Keeping Company Culture Alive When Working Remotely

To combat the coronavirus outbreak, companies all over the world have transitioned to working remotely. For some companies, this kind of working environment is familiar and not out of the norm. However, for other companies, UpKeep included, this is the first real remote working experience for the entire team.

When suddenly everyone is no longer together under one roof, one of the biggest challenges is how to keep company culture alive and cohesive. At UpKeep, we had to get creative and think of innovative ways to thoughtfully approach and care for our employees, especially during these challenging times. With that being said, here are seven activities and principles that have been working for us to keep spirits high and connection strong.

Daily Slack Contests

Everyday, we engage our team on Slack by holding fun contests that everyone can participate in for a prize, ranging from gift cards to annual streaming subscriptions to donations to the charity of the winner's choice! Here are a few contest examples that you can use at your company!

• Who has the most creative Zoom background?

 Here is our Customer Success Manager, Carl, using our CEO's selfie has his Zoom background!

• Make a TikTok!

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• Share a new hobby or skill you have been learning while being at home!

 Our Account Manager, Nicole, is learning how to watercolor![

Eating Lunch Together on Zoom

Members of our Operations Team have been creating Zoom Meeting Rooms specifically for lunches everyday! No working is allowed to ensure everyone is taking the breaks that they need. Only eating and a good time! On Wednesday, we continue to have our regular company-wide Lunch and Learns.

 From top to bottom, John, Chelsea, and Rachel playing a fun game while eating lunch! 

Virtual Company Events

After business hours, we held a virtual trivia night on Quiz Witz for our team and their friends, family members, and significant others! The grand prize winner was awarded 5 pints of ice cream from McConnell's Fine Ice Creams!

Spirit Days

Had spirit days while working from the office? Who says we can't have spirit days while working from home? Here's our Sales Team never leaving a Hawaiian Shirt Day behind.

Transparency from Leadership

Now, more than ever, it's crucial to be transparent and open to communicating about what is happening in our company in relation to what is happening around the world. Everyday, our CEO, Ryan, and HR Director, Katie, have been sending out emails that covers everything they know so far about the status of our company. Our entire leadership have also been making themselves available to answer any questions or concerns our team might have with utmost honesty and integrity.

Providing Resources

We understand that there may be additional equipment our team might need to successfully transition to working remotely. So, we created a form for our team to request equipment, such as desks, chairs, hotspots, and more.

Celebrating the Big and Small Wins

It's so important to us to stay true to our roots, even in the midst of sudden change, by celebrating the big and small wins of our team. We have a #shoutouts channel on Slack that we go to whenever we want to praise, congratulate, or appreciate a teammate! It's being used even more now since we aren't able to celebrate in-person.

Team Culture Ranks #1 at UpKeep

UpKeep is on Built in LA’s 2019 list of best places to work, and this is why – we constantly strive to help our employees feel like they are a part of a seamless team!