The Blueprint for Successful Remote Work Culture

Once a month, Blueprint creates a virtual space for employees to meet new colleagues and build lasting connections.

Published on Apr. 28, 2023
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Remote workers may spend most of their time interacting with their colleagues from behind a screen, but that doesn’t mean their relationships should be two-dimensional. 

Fostering meaningful connections in the workplace is crucial for employees’ well-being and job satisfaction. It can also have a direct impact on business performance. 

Studies have shown that friendship significantly improves groups’ abilities to complete tasks and make decisions. Groups of friends are better able to communicate, cooperate and encourage one another, the researchers observed.

Without the natural social environments that arise in an office setting, though, how can remote employees and their managers create opportunities for workplace friendships?

Blueprint, a test-prep platform for law and medical students, launched an initiative last year to give its remote-first team a chance to build relationships with colleagues across different parts of the company. The monthly event, called Blueprint Café, bridges the gaps between job functions and physical locations so that participants can feel a sense of community wherever they are.

The program is just one way Blueprint builds culture, but it has quickly become an important resource for employees. 

It’s also a valuable initiative for the company: When employees feel strongly connected to their workplace culture, they are more likely to feel engaged at work and recommend their organization to others, according to a 2023 Gallup survey. They also tend to have lower rates of burnout and are less likely to be looking for other opportunities. 

Built In Los Angeles caught up with Blueprint to learn more about how it facilitates meaningful relationships through Blueprint Café and beyond.

 

Screenshot of a virtual '90s trivia game with '90s graphics surrounding a gallery of people on video calls
BLUEPRINT TEST PREP

 

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Tiffany Price
Senior Director of HR • Blueprint Test Prep

Blueprint helps students master advanced exams like the LSAT and MCAT with innovative learning experiences.

 

What’s the key to creating real, human connection in the remote workplace?

Remote work offers unique opportunities to connect with people. The key to creating real human connections in this environment is to be intentional about it. Taking away the chance run-ins in the break room or quick connects in the hallway, you have to put in effort. 

There are many things companies can do to help support these connections in the remote workspace, such as setting up remote social events, offering volunteer programs, facilitating one-on-one connections or hosting in-person events if possible. As our engagement surveys have shown, most people want to feel connected to others, and any opportunity the company can take to support that is impactful.

What’s the most successful strategy or initiative you’ve employed for actually facilitating those kinds of connections?

Last year we started a program called Blueprint Café, which pairs up employees each month to connect for a social conversation. To help guide the non-work-related chat, we provide the list of pairings and include a fun icebreaker topic. We then ask participants to come back to the designated Slack channel to share the highlights of the conversation so the rest of us can learn a little about each other. Anyone who does this is entered in a raffle to win coffee (or tea for the non-coffee folks) on Blueprint, and is celebrated in our monthly town hall. 

The program initially started with pairings of two employees but has since moved to groups of three based on employee feedback. We will continue to evolve the program to make sure employees are getting the most out of the connections. 

I know there are some similar programs that automate employee pairings via Slack that look like great tools, but I believe the way we run this program makes it more intentional, involved and celebratory.

What kind of response have you heard from your team? 

Blueprint makes an intentional effort to live our core values, and one of these values is teamwork. Blueprint Café not only provides an opportunity for employees to develop human connections, it also shows that the company appreciates the importance of the connections team members make. 

Blueprint Café not only provides an opportunity to develop human connections, it also shows that the company appreciates the importance of those connections.”

 

The response from participants is very positive. As soon as we send out the groupings each month, many employees immediately open the Google Sheet to see who they are meeting with. One of our recent new hires shared the following about her experience:

“As a new hire, Blueprint Café reaffirmed why Blueprint is a great company to work for. Blueprint Café sets time aside to emphasize the importance of human connection and a healthy culture. By assigning us groups, providing the icebreaker question and creating a platform to share our conversations, Blueprint Café made it easy to focus on what really matters: the camaraderie between colleagues! In such a short time, I feel like I’ve made true connections that will support and encourage me throughout my journey at Blueprint. Not only did I learn about other departments and roles in the company, I also left feeling like I made a friend.”

 

 

Responses have been edited for length and clarity. Images provided by Shutterstock (header) and Blueprint Test Prep.