The Transactional Nature of Remote Work & How It’s Killing Workplace Culture

Ping.

An instant message from your manager.

“Where are we at with the Q3 report? I need it ASAP.”

Ping.

An email from a customer.

“I’m having difficulties accessing my account. Help!”

Ping.

Your manager again.

“We really need to think about optimizing our content. Can you add that to your to-do list?”

Ping. Ping. Ping. Ping.

Ones and zeroes.

Inputs and outputs.

Measuring the worth of our team members on their productivity levels instead of their humanness.

Dropping pleasantries in exchange for status updates.

It’s been seven months since the world was forced into remote work and many of us are hitting a wall and having a hard time.

Burnout is setting in, we’re angry and resentful, work relationships are fraying at the edges, and we can’t put our finger on what went wrong or why we feel this way.

If you do an Internet search to dig into why you might be feeling the way you’re feeling, you’ll most likely see headlines and articles that focus on things like:

• “How to keep your employees productive during the pandemic”
• “How to maintain effectiveness in the face of a global crisis”
• “Ways to keep the momentum going, even when you don’t feel like it”

These articles will provide solutions that are primarily focused on keeping work output high such as minimizing distractions, setting up a good workspace, creating solid systems, etc. but there are not nearly as many articles that focus on the most valuable asset of all: human beings.

Today’s remote work environment is not remote-work-done-well.

This is remote-work-led-by-companies-who-weren’t-prepared-for-it. Many companies were forced into shutting down their offices and sending their workforce home without being able to properly prepare for the transition.

As a result, we’re seven months into the pandemic and we’re devolving… fast.

We’re devolving into something that I like to call, “the transactional nature of remote work” where people aren’t human beings but rather by-products of the work they are producing.

Sounds a bit unsettling, doesn’t it?

In fact, it may even sound extreme… but hear me out.

If you’re already really in touch with culture, people, emotions, connection, relationship-building, empathy, compassion, etc., you may not relate to this because you likely haven’t let your connection with people or your team slide.

You’re probably still saying, “Good morning!” most mornings to your team over Slack, email, or in a daily standup Zoom call, without immediately following it up with a request.

You may still be checking in on how their weekend was, how their kiddos are doing, how they are personally feeling, or what they had for lunch.

However, if you self-reflect and realize that your first message in the morning to your team is a status update check-in or the only communication you have with the people you work with is project-based, this perspective may be useful.

In a remote work environment, it’s really, really easy to drop the little things.

In a remote workplace, it’s easy to forget that, on the other side of that computer screen, the person you’re speaking with is a human being with feelings and emotions.

A human being who still values relationships, wants to feel connection, wants to do work that has meaning, and is so much more than just their output. Someone who is craving a basic desire: to belong.

Unfortunately, as time goes on in this global pandemic, we’re forgetting those little things at an alarming rate and it’s killing our culture.

It’s not that we’re forgetting the little things on purpose. I don’t even think it’s a conscious decision for most people.

We’re human beings and most of us enjoy being efficient. We like getting things done, pushing progress forward, and checking off our to-do list.

When you remove body language, emotion, and the human connection element, humans can move fast.

It’s the difference between having an in-person conversation with someone versus firing off an email — in the first scenario, there’s a human with a heart to consider and in the second, it’s an unfeeling, non-reacting screen.

When you are moving this quickly and are only focused on the input and the output, you value more greatly the productive exchange over the emotional one and this is where workplace morale and culture take the hit.

Unfortunately, most companies won’t notice this shift. Just as it’s easy to drop the little things, it’s also easy to bury your head on culture and workplace morale when you’re filtering it through digital means.

It’s difficult to pick up on energy and emotion through a Zoom call where many of your team members turn their cameras off or drop-off without saying anything. It’s hard to see facial reactions or other non-verbal cues when you’re staring at the little black dot of your camera instead of at your team’s faces.

So, what do we do?

Start with the small stuff.

Bring back the “Good morning!” messages to your team and ensure they’re spaced out from status check-ins. Create a Slack channel that is dedicated to small talk and encourage your team members to use it. Set up a Friday casual lunch where folks can get together to talk about non-work related topics.

Surface more of your Slack channels and encourage people to talk in public channels versus private direct messages. Surprise your team with a (responsible) mail drop of a great book you’ve read recently. Setup a shoutouts system and incentivize people to use it. Encourage random virtual coffee chats cross-functionally.

Look at your team’s faces when you’re on video chat instead of the little black dot. Ask your team members how they are truly feeling in your next 1:1 meeting with them. Realize that output isn’t more valuable than your team’s mental health.

Create a culture where a ping in their inbox or through a chat service doesn’t create instant overwhelm.

Then, shift your attention to the bigger stuff.

While this may seem a bit radical, I’d encourage you to do a workplace temperature check. Perhaps you do it anonymously to encourage people to share more openly. Ask your people how they are feeling about work, how they feel about the current state of your culture, and what suggestions they might have to create meaningful connection across the company.

Ensure that your meetings aren’t forums. That they are set up in a way that team members feel like they can (and want to) contribute to the conversation. Save some time for shoutouts, celebrations, and casual banter. When speaking about meetings, replace the word “effective” with “connected” sometimes.

Managers and leaders, ask your team about the trust battery level they have with the organization, and with you, on a regular basis. You may even want to make it a recurring check-in inside of your one-on-one meetings. Inspire honesty and transparency by being transparent and honest yourself.

Individual contributors can get involved, too, by simply showing up to things and contributing positively to the overall culture. Commenting on threads in Slack, sending casual messages to people in the company, organizing virtual lunches, or looking for ways to really, truly validate and acknowledge other people in the company.

If you’re feeling rock solid and flying through remote work positively, you can help, too! Be the person that starts some of these initiatives. Recognize that not everyone on your team may be feeling as optimistic or connected and that you can be the person that shifts culture for the better.

Most important of all, remember that your fellow team members are human beings and are comprised of much, much more than their work output and their productivity levels.

Whether you’re in a remote work situation temporarily due to the pandemic or you’re in this for the long haul, putting your people first needs to start now. Otherwise, when we shift out of this global pandemic and back to in-person offices, you might have a few empty seats and a few empty hearts.