How to Build a Strong Company Culture with Remote Teams

Remote work has gone from rare perk to standard practice. Companies everywhere have discovered that work can happen from anywhere. But along with the benefits come new challenges—especially when it comes to culture.

How do you build connection when people never meet in person? How do you maintain company values across different time zones? How do you make sure remote employees feel like part of the team?

This guide answers those questions with practical strategies that work for remote teams of any size.

The Remote Culture Challenge

Culture doesn't happen by accident. In an office, culture develops through daily interactions. Conversations in the break room. Lunch with coworkers. Overhearing a joke across the desk. These small moments add up to shape how people feel about work.

Remote work removes those organic moments. Without intentional effort, remote employees can feel isolated and disconnected. They miss the context that helps them understand how things work. They may not know their coworkers beyond their job function.

This doesn't mean remote teams can't have great culture. They absolutely can. But you have to build it on purpose.

Start with Clear Values

Strong culture starts with clear values. What does your company stand for? What behaviors do you expect? How should people treat each other?

Write these down. Make them specific enough to be meaningful. "We value teamwork" doesn't tell people much. "We share information openly and ask for help early" gives clear direction.

Then live those values visibly. As a leader, model the behaviors you want to see. Recognize people who demonstrate company values. Make values part of hiring and performance conversations.

Remote employees need these guideposts even more than office workers. Without daily observation, values are their compass for how to act.

Over-Communicate by Default

In remote work, there's no such thing as too much communication. The context that office workers absorb naturally must be shared explicitly with remote teams.

Share more information than you think necessary. Explain the "why" behind decisions. Repeat important messages across multiple channels.

Create regular communication rhythms:

• Daily standups or check-ins (brief, focused)
• Weekly team meetings
• Monthly all-hands or town halls
• Quarterly goals and progress updates

Use multiple formats. Some information works best in writing. Other topics need video or live discussion. Match the format to the message.

Most importantly, create space for two-way communication. Remote employees should feel comfortable speaking up, asking questions, and sharing concerns.

Make Connection Intentional

In an office, you bump into people. Remote work requires deliberate effort to build relationships.

Schedule virtual coffee chats or lunches. Pair employees from different teams for informal conversations. Create Slack channels for non-work interests—hobbies, pets, books, cooking.

Start video meetings with a few minutes of personal check-in. Ask about weekends, families, or what people are watching. These small moments build the human connections that make work more enjoyable.

Consider occasional in-person gatherings if budget allows. Even one or two meetups per year can strengthen relationships significantly.

For the daily grind, video on during meetings makes a difference. Seeing faces helps people feel connected in ways that voice alone cannot.

Create Shared Experiences

Culture forms through shared experiences. Remote teams need to create these intentionally.

Celebrate wins together. When the team achieves something, make it a moment. Virtual parties, recognition posts, or small gifts can mark milestones.

Run team challenges or activities. Book clubs, fitness challenges, or learning groups give people something to bond over beyond work tasks.

Mark important dates. Work anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays provide opportunities to celebrate together.

Even difficult moments can build culture. How you handle challenges as a team shapes identity. Be transparent during hard times and face problems together.

Set Standards for Remote Work

Remote work works best with clear expectations. Don't assume everyone knows how to work remotely well.

Define working hours expectations. Does everyone need to overlap certain hours? How quickly should messages get responses? When is it okay to go offline?

Establish communication norms. Which channels for what purposes? When to use async vs. sync? How to indicate urgency?

Set expectations for meetings. Cameras on or off? How to run effective virtual meetings? What deserves a meeting vs. an email?

Create guidelines for documentation. Remote teams need things written down more than office teams. Decisions, processes, and knowledge should be captured and accessible.

These standards reduce confusion and help new people get up to speed faster.

Support Individual Well-Being

Remote work can blur the line between work and life. Without commute bookends, some people work all the time. Others struggle with isolation or motivation.

Check in regularly on how people are doing—not just what they're doing. Watch for signs of burnout or disconnection.

Encourage boundaries. Model healthy work habits yourself. Don't send late-night messages that set expectations for constant availability.

Provide resources for remote work challenges. Stipends for home office equipment. Access to mental health support. Tips for staying focused and healthy while working from home.

Remember that remote circumstances vary. Someone with a dedicated office faces different challenges than someone working from a small apartment with roommates. Be flexible and understanding.

Hire for Remote Success

Not everyone thrives in remote work. Some people need the energy of an office. Others struggle with self-motivation without structure.

When hiring for remote roles, assess remote-specific skills:

• Self-direction and motivation
• Written communication ability
• Proactive communication style
• Time management
• Comfort with technology

During interviews, use remote methods. Video calls and async exercises reveal how candidates communicate remotely. A great in-person interviewer might struggle on camera.

Set new hires up for success with thorough remote onboarding. Don't just dump them into Slack and hope for the best. Create structure, assign a buddy, and check in frequently during the first weeks.

Measure and Adapt

Culture isn't set and forget. Check regularly on how remote employees are experiencing work.

Run engagement surveys with questions specific to remote work. Are people feeling connected? Do they have what they need? Are communication channels working?

Look at metrics like turnover, participation in optional activities, and response to company initiatives.

Most importantly, talk to people. One-on-one conversations reveal nuances that surveys miss. Create safety for honest feedback.

When problems emerge, address them. Culture degrades when issues are ignored. Show your team that their experience matters by acting on what you learn.

Building Something Special

Remote teams face unique challenges, but they also have unique opportunities. Without geographic limits, you can hire the best people anywhere. Without office politics and interruptions, people can do deep work. Without commutes, employees gain hours in their weeks.

The best remote cultures leverage these advantages while actively building connection. They prove that distance doesn't have to mean disconnection.

Building a remote team? See how UnivoCorp helps distributed teams stay connected, aligned, and engaged—no matter where they work.