Remote work is here to stay. But building a remote company culture that’s vibrant, connected, and lasting? That’s where the real magic (and challenge) begins.
🌎 Fact Check: Nearly 67% of workers in the technology industry report that they work remotely. It’s by far the industry with the highest share of remote workers.
Whether you’re leading a remote-first company, expanding from a hybrid model, or strengthening a fully distributed remote team, building a strong remote work culture is the key to long-term success.
And as any seasoned leader will tell you, a healthy company culture doesn’t just “happen” over video calls. It needs to be nurtured, championed, and designed with intention.
If you want your remote workers to stay connected, feel motivated, and ready to crush their goals (no matter the time zone), you’re in the right place!
Let’s dive into what makes a remote company culture work and thrive. 🚀
How to Build a Strong Remote Company Culture That Lasts
- Why Remote Culture Is Critical for Distributed Teams
- Challenges of Building a Remote Culture
- Building an Awesome Remote Culture That Actually Sticks (with ClickUp!)
- 1. Make your company values more than just wall art
- 2. Nail your communication flow: Balancing async and sync
- 3. Build real connections, intentionally
- 4. Shine a spotlight on wins (big and small!)
- 5. Build that trust factor: Psychological safety is key
- 6. See what’s happening: visibility and tracking matter
- 7. Smooth out the wrinkles: seamless workflows rock
- 8. Start Strong: Nail your remote onboarding
- Real Examples of Remote Culture in Action
- Culture Isn’t Built by Proximity—It’s Built by Design
Summarize this article for me pleaseWhy Remote Culture Is Critical for Distributed Teams
🎉 Fun Fact: Remote employees are 22% happier when their work is supported with clear communication and recognition.
In a remote workplace, you can’t rely on office energy or vibes to foster a work culture. Those team lunches, quick chats by the coffee machine, spontaneous brainstorming sessions? ☕💬 In a remote environment? Not always possible.
However, without a good workplace culture, remote teams can quickly feel like a group of disconnected freelancers instead of a true team of team members. That leads to lower engagement, unclear expectations, and many “Who even is that in the Zoom meeting?” moments. 😅
Here’s why remote work culture is non-negotiable:
Builds trust and belonging
When remote employees feel connected to a larger company’s mission—and to each other—they show up with more energy, creativity, and loyalty. In a remote setup, those casual office moments and keeps team members aligned.
Improves communication and collaboration
A strong culture lays the groundwork for teams sharing ideas, tackling problems, and moving projects forward.
Without strong asynchronous practices, miscommunication spreads fast—and working across time zones turns chaotic. It takes necessary skills like clear writing, empathy, and intentional listening to make it work.
Boosts engagement and retention
🧐 Did you know? 57% of workers said they would “absolutely” look for a new job if remote work flexibility was taken away.
In today’s competitive tech industry, where companies constantly scout for top talent across a global talent pool, the difference between staying and leaving often comes down to remote work culture.
It drives performance—and retention
When your team feels seen, valued, and connected to your culture, they naturally show up more engaged. They help each other, stay longer, and do their best work.
Remote-first flexibility gives space for all kinds of lives—working parents, digital nomads, and anyone who wants balance without giving up growth.
🌱 The takeaway? A thriving culture doesn’t happen by accident—it takes intention. In today’s workplace, it’s not just a “nice to have,” it’s a must-have.
📮ClickUp Insight: A typical knowledge worker has to connect with 6 people on average to get work done. This means reaching out to 6 core connections daily to gather essential context, align on priorities, and move projects forward.
The struggle is real—constant follow-ups, version confusion, and visibility black holes erode team productivity. A centralized platform like ClickUp, with Connected Search and AI Knowledge Manager, tackles this by making context instantly available at your fingertips.
Summarize this article for me pleaseChallenges of Building a Remote Culture
🧐 Did You Know? Despite more flexibility, global employee engagement dipped from 23% in 2023 to 21% in 2024—the second drop since 2009.
In today’s remote work reality, top talent is no longer clustered only in Silicon Valley. Your reach across the global talent pool depends on the strength of your team culture.
However, building a strong remote culture sounds inspiring, but let’s be real, it comes with its own set of hurdles. And if you’re not prepared for them, even the best remote first companies’ well-intentioned culture initiatives can fall flat. 😬
Here’s what you’ll need to watch out for:
Limited organic connection
Without spontaneous chats or casual lunches, remote workers miss natural bonding moments. Building genuine relationships when working remotely takes deliberate effort and fun with creative team-building activities.
