How To Motivate Your Team

When it comes to managing a business, one of the most important, albeit the most challenging, tasks are motivating your team. If this wasn’t difficult enough, plenty of businesses are only just recovering from the effects of the global pandemic. These trying circumstances left employees feeling demotivated by their jobs, making motivating sales staff, catering teams, and office workers even more vital. So, what is the best way to motivate employees as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic?

Don’t Overdo it with Meetings

On occasion, meetings are imperative to colleague communication and establishing company goals. With this being said, excessive meetings can be boring and detrimental to employee productivity. A quick team discussion each morning can be beneficial to set out the tasks of each day, but long and formal meetings can decrease morale. An effective alternative might be an online team group chat so that employees can express what they need to say in a casual manner. This makes for a more comfortable and friendly working space.

Encourage Positivity

If you want your team to be enthusiastic and motivated by their work, you should lead by example and promote a positive attitude. You should smile, wish everyone a good morning, and be polite by saying “please” and “thank you”. These might seem like a given but, when forgotten, they can have a huge impact on your employees’ moods. Similarly, you can contribute to the positive ambiance by playing music and encouraging a relaxed working atmosphere.

Create a Nice Working Atmosphere

The typical full-time worker spends more of their waking hours in the workplace than they do at home, therefore, the atmosphere should be comfortable and stimulating. One of the easiest ways to create a stimulating space is to let in a lot of natural light to prevent employees from feeling sluggish as the day progresses. Additionally, workspaces shouldn’t be cluttered as this disorder can impact a person’s mindset and, consequently, their job performance.

It’s a good idea to implement a breakout area where employees can step away from their desks and have a bit of breathing space. Another tip is to keep the office well-stocked with tea and coffee so that employees can grab a relaxing beverage between tasks.

Set Out Priorities and Goals

When your team is clear on what you want from them, they can make a more conscious effort to work towards this. Uncertainty is a huge contributing factor to demotivation as employees are left unsure of what they should be working towards. Similarly, setting reasonable deadlines gives employees a sense of urgency and guidance when completing tasks, meaning that they’re not just blindly working. Once you have set tasks, assignments, and goals, trust that your employees will complete this as micromanaging is another detrimental factor to motivation.

Incorporate Remote Working

Recent studies have shown that allowing employees to occasionally work from home greatly boosts productivity. Not only does it give them more freedom and comfort, but it suggests that their employers have invested trust in them to do their job from home. It’s beneficial to employees when companies shift their attention to focus on results rather than hours worked.

Organize Team-Building Exercises

Team building exercises are a great way to motivate your employees as it allows them to develop relationships with their colleagues. If associates build a good relationship, they’re more concerned about their behavior within the workplace which will ultimately boost productivity. Some examples of team-building activities include kayaking, bowling, go-karting, paintballing, a team lunch or dinner, or even just a couple of after-work drinks. You can take a vote to see which activity your team would prefer to cater the experience to them.