Now that most of the work force is working from home a lot of adjusting has taken place. Change sometime can affect the morale of employees – it was probably great but as we have progressed week after week energy levels are slowly dropping. As a leader, we have put together some tips you can use to build the morale of the employees as well as keep the motivated.
1. Be The Early Bird
Checking in early to a virtual meeting is great because you are available to help with any technical issues that may arise. You are also available for an informal chat with a staff member before the meeting begins.
If you have set up a group chat where employees report progress of tasks, then it is important that you check-in first on the thread every business day and wish them a great day.
2. Simple and Powerful Words
Use key words like; Thank you, Please, Kindly, Are you available to assist, the list goes on. This communicates that you value the team and have respect for them regardless of the distance. Remember to use these in your email as well as in video or conference calls.
3. Stay Connected
Keeping in touch with employees away from the formal calls is vital. Schedule a meeting with individual staff members that need more assistance with adjusting to working remotely. Support the employees with devices and internet connectivity they might need to stay in touch with fellow colleagues within reason. Show your employees that you care even through this tough period.
4. Employee Recognition
Most companies have a system set that recognises employees every month or every quarter. Modify the system to suit the current working conditions. If you have a website, add a page that recognises your employees on different categories. Have a picture taken as well to personalise it.
5. Gamify the work
Healthy competition has not only boosted productivity, it has also raised the morale within work places. When splitting up teams to carry out different tasks, design a game where they earn points as they go. At Stawi, we specialise in tailoring games for different needs. Please feel free to contact us.
6. Animate Your Communication
Add fun in your emails, messaging platforms and other channels you are using to communicate. Use colourful visual presentations to communicate messages to your employees. Use cartoons and movie clips to capture key points you would like to pass along.
7. Establish New Systems to Measure Performance
Getting people to report remotely is not very difficult. Communicate clear expectations and have a method of collecting progress reports. Some companies use group-messaging, project management software while others use basic email. Find out what works best for you.
8. Offer Growth Opportunities
Working from home can allow us to play around with the days a little. Set aside a day a week or every fortnight for training. You can choose to run your training over a live video call or pre-shoot a training video, prepare training modules, hold webinars, invite speakers to conference calls, among other methods. This equips employees with new skills to help them cope with the dynamic situation. It is also cost effective to run remote training, because it does not include cost of hiring rooms, accommodation and catering. Get in touch with if you would like us to conduct any training sessions for you and your team.
9. Practice an Open Door Policy
The term open door is metaphorical in this case. Let the employees know they can reach you at any time via email or call. If you have a large number of employees, open a separate email for this purpose and use it to be available to your employees. Schedule time in your working days to get calls from your employees and set this time aside to listen to them.
10. Share the Goals and The Context
Create a safe environment for your employees by showing them there is still structure regardless where they are. Streamline top-down and peer to peer communication so that nothing falls between the cracks. Over communicate as well so as not to miss key point. However, over communicate does not necessarily mean to be wordy rather be repetitive.
11. Continue Learning and Trying New Ideas
Stay tuned to this blog for more ideas as you carry out your personal research on how to keep your employees motivated. In the meantime try out the icebreakers we have available from this list of 60 icebreaker questions or try out these activities on our blog. If you need guidance, feel free to reach out.
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