When working with peers in an office, the atmosphere people get is very different from the virtual setting. It’s easier to communicate and the relationship with peers is more tangible. And it’s easier for them to get “in the zone” at work since they’re in a work environment.
While some prefer working from home because of its apparent benefits, working in a virtual setting can be very demotivating for some. To prevent your team from getting demotivated while working online, we will cover five tips to keep them highly motivated.
1. Use Project Management Platform
Without a central platform where your team can work together, tasks become more complex and stressful. Tracking results become a total nightmare. What’s more, you might find your staff quarreling with each other due to misunderstandings. Issues like these can suck your team’s motivation dry.
With the right project management platform, your team can avoid doing menial tasks by leveraging automation, get quick access to essential documents they need to do their work, etc.
With robust project management software, collaboration becomes easy peasy for your virtual team. The smoother their collaboration becomes, the more motivated they are to work.
2. Conduct Regular Meetings
Just because your team is separated physically doesn’t mean the same has to happen virtually. Run regular virtual meetings to keep in touch with each other.
If you feel a strong sense of indifference or you hear a lot of complaints and frustrations from them, run daily meetings until you see some improvements. Just make sure you don’t drag your sessions longer than it has to be.
Also, always don’t talk about work, ask them how they’re doing, their family, cricket, movies, etc. Conversations like these are often more organic since you end up talking about a recent event in their life.
3. Run Funny Contests
Here’s the deal: when your staff work from home, their eyes are glued to their laptops. There’s not much fun there, really, unless they’re using company time to watch videos on Youtube.
Because that’s the kind of environment your team is now exposed to, you need to give them a breath of fresh air. Heck, if you can get them to roll on the floor laughing, all the better.
When you give your team a pleasant and enjoyable work environment, you give them a reason to be happy and motivated.
4. Setup A Digital Training Section
Create a digital training section that details your standard procedures, workflows, and other helpful internal resources. Doing so increases your team’s productivity since those with questions about your internal procedures can look up the answer themselves.
They can avoid spending several minutes chatting back and forth with another staff who’s also loaded with things to do. This is especially true for new employees.
5. Publicly Appreciate
If you want to keep your online team motivated, you need to give them more than just a virtual high five or thumbs up. It would help if you give great recognition for their extraordinary contributions, otherwise, they won’t feel appreciated — a giant motivation killer.
Use these strategies to show recognition for your employees:
● Mention their achievements or contributions during team meetings.
● Give them a shout-out on your social media pages or website.
● Give them awards.
Conclusion:
Keeping your team motivated is crucial to the success of your business. If they go to work lifeless and unmotivated, they won’t pay too much attention to the quality of their work, or worse, they’ll end up quitting for a more exciting job. Follow the tips to improve your team’s level of motivation.
