DigiWorks

Inclusive Workplace Guide for Remote Teams

Feb 7, 2023 • 11 min read

Shifting to a remote workforce is a massive step for companies and it comes with plenty of changes, but nothing that your team cannot handle! One of them is working with global teams. Exhibiting inclusivity and diversity in your workplace is significant when working with international workers. You want to ensure that everyone feels valued, appreciated, and respected. But, how are you going to do that? Learn how to build an inclusive workplace for your remote team with the help of the DigiWorks Team!


You’ll learn:

  • Definition and Impact of Inclusive Workplace to a Remote Environment.
  • The Benefits of Creating a Synergetic Remote Workplace
  • Effective Practices that Help Create An Inclusive Workplace

Ready to build your remote team?

Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.

Definition and Impact of Inclusive Workplace to a Remote Environment.

An inclusive workplace is about having policies, etiquette, and practices that allow team members to bring harmony to their work environment and be able to uplift and encourage one another regardless of indifferences.

If you are going to look from a cultural standpoint, it is about a workplace that motivates diverse workers to work harmoniously, flourish together, and bring convenience to each other. Every worker that works in the same workplace should exhibit respect and dignity towards their co-workers. In that way, everyone will feel welcomed, uplifted, appreciated, dignified, and supported in their professional role. The ultimate purpose of establishing an inclusive workplace is to help your teams have companionship despite the remote setup, be able to have a stand, be treated equally, and feel appreciated.

Building a harmonious environment in a remote workplace might take some time to prosper successfully, but it will be worth it as it benefits all workers working in the same field. It is created by letting everyone absorb certain practices, policies, and behaviors that enable them to work collaboratively. Like most cases, it should be led by the higher-ups or superiors to help encourage their team members to practice the same manners and to display their support towards these policies.

Amongst others, DigiWorks has always executed practices and policies that maintain having an inclusive workplace, which is imparted to our teams. Perhaps, building a platform with designated channels where all the workers can communicate with each other and participate in activities that will help them work harmoniously. DigiWorks is empowered by teams of aspiring remote workers from around the world. Everyone has different cultures, backgrounds, and practices, but they maintain having a workplace that brings all their team members together.

The company’s values can easily be shared when workers can freely interact with each other in an in-office workplace. However, a remote environment can be different as everyone works in countries with different time zones. There might be some challenges, but there is nothing that a company with strong corporate culture and displays inclusivity in its workplace cannot do. Building strong professional relationships will be easier with distant teams, as long as with the right practice.

Don’t worry! Many remote workers are always open to changes and put extra effort to make sure that they are creating bonds with their colleagues. There are still some factors that might hinder inclusivity in the workplace, but there are many ways to eliminate them. Here are some of the mistakes you should avoid to let your team members be more connected to each other:

1. Inconsistencies in newly hired remote workers’ orientation

Newly hired workers often absorb the company values progressively but with no regularity. Consequently, new hires have different experiences that build up diverse expectations of what the company culture will be like. A company should have a consistent and standard process when onboarding new hires to let them inhale all the required practices deliberately; however, this is often neglected.

2. Distant teams

When teams are not properly guided, they tend to work separately or only form a relationship with selected team members from the company. Encouraging your teams to over-communicate, properly introduce themselves, and understand their colleagues better will help promote inclusivity and allow team members to be more collaborative and harmonious toward one another.

3. Lack of breadth of view

Leaders, higher-ups, superiors, or managers are responsible for setting a clear vision of the company’s policies, especially when enforcing diversity and inclusivity. It is important for them to provide proper guidance and informational documentation to their teams to ensure that their workers will learn these practices seamlessly.

Remote work is definitely an up-and-rising work setting among workers and employers due to various reasons. However, it is vital to practice inclusivity and diversity to help manage this work strategy to the advantage of both the company and its workers. Exclusivity is one of the challenges faced by remote workers but hopefully, this doesn’t have to be a massive problem in the future, especially because it can easily be eliminated. As long as everyone is willing to give the extra effort to help make a better working environment, exclusivity doesn’t have to be an issue. Before jumping to the efficient tips or guidelines in creating an inclusive remote workplace, DigiWorks lists down some benefits of establishing a synergistic company.

The Benefits of Creating a Synergetic Remote Workplace

Implementing policies and practices that allow your teams to work collaboratively and inclusively comes with various benefits, not just to them but also to your company. DigiWorks believed that creating harmony in the workplace allows your team members to work productively. It helps all team members to feel valued, respected, and welcomed. Moreover, individuals working in the same company should have equal treatment despite the differences in culture, background, job positions, and locations. Do you also know that inclusivity helps your company perform well? Here’s why:

It enhances the creativity and effectiveness of the worker, which creates an inter-professional environment, helping them work together on critical tasks. It also helps broaden the innovative skills that allow them to develop new ideas and strategies.
When team members’ voices are heard, valued, and prioritized, it helps increase the company’s competitiveness in terms of diversity. It encourages a broader range of perspectives that brings innovation and creativeness.
It helps build a more substantial reputation for a company that drives more candidates around the world to apply to the latter. It indicates that a company supports and dignifies its workers, making it look more compelling.
It brings a more diverse list of applicants when companies exert extra effort in seeking candidates with different backgrounds situated in dispersed locations globally.
Team members are moved and appreciate companies that treat them equally and value their well-being, leading them to stay longer and continue servicing the company.

woman working remotely as a virtual assistant

Effective Practices that Help Create An Inclusive Workplace

Now that we’re done talking about the circumstances of establishing an inclusive and diverse workforce and the benefits of a collaborative remote team, let the DigiWorks Team provide you with some practical and reasonable guidelines for creating your company policies. DigiWorks listed the following practices that help create a synergetic workplace for your remote workers:

1. Establish a committee that administers everyone’s concerns

One of the essential steps in creating diversity in a workplace is introducing a committee that will help assist and understand the needs and wants of the team members in order to work efficiently. The committee can help create discussions, address concerns, and take immediate actions regarding the challenges faced by the team. That will increase equality and identify specific areas that require attention.

