How do you build an exceptional culture when your team is spread across the globe?

In our latest episode of HerSuccess, Chris Atiyah interviews Jennifer Monkiewicz, the Global Head of People and Culture at Bigtincan, about creating inclusive and successful company cultures on a global scale.

When teams are remote, and in different countries and time zones, it can be difficult to create an environment where everyone feels connected and included. We delve in to some of the ways Jenn has achieved this at Bigtincan.

5 steps to creating exceptional cultures with remote and global teams

Communication

Jenn emphasized the importance of active listening, transparency, and maintaining an open dialogue with employees. Making time to speak to employees, at a time convenient for everyone given time differences is important. Check ins should also be about more than tasks, and about understanding how people are doing and feeling.

Living your values

Bigtincan’s values are "unorthodox," "maverick," and "pioneering." They manifest in company culture by allowing staff to work in ‘unorthodox’ ways, leading to flexibility, encouraging innovation and driving forward ideas and projects. By embedding these values into daily culture they become a uniting force across distributed teams who are working to achieve a common goal

'I like to, you know, treat my people as humans as they are and make sure that they feel rewarded and recognized. That's a huge thing for me.'

Accountability

Jenn emphasizes the importance of accountability over blame. Here it is integral to take ownership of mistakes and be willing to acknowledge them, not to assign but to be able to assess where things went wrong and improve.  

Psychological Safety
It is critical that employees free to express themselves without fear of negative consequences. Jenn highlights the importance of creating an environment where employees feel safe and supported. She emphasizes the importance of transparency – particularly during uncertain times.

Celebrating diversity

Jenn spoke about how in companies with diverse teams, celebrating the holidays of different demographics is really important to build an inclusive environment where everyone feels valued and involved in each other’s cultures.

Tune in now to hear Jenn’s interview and check out more episodes of HerSuccess.

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