual game nights, but they fizzled out after a month because they weren’t connected to our actual work or values. They felt like an add-on rather than an integral part of how we operated.
Communication That Builds Community
Remote teams live and die by their communication practices. Without thoughtful communication structures, remote workers quickly feel isolated or out of the loop.
Asynchronous communication where responses aren’t expected immediately forms the backbone of successful remote teams. This approach acknowledges that team members work in different time zones and have different productive periods throughout the day.
Documentation becomes crucial in async environments. When a team member in Tokyo needs information from a colleague in Toronto who’s currently asleep, comprehensive documentation prevents bottlenecks. Companies like Doist (makers of Todoist) solve this by creating extensive internal wikis and encouraging detailed updates that anyone can access at any time.
But async communication alone can feel cold. Personal connections still matter tremendously. Research from MIT’s Human Dynamics Laboratory found that the most productive teams have frequent informal communications. For remote teams, this means creating dedicated spaces for non-work conversations.
Many successful remote companies use Slack channels for interests ranging from parenting to pet photos to cooking. These digital water coolers allow for the serendipitous connections that happen naturally in physical offices.
Video calls still play an important role, particularly for complex discussions or emotional topics. But they should be purposeful and well-structured. Nothing kills remote culture faster than feeling like your time is being wasted in pointless meetings.
I learned this lesson the hard way with my second startup. We overcorrected from too little communication to mandatory daily video standups that lasted an hour. Team members resented these time-consuming meetings that often had little relevance to their work. We would have been better served by brief written updates and fewer, more focused video sessions.
Hiring and Onboarding for Remote Success
Remote culture begins before a new team member ever logs in for their first day. The hiring process should screen not just for skills but for remote work aptitude and cultural alignment.
Look for candidates who demonstrate self-motivation, strong written communication skills, and comfort with ambiguity all crucial traits for remote work success. Ask about their previous remote experience, how they structure their workday, and how they stay connected to teammates.
Once hired, onboarding becomes your first major culture-building opportunity. Thoughtful remote onboarding helps new team members feel welcome and aligned with company values from day one.
Zapier pairs each new hire with an onboarding buddy who guides them through their first weeks. GitLab assigns specific tasks designed to introduce new team members to different aspects of the company culture. Both approaches recognize that remote onboarding requires more structure than simply showing someone to their desk.
Documentation again plays a crucial role. A comprehensive onboarding guide prevents new hires from feeling lost or hesitant to ask “obvious” questions. The guide should cover not just technical processes but cultural norms: How quickly are people expected to respond to messages? When should someone use chat versus email versus a video call? What level of formality is expected in communications?
My third startup actually did this part well. We created detailed onboarding documentation and scheduled one-on-one video calls with each team member during a new hire’s first week. New team members consistently reported feeling welcomed and prepared, even though they’d never met anyone in person.
Trust Through Autonomy and Accountability
Remote work requires a fundamental shift in management philosophy from monitoring presence to measuring outcomes. When managers can’t see team members working, they must trust that work is happening and focus on results rather than activity.
This shift benefits both companies and workers. Research from the University of Stanford found that remote workers were 13% more productive than their in-office counterparts, largely due to fewer distractions and more autonomy over their work environment.
Building this trust requires clear expectations and consistent accountability systems. Remote teams thrive when everyone knows what success looks like and how it will be measured. OKRs (Objectives and Key Results), public project trackers, and regular check-ins on progress all help maintain accountability without micromanagement.
Automattic (WordPress.com’s parent company) takes this outcome-focused approach to an extreme. They care little about when or how long their employees work, focusing instead on the quality and impact of what they produce. This level of autonomy attracts self-motivated professionals who value flexibility and take pride in their work.
Trust also requires vulnerability. Remote leaders should acknowledge mistakes, share challenges, and invite feedback. When team members see leaders demonstrating vulnerability, they feel safer doing the same, creating an environment where problems can be addressed openly rather than hidden.
The most successful remote cultures balance high expectations with high support. Team members know they’ll be held accountable for results but also know they can access the resources, guidance, and flexibility they need to achieve them.
Remote work isn’t going anywhere. The companies that thrive will be those that intentionally build cultures that connect and inspire their distributed teams. This doesn’t happen by accident or by replicating office-based practices in digital environments. It requires rethinking how we communicate, collaborate, and connect across distance.
The good news? When done well, remote culture can actually be stronger than traditional office culture because it must be built deliberately rather than left to chance. Every practice must be chosen with purpose, every value actively reinforced.
After three startups two with failing remote cultures and one where we finally started getting it right I’ve learned that remote culture isn’t about fancy tools or forced social events. It’s about creating an environment where people feel connected to a shared mission and to each other, regardless of physical location. That’s a challenge worth solving, and the companies that do will have a significant competitive advantage in attracting and retaining the best talent worldwide.