Communication gaps
Remote teams don’t have the luxury of hallway chats or quick desk drop-ins. Without face-to-face cues, tone and meaning can be misread, leading to confusion or delays. That’s why asynchronous communication isn’t just a convenience—it’s a critical skill. It creates space for clarity, thoughtful replies, and collaboration across time zones.
Isolation and burnout
Remote work can blur working hours and personal time until it feels like you’re always on. Without strong remote work culture rituals to foster belonging and encourage work life balance, remote employees can drift into isolation—or worse, silent burnout.
Inconsistent reinforcement
If your company’s values aren’t actively practiced every day, remote employees create their own (often conflicting) rules. This leads to mixed signals, misalignment, and confusion. Over time, this erodes team unity and weakens everything from onboarding to leadership effectiveness.
Lack of visibility and recognition
Without intentional systems to reinforce values and reward employees, great efforts can easily be missed, leading to increased employee turnover over time.
The good news? Every one of these challenges is solvable with the right approach—and the right tools backing you up 💪
🎉 Fun Fact: The world’s largest all-remote company, GitLab, has over 2,000 team members across 60+ countries—proving remote cultures can scale bigger than many headquarters.
Summarize this article for me pleaseBuilding an Awesome Remote Culture That Actually Sticks (with ClickUp!)
Let’s be honest: building a strong remote company culture is more than scheduling a few virtual happy hours and hoping for the best. It’s about intentionally designing how your remote team connects, collaborates, grows, and feels supported even when everyone works across different time zones. 🌍
It means rethinking old office habits and building new, digital-first ones for a workplace culture that truly lasts, distinct from a traditional co-located company.
🧐 Did You Know?: 77% of workers say they’re more productive working remotely than in an office.
So, how do you actually do it? And how can a platform like ClickUp be your secret weapon for managing remote work effectively? Let’s dive in.
1. Make your company values more than just wall art
Company values should be more than a slide in your onboarding deck. In a remote company culture, they act as guideposts instead of those face-to-face moments that organically define behavior in a co-located company. Your remote culture will default to inconsistency if values are vague or invisible.
🧐 Did you know? Only 12% of executives with hybrid or remote workers planned further return-to-office mandates in early 2025. Remote-first is stabilizing, making clearly defined values even more crucial.
🧠 Great remote culture isn’t built in docs and tasks alone—but when everything lives in one place, it’s easier to make it real. ClickUp brings your people, workflows, and values together as the everything app for work.
Turn values into daily habits
In a remote-first company, your values aren’t reinforced by casual conversations or office vibes. They show up in how you document decisions, give feedback, and recognize impact.
Use ClickUp Docs as a centralized knowledge hub to make values visible, referenceable, and real.
- Create a dedicated page for each company value—like “Default to Transparency” or “Act Like an Owner”
- Add real project examples, screenshots, and shoutouts from teammates who brought those values to life
- Link Tasks and comments to show how each value connects to work that matters
Unlike static handbooks, ClickUp Docs allow real-time updates, collaboration, and cross-linking with your day-to-day tools—so your company’s values stay integrated, not buried.
💡 Pro Tip: Assign a recurring ClickUp Task for team leads to update value pages quarterly with fresh examples.
✅ Result: Values aren’t a forgotten PDF—they’re a system your remote team builds together.
2. Nail your communication flow: Balancing async and sync
Remote team communication shouldn’t revolve around constant team meetings or endless video calls—especially when you have powerful remote collaboration tools that support asynchronous communication and real-time visibility.
But here’s the catch: without structure, async falls apart.
When no one knows where to post updates, how quickly to reply, or what even needs a meeting, things slip. Context gets buried, deadlines blur, and teams start drifting out of sync—especially across time zones.
🧐 Did you know? Poor async habits are the number one cause of remote misalignment, beating even unclear goals and tech problems.
Create seamless, contextual communication
Use ClickUp Chat for async-first, contextual conversations. Threaded replies and tagging keep communication clean, which is ideal for teams across time zones.
Coming back to a channel after a vacation or a long thread? You could scroll through dozens of messages… or use ClickUp Chat’s Catch Me Up feature.
It gives you a quick summary of what happened while you were away, including:
- Your action items
- Key updates
- Any context you might’ve missed
No more backreading marathons—just the info you need, fast.
Turn conversations into action by converting Comments and Chat messages into Tasks
In ClickUp, every conversation can turn into action. Spot an essential note in Chat or a suggestion in a Task Comment? Turn it into a new Task with just a click—no copy-pasting, no lost ideas. It’s a seamless way to reduce context switching, whether remote, hybrid, or desk-based.
