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How TTA Kept Company Culture Alive While Working Remotely

đź•‘ 3 minutes read | Sep 02 2020 | By Becky Gendron
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The recent pandemic has taken a toll on many organizations, and in times like these, it is crucial to take control of the things you can. One thing we can control is the culture within our organization. With teams working from their home offices, less in-person interaction, and no face-to-face meetings, all of the best parts of an organization’s culture could easily begin to fade away. For TTA, this wasn’t an option. We were determined to keep our fun, compassionate, and hard-working company culture alive as if we were all in the office.

Take Advantage of Technology

One way we kept our culture alive throughout the pandemic was by utilizing technology to its full extent. In addition to regular meetings and workshop sessions, all of the fun events we typically would do in the office, we did via zoom with a bit of a twist.

Here are some of the fun things we did via zoom while the team was fully remote:

  1. Celebrated birthdays each month for employees
  2. A morning coffee social where each employee brought and shared their favorite coffee mug
  3. Who’s That Baby? – A slideshow of baby photos of employees was shared, and we all guessed which baby was who
  4. We watched movies as a team where we could all laugh together
  5. Wear your favorite summer gear show off where each employee wore their favorite summer gear
  6. A team virtual visit with Luvin Arms Animal Sanctuary, a place of refuge for abused or neglected farmed animals.

In a time where we all had limited communication with friends, family, and the outside world, sharing these laughs together virtually was invaluable.

Connect – Even When You Don’t Think You Need To

Not only is connecting crucial to an effective workplace and team environment, but it is also a basic human need. As humans, we crave connection with others and thrive in situations where we have the opportunity to connect. In the midst of the pandemic and stay-at-home orders, the TTA team made sure to connect even more than usual, even in times where we didn’t think we needed to. We had a more daily quick catch-up meeting with the team to keep the connection. Rather than one team meeting per week, we had two or three and called our team members rather than just sending an email. This helped keep teams connected and continuously collaborating throughout the pandemic.

Meet in Person – When Safe and Possible

Safety is the number one priority for TTA and many organizations as we navigate the pandemic. As stay-at-home orders began to lift, TTA followed state guidelines and found ways to safely come together in person while socially distancing. One of the ways we met in person was having food trucks come to the outside of our Apex Center office where we could all meet outside of the office for lunch, order our food, eat in an outdoor spread-out space and engage with our coworkers while wearing our masks and socially distancing. In the spirit of summer, a team favorite food truck visit came from Cousins Maine Lobster which featured lobster in nearly any form you could imagine.

It is times like these that can make or break an organization, and while Covid was a challenging time for TTA and all organizations, it undoubtedly made us a stronger team, stronger individuals, and a stronger organization as a whole. We’ve learned the invaluable lesson of finding new ways to work, collaborate, and connect with others.

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