Building (Remote) Team Culture

The nature of remote work is finally getting to me. Like my relationship with most things, I find remote work manageable in moderation. It’s been on full-blast for nearly six-months.

Software can certainly be developed by remote teams - see Basecamp - but I personally enjoy the sans-Zoom human:human interaction of cross-disciplinary professionals locking down a meeting room to think about hard problems.

Further, there is the camaraderie and squad culture that develops when teams meet in person and work in close proximity. All of those insignificant interactions - sharing an elevator ride, cracking jokes about the hole-in-the-wall Korean spot’s menu, complaints about the aforementioned stuffy meeting rooms - they compound overtime. Sure, these do not create culture overnight, but their presence certainly provides part of the foundation.

I will be embarking on a side quest to create some ceremonies for my immediate squad that seek to be the interactions we can build a legitimate team culture upon. Wish me good luck.