In a fully remote organization, the hallway doesn’t exist. Neither does the break room, the impromptu lunch, or the moment you sit next to someone new in a meeting. So how do you actually build a culture?
Kristen Oeltjen-Bruns is the US President of Ashfield Medical Communications, where she leads a 160-person organization working across 20 to 30 client teams. With more than 25 years in medical communications, Kristen has held senior leadership roles at global organizations, where she’s overseen large multidisciplinary teams and led organizational transformations. She’s passionate about building organizations where teams feel seen, valued, and inspired.
In this episode, Kristen joins Kristen to discuss what it really takes to build a strong culture in a fully remote agency.
Most companies are still trying to figure out how to build culture in a remote or hybrid environment, and the rise in return-to-office mandates suggests many are giving up. Kristen’s view is that remote culture fails when leaders assume connection will happen on its own. In a co-located office, people bump into each other in hallways, share lunchroom conversations, and sit next to a new colleague in a meeting. In a remote organization, none of that exists by default. Connections across teams must be built deliberately, with mechanisms that align with the way people actually want to engage.
At Ashfield, Kristen has built a layered system to address this challenge: a culture committee that organizes optional socials, monthly all-agency meetings for sharing business updates and personal patient stories, biweekly one-on-ones between line managers and direct reports, regional in-person meetups for employees who live near each other, and a firmly enforced cameras-on policy for virtual meetings.
The underlying principle is transparency: people stay more engaged when leaders consistently show up, share information, and treat relationships as two-way investments.
Expertly Said is a podcast on the art and impact of communication. Each episode features a conversation about how people connect with understand and influence one another.
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