Share async clarity visually with ClickUp Clips
Instead of back-and-forth clarifications or missed instructions, record ClickUp Clips to explain:
- Walkthroughs of designs
- Feedback on deliverables
- Updates to project plans
Embed Clips inside Chat threads or directly into Tasks, giving your team a visual reference that reduces confusion.
Example in Action: During Friday planning, a project lead reads Chat thread highlights via Catch Me Up, turns two discussion points into Tasks, adjusts next week’s launch timeline in Calendar, and shares a Clip explaining the new plan—all in about 10 minutes.
✅ Communication in ClickUp doesn’t just stay in Chat—it flows naturally into action, visibility, and progress.
3. Build real connections, intentionally
Remote work culture doesn’t thrive on scheduled meetings alone. It needs human touchpoints—spaces for fun, team-building activities, and shared identity. The key is being deliberate: create rhythms that promote bonding while being inclusive of different working hours, personalities, and time zones.
💡 Pro Tip: Create a “Recognition Relay” challenge—every week, the last person recognized in Chat has to acknowledge someone else. It turns kudos into a fun, continuous chain reaction.
Foster real bonds, one meme at a time
Build async bonding spaces with ClickUp Chat by creating relevant channels.
You could get creative with names like #pets-of-clickup, #weekend-highlights, or #random-memes. Let teammates share asynchronously—no pressure, no scheduling stress. Before long, usernames turn into real people—and real connections.
Brainstorm fresh team rituals with using AI
ClickUp AI can help you brainstorm creative ideas for team building activities. Get suggestions tailored to your team’s style—then turn them into actionable tasks.
✨ Ideas you can try:
- Async scavenger hunts
- Photo challenges
- Introvert-friendly virtual hangouts
- Weekly wins shoutouts
📌 Next step:
Convert ideas into Tasks, assign owners, and track participation—zero extra stress, all the fun.
Example in Action: The team launches a casual Bingo-style photo thread after AI suggests an async “Show Your Weekend” challenge. Pets, snacks, beach trips, and hobbies flood the Chat—building personal connections across time zones.
✅ Strong teams aren’t built by accident—they’re built by making space for real moments, inside the workflows that matter.
🧐 Did you know? Hybrid workers experience the lowest burnout (28%), compared to fully remote (36%) and entirely onsite (35%) employees.
Meaning: Regular virtual bonding can reduce burnout even for fully remote teams!
4. Shine a spotlight on wins (big and small!)
Recognition drives motivation—especially in remote teams. Celebrating wins, big or small, keeps momentum going, builds connection, and strengthens culture. But it takes more than a 🎉 emoji.
For recognition to really land, you need systems that make it visible, consistent, and supported from the top down.
🧠 Remember: You’re building a place where people feel safe to be seen, heard, and celebrated—what many call the foundation of a strong people experience strategy. 🏆
Make recognition consistent and trackable
In a remote company culture, people can easily feel invisible—especially when their contributions aren’t seen or acknowledged in real time.
With ClickUp Goals, you can set, track, and celebrate achievements across individuals, teams, or departments. Create culture-driven goals like “Shout out 10 wins per sprint” or “Recognize every new hire within week one.” Link those Goals directly to Tasks or Chat threads where the recognition happened.
As the Goal progress updates, your team sees exactly how they’re improving—not just on delivery but also on values and collaboration.
💡 Pro Tip: Tag Tasks or comments with your company values (like #customer-obsession or #team-first) to automatically contribute to culture Goals.
✅ Result: Recognition becomes measurable, meaningful, and something everyone contributes to—not something that relies on memory or mood.
🧐 Did you know? Only 30% of hybrid managers have been formally trained in leading distributed teams.
Meaning: Intentional feedback systems (like pulse surveys) matter even more for closing leadership gaps.
Automate recognition so that oversight does not compromise remote culture
You can also set up ClickUp Automations to make recognition effortless and consistent. Trigger a congratulatory message in Chat the moment a major milestone is completed or a goal is reached. Update a “Team Wins” Doc automatically when someone wraps a complex cross-team project or earns glowing feedback from a customer.
💡 Pro Tip: Tag shoutouts with value hashtags like #teamwork or #customer-first so they feed directly into relevant culture Goals.
Example in Action: Every kudos posted in Chat tagged #customer-obsession triggers an update in the Recognition Dashboard and counts toward the quarterly “Highlight Core Values 50 Times” Goal—turning shoutouts into real cultural data.