To comply with this practice, the recruitment of experts who can communicate with every worker and team to bring out areas of concern is a must. DigiWorks helps understand each of our member’s conditions from interview sessions to the recruitment process and work start-up. Even the higher-ups, seniority, and founders join the conversation and immediately answer certain concerns. There are also different tools that help team members address the current circumstances they face and the conditions in their work location. Companies can assign their respective committees to create meetings to discuss progress and give activities aligned with their roadmap.

It is also significant that every team member is involved in the discussions about inclusivity. Consulting and evaluating their opinions is necessary to effectively create a collaborative environment. Create surveys that will help them expressly give out their views and suggestions. It doesn’t matter if it is good or bad, as long as their perspective and ideas are put forward. Let them share their thoughts and give honest feedback on the D&I strategy. For that reason, you are allowing your workers to have the courage to speak, be open to their leaders and team members, and display a culture of effective communication.

2. Execute a Standard Policy About D&I

Creating a policy that expresses certain practices and regulations that members need to observe will help a workplace be more committed to bringing diversity and inclusivity. That can be executed in conjunction with remote work policies so the workers can absorb it simultaneously. You can also indicate the goal, better known as the mission and vision of the regulations, to help your people live by these rules. They will have a better interpretation of why these specific policies are practiced in their workplace.

Implementing these policies with a clear vision and path is also essential to let your team members be guided efficiently. Make sure that the outline of these rules is based in a remote setting. You can find available resources that will increase the effectiveness of these rules and will monitor the workers’ activity connected to these practices.

3. Set Up a Recreational Space

An office would usually have a cafeteria, coffee room, or common area that allows teams to talk and communicate during breaks and after their shifts. In a remote setting, having free spaces is limited virtually, but that doesn’t mean that creating professional relationships is not possible. To manage a more open and expressive workplace, create channels designed for people to discuss non-work-related topics and issues. This will give your teams the space to know more about each other and let them engage with each other.

The DigiWorks Team creates spaces on different platforms, such as Slack and Discord, that allows our teams to work together and discuss specific topics. We allow them to get to know each other personally and form friendships within their workplace. That is not limited to the team members; even higher-ups and leaders join different conversations and connect with everyone. We let them share pictures, tackle their days, discuss issues, and organize virtual meetups from time to time. DigiWorks is well-aware of how important and beneficial it is to establish a harmonious work environment. In other cases, remote workers would rather turn off their laptops and sleep after work. But having a collaborative workforce allows them to be productive, motivated, and driven to help and understand each other.

4. Purposefully guide teams towards development

DigiWorks allows our remote workers to openly ask questions to their superiors and even to their co-workers. Even if it means doing the extra work to research articles that could help them. Entrepreneurs are often too busy to accommodate messages from their workers, but setting time to do so will bring more significant changes. That will help boost their confidence and allow them to master their profession and strive for development. Employers can also set up training sessions and provide SOPs that will help improve their team members, just like in DigiWorks. We created online communities for those who want to learn, be better, and enhance their assets.

Superiors can also lead their teams to practice empathetic methods or approaches by avoiding any issues related to biased statements and excluding a member. Give team members equal opportunities to stand out and be heard. Organize non-discriminatory talks or discussions about the importance of their role in creating an inclusive environment. Instead of setting up usual meetings to get updates from work, use the time to open conversations about your workers’ wellness and only discuss work-related topics asynchronously

5. Advocate D&I as part of your company’s shared values

An organization with D&I culture often leads to an increase in potential candidates and team members staying in your company. Therefore, instilling the topic of having a collaborative work environment as part of your company’s advocacy will help establish a better brand reputation. With that being said, companies can eliminate any conscious and unconscious bias situations, even from the hiring process, and educate their recruiters’ team to live by these practices. Analyze and update your job descriptions and advertisement’s contents, languages, and words into a more inclusive and open concept.

Ready to build your remote team?

Use the DigiWorks platform to hire, manage, and pay remote talent from all over the world.

Practice Inclusivity with the DigiWorks Team!

DigiWorks has been practicing and imposing guidelines to our staff and team members that will help create a more diverse culture and participatory workplace. We, as headed by our founders, have always given importance to actively advocating an unbiased and equal environment that allows our people to be connected. Our team is driven by our passion for becoming the bridge for aspiring candidates to thriving industries, regardless of background, culture, race, tradition, and location.

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About DigiWorks

DigiWorks is an easy-to-use platform that helps small businesses and start ups hire amazing remote talent from around the world. DigiWorks offers a way for you to hire, manage and pay people from all countries. If you find an amazing virtual assistant from Philippines, a content writer from Nigeria, or operations manager from South Africa – manage and pay your entire team from one platform with no hassle.

If you’re looking for a more affordable and sustainable option you might consider making use of a hiring platform like DigiWorks. Virtual assistant companies or platforms like DigiWorks are amazing as they not only match you with pre-vetted and assessed remote workers that can take care of all your business needs but they will also handle all onboarding and payroll needs as well.