Remote Work Etiquette

Kevin Cruz, an assistant professor of management in the Robins School of Business, is an expert on employer – employee relationships, team member relationships, and co-worker relationships. He teaches “Organizational Behavior” and "Managing Groups and Teams."

During this time when most companies have transitioned to remote work and meetings are happening via online technology rather than face-to-face, he says the standard workplace etiquette remains relatively the same, but that extra vigilance is required to ensure employees do not misinterpret the communications or behaviors of their employers, team members, and/or co-workers.

“Coworkers can be a particularly strong influence on employee satisfaction, especially when employees have to rely heavily on each other to complete their work,” Cruz told Fast Company in a recent article. “That reliance does not necessarily change with remote work. What does change is the need to acknowledge this time of transition by being more flexible."

He says that processes are an important component of team dynamics, and establishing those processes early within a primarily remote environment is important. Successful teams need a common purpose, appropriate goals, confidence they can achieve those goals, and appropriate levels of conflict, just to name a few.

"Establishing these processes early on can help identify which forms of technology are best to use and correspondingly help establish expectations of response time knowing that people are working from home with other factors, such as kids and significant others also working from home, in play. The most successful teams will do this sooner rather than later," Cruz says.

Contact Cynthia Price, AVP of Media and Public Relations, at cprice2@richmond.edu to connect with Cruz.