Since the Covid-19 pandemic shut down the majority of physical working spaces, many businesses have moved towards some form of remote operation. When it comes to overhead spending and potential profit-building, remote teams can be highly beneficial. However, being part of a remote team can be challenging because of motivation lapses and feelings of isolation. Fortunately, there are many ways to bring the team together and boost motivation; continue reading to find out more.
Regular Team Building
If your team is spread out globally, it can be difficult to arrange physical team-building events, but don’t let this stop you. With access to Zoom and an available day, there are plenty of activities to arrange including virtual escape rooms and coffee mornings; our favorites are team building activities by BreakoutIQ. Your team will benefit from working together and escaping the solitary feeling of working from home.
Take Breaks
Separating work and home life can be difficult for employees in remote teams, so make sure you encourage regular breaks within the team. Find a non-addictive game like Solitaire, and have your team play 5-10 minutes at certain points in the day. This simple activity lets your team unplug completely from work, and they won’t get hooked on the game. You will find that productivity increases because your team won’t be so frazzled.
Empowerment through Team Coaching
It is a misconception that empowering teams is equivalent to micromanaging. Constant messages to chase up progress will only hinder productivity. Remember that you hired your team for a reason – you need to provide the space and motivation for them to carry out their duties. One way to go about this is to enroll your employees in team coaching programs. This is a one-time investment that can bear positive results in regard to improving team performance. A business coach can invest their time and energy into each person in the workplace, wherein they would listen to their concerns and suggestions. They would develop tailored plans to boost each member’s morale and encourage communication. When individual voices in an organization are heard, each employee feels valued and empowered, which further motivates them to do their work wholeheartedly.
Provide Positive Feedback
Everyone likes to feel valued in their workplace, and it can be easy to overlook providing positive feedback when working remotely. Luckily, video conferencing software makes it easy to schedule 1v1 appointments with your team. You don’t always need to offer feedback privately, you can put a shoutout into your group chat to show the member of staff off as an asset, which will motivate other people to compete.
Positive Company Culture
Having a positive company culture is important, and translating that to a remote world is essential. You won’t be able to replace the afternoon chat at the coffee machine, but there are plenty of ways to promote company culture. For example, you can set aside time where your team can simply “hang out” together. Also, you can promote healthy competition by sending out a weekly email with positive shoutouts – there is no end to what you can do with remote recognition.
Staying motivated in a remote team can be difficult, especially with so many distractions around the house. Managers need to come up with methods of boosting motivation at all times. Providing positive feedback, creating a healthy company culture, and empowering your team are all fantastic ways to keep your team’s productivity up.