✅ Recognition isn’t random—it’s strategic, visible, and part of your everyday rhythm with ClickUp.
5. Build that trust factor: Psychological safety is key
Trust isn’t just warm fuzzies—it’s the foundation of real collaboration. Remote employees need to feel safe asking questions, admitting mistakes, and giving feedback without fear.
Collect honest feedback with anonymous Forms
Use ClickUp Forms to collect honest input in a structured, private, and actionable way.
- Create anonymous pulse surveys and feedback forms
- Customize questions to surface actionable insights
- Automatically turn submissions into follow-up Tasks
Best part? You can link Forms inside Docs, Task descriptions, or share them asynchronously via Chat—no awkward “mandatory survey” emails needed.
💡 Pro Tip: Don’t just survey satisfaction—survey belonging. Ask, “When was the last time you felt especially proud to work here?” and build from those moments.
Building trust starts with listening—and following through
Use 1:1s to surface blockers, gather feedback, and support growth goals. Try asking:
• “What’s getting in the way of your best work?”
• “Are you getting enough time for deep focus?”
• “What’s one thing we could improve as a team?”
With ClickUp, you can schedule recurring meetings using the 1:1s check-in meeting template, keep them private, and spot patterns over time—while keeping conversations human.
Respect privacy while maintaining visibility with Workload and Activity Views
Use Activity View to monitor project engagement gently, not invasively. Use Workload View to spot when teammates are nearing burnout loads before they escalate.
Visibility that helps, without becoming surveillance.
Example in Action: After an anonymous Form surfaces concerns about work overload, a team lead checks Workload View, confirms the signal, uses AI to generate a few follow-up questions, and adjusts priorities during 1:1s—closing the loop visibly and respectfully.
✅ Trust is built when feedback isn’t just collected—it’s acted on, learned from, and visible in how you lead day-to-day.
💡 Pro Tip: Before gathering feedback, remind your team that sharing honestly isn’t just safe—it’s a key way they shape the culture. Framing feedback as a cultural contribution can boost participation!
6. See what’s happening: visibility and tracking matter
In a remote work culture, you can’t rely on passive awareness. Visibility into workstreams, goals, and well-being creates alignment and prevents burnout before it starts.
Build holistic Dashboards that combine productivity and culture
ClickUp Views help each teammate and manager track what matters in a way that suits them best.
- Use Board View to track stages of work
- Use List View for structured task reviews
- Use Calendar View for scheduling launches and rituals
- Use Workload View to balance capacity and prevent burnout
💡 Pro Tip: Embed key Views in Docs, project folders, or Dashboards to keep status checks quick and accessible.
Example in Action: Before assigning Tasks for a new client project, a PM checks Workload View to avoid overload, Calendar View to map deadlines, and uses a custom Dashboard widget to track kickoff milestones, making sure work doesn’t just get done, but gets done sustainably.
✅ In ClickUp, visibility isn’t just about deadlines—it’s about designing smarter, healthier ways to work together.
7. Smooth out the wrinkles: seamless workflows rock
Messy workflows create mental overhead and hurt your remote culture. Clean, integrated workflows = happier remote workers.
Automate the repetitive stuff
ClickUp Automations don’t just save time—they clean up your entire workflow. Automate routine actions like:
- Moving a Task to “Review” when a linked GitHub pull request closes
- Reassigning a Task when a due date passes without completion
- Updating priorities when blockers are tagged in Chat
- Automatically reminding a project owner when dependencies aren’t completed
Automations can even trigger multiple actions from a single event, like sending a Slack message, updating a Custom Field, and moving a Task to the next stage, all at once.
The result? Less task-hopping, more focus, and no critical steps slipping through the cracks.
Connect your tool stack seamlessly with ClickUp Integrations
Your team doesn’t live in one app, and your workflows shouldn’t either. ClickUp’s native integrations with Slack, Zoom, GitHub, Google Drive, and more let you:
- Turn Slack messages directly into Tasks
- Attach Zoom meeting links to Tasks automatically
- Sync project documents across ClickUp and Drive
- View GitHub PR statuses inside related Tasks
Fewer tabs. Less toggling. More flow.
With Automations + Integrations working together, you’re not just managing work but designing an effortless ecosystem.
Example in Action: After noticing Tasks stuck in “Review” for over a week, a project lead prompts AI to identify common patterns, updates Automations to escalate after 48 hours, and syncs GitHub statuses automatically—cutting review times by 40%.
✅ In ClickUp, seamless workflows don’t happen by accident—they’re built intentionally with the right tools and connected intelligently.
