Years ago I created a power point presentation where I focused on how every employee can help each other to make the office a better place to work. After 2020, office is not inside the “office” anymore. Nonetheless, the importance of positive workplace environment cannot be overlooked.

Regardless of where the employees are working from, positive workplace environment needs to be maintained. The importance of positive workplace environment stays the same for remote jobs as well. We all know that workplace environment has effect on employee mental health which can effect the performance and can impact the company as well.

If work from home is the future of the office, now is the time to build the correct culture for your company. You can take care of the workplace culture just by being vigilant both as employer and employee.

From my personal observation, here are some best practice to achieve positive workplace environment no matter where the employees are working from.

Being helpful to fellow team members

As a team member, you can always reach to your team leader and discuss anything that we all know. However, it’s important to figure out if you are staying proactive. You are an individual identity. If you have any tricks up into your sleeves, the correct approach is to share it with your teammates proactively. If you are anything like me and feel shy about it, don’t do the same mistake as I did.

When I was a newbie support engineer in one of my very first job, I invented my own rules in order to avoid negative remarks from the customers. I figured that it’s not about my answer, rather it’s about what they are unaware of. My findings helped me to get 100% happiness rating in multiple months. If you have something like this which you improved upon, don’t hide it. Share it for your teammates proactively and DON’T be shy about it. This is a healthy practise and it creates a friendly environment. It helps you to put on a team leader’s dress for a few minutes.

It is not necessary that your teammates have to face the same situation and you can share anything from day to day work activities to your workout regime. Writing and sharing creates bond among the teammates.

Being Respectful

As a team leader, your communication skill needs to be very good. Being a team leader can sometimes make a person forget about the days when they were junior. So when a new team lead bosses around unnecessarily, it can put extra pressure on your teammates’ mind. This can be a moment when your team breaks apart. Friendly and respectful communication can dilute this in order to avoid such a catastrophe.

Keep the water flowing

Do you only DM your team members when you have a task or may be for monthly report?

Your team members should have a word from you more often. Perhaps once each week. Schedule a one on one meeting and ask how the week was for them. People tend to open up more when they are not crowded. Just listen to what they say, try not to judge them. If you can do anything to help your team member, don’t be reluctant about it. Don’t overlook things that was stressful for them.

Understand their mind

Trust them and they will trust you. Take notes on the problems they faced and what you have suggested so that can be revisited later. This can help you to know your employees better.

Sometimes, as a team leader, it helps if you know a thing or two about human psychology. Performance should not be the only key factor of relation between team leader and teammate. Your emotional support will create positive workplace environment where your teammates “prefer to work”.

Everything in moderation

Once in a while, encourage them to take time off. This will not only increase your team members energy, but also create a strong positive culture within the company. Employees can show a tendency of over working while working from home, which should be strongly prohibited. Overworking burns people out in the long term. It should be the headache of team leader to save the energy and eagerness of the employees by actively asking them to stop working. This is also the first step towards healthy work life balance.

Taking care of company culture is an essential part of building a sense of trust and bond between employer and employee. It is the base at any company which is likely to survive in the upcoming years of the COVID-19 struck world.