8. Start Strong: Nail your remote onboarding
First impressions shape culture. A great remote onboarding process doesn’t just help new employees settle in—it sets the foundation for employee retention.
Make onboarding feel like culture, not admin
Use the ClickUp Remote Work Plan Template or customize your onboarding Template:
With this template, you can:
- Pre-fill key Tasks like setting up tools, completing training modules, and scheduling intro meetings
- Link directly to important Docs like the Culture Hub, Work From Home guidelines, and async norms
- Include Custom Fields to track onboarding progress and well-being scores
Every new hire starts from a consistent foundation, and managers aren’t always recreating the wheel.
💡 Pro Tip: 🎥 Record Welcome Videos with ClickUp Clips
Use Clips to introduce the team, give a quick tour of the workspace, or walk through the first 30 days. Embed them directly into Tasks or Docs so new hires feel welcomed and informed—even before their first call
Example in Action: A new marketing hire starts Day 1 by opening a Welcome Task linked to their personalized Timeline. They watch a welcome Clip, read the Culture Doc, check off first-week milestones, and submit feedback via form on Day 14—giving both them and HR a clear, connected onboarding experience.
✅ In ClickUp, remote onboarding isn’t paperwork—it’s the foundation for belonging, success, and long-term engagement.
Summarize this article for me pleaseReal Examples of Remote Culture in Action
The best remote cultures don’t happen accidentally—they result from intentional systems, daily habits, and strong leadership support.
💬 Feel-Good Boost: The culture you’re shaping today might be why someone feels excited to log in tomorrow. That’s something worth smiling about.
Let’s take a look at how real remote-first companies with a growth mindset build thriving cultures across screens and continents:
GitLab: Document Everything, Trust Deeply
As one of the largest remote companies in the world, GitLab treats documentation not just as an internal resource, but as a company cultural pillar. Every decision, process, and value lives inside their public Handbook—making transparency a daily practice, not a buzzword.
Instead of relying on memory or hallway conversations, GitLab empowers every team member to find answers, suggest improvements, and contribute to the evolving culture.
✨ Lesson for you:
Remote teams thrive when documentation isn’t seen as extra work—it’s seen as the foundation for a strong remote work culture and autonomy.
Remote.com: Celebrate Connection, Not Just Completion
At Remote.com, leadership intentionally celebrates cross-cultural team wins, not just final product launches or quarterly KPIs. Recognition is baked into the rhythm of work, not tacked on after it.
Small wins are made visible through async shoutouts, and employees are encouraged to nominate peers for demonstrating company values rather than just hitting goals.
✨ Lesson for you:
In a remote setup, visibility of effort is just as important as visibility of results. Recognition strengthens emotional connection to the team and the mission.
Buffer: Prioritize Psychological Safety at Scale
Buffer operates with complete salary transparency, open values, and mental health check-ins.
Leaders normalize vulnerability by actively hosting feedback sessions—even when uncomfortable.
By treating psychological safety as an ongoing system, Buffer creates a space where honest conversations about balance, burnout, and growth are the norm.
✨ Lesson for you:
Remote workers need cultural systems that normalize honesty, feedback, and emotional support, not just formal reviews.
Zapier: Automate the Boring, Celebrate the Human
Zapier doesn’t just automate workflows for efficiency—it automates culture, too. When new hires complete onboarding, Zapier triggers welcome celebrations automatically. When projects hit milestones, public celebrations fire off across team channels, keeping momentum high without relying on manual nudges.
✨ Lesson for you:
In today’s remote-first world, automating celebrations ensures team wins don’t get lost in busy calendars—and everyone feels seen.
Summarize this article for me pleaseCulture Isn’t Built by Proximity—It’s Built by Design
Building a fantastic remote company culture is an ongoing process—not something that happens by chance. Remote employees don’t rely on office proximity to feel connected; they rely on systems built with intention. ClickUp isn’t just a project management tool—it’s the operating system where a thriving culture is designed, nurtured, and scaled.
ClickUp helps you reinforce your company’s values, build scalable rituals for future hires, and establish lasting communication habits with the help of communication plan templates. It also reduces employee turnover, and keeps new teammates thriving toward your north star. It transforms good intentions into sustainable practices that drive employee retention, strengthen remote employees’ engagement, and build a long-lasting workplace culture.
Most importantly, ClickUp provides the structure your remote company needs to reinforce its values as it grows consistently. This helps you create a resilient, connected, and high-performing organization ready to lead in the future of remote work.
Sign up with ClickUp for free today!
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