Remote workers are certainly more plentiful than in years past, but the key to success lies in keeping everyone on your team motivated.
While working from home has its benefits in saving on gas, the comfort of one’s home, and being able to dress as one pleases, there are downsides. For one, many remote workers are feeling the effects of isolation. When the bulk of their human connection is with co-workers, their bubble may feel pretty small. Finding ways to motivate remote workers can help both them and you succeed.
For the sake of your employees’ wellbeing and your business thriving into the future, it’s important to take motivation seriously.
How To Keep Your Remote Workers Motivated
One of the most valuable parts of working in any job is the growth that employees can experience.
However, they need feedback to be able to improve their skills. So if you notice they aren’t utilizing resources effectively, let them know. Furthermore, provide training. Investing in your employees’ education when it pertains to your business will benefit both the employees and the business.
Moreover, this is useful from how they answer phones to how they submit projects, and communicate with clients.
1. Set Them Up For Success With The Right Tools
Did you ever receive a homework assignment only to get home and realize you don’t understand the instructions at all?
That’s how it feels for remote workers when they lack the tools and/or instruction to perform their jobs. While it’s important to put yourself in their shoes, it’s also important to have an open line of communication.
Work with your IT expert to ensure a robust infrastructure, like Microsoft 365, is available for all of your employees. The ability to collaborate in real-time while using a seamless operating system encourages productivity.
Furthermore, a task management tool, such as ClickUp, keeps tasks, deadlines, and documents organized. Don’t forget to keep your employees trained and updated on the latest phishing and ransomware tactics. No one wants to be at the root of a major problem, so give them the tools they need to avoid unnecessary issues.
Want to help elevate your employees’ motivation? Talk To Brooks IT Services about how we can set your team up with the best software for your business and budget.
2. Acknowledge Your Team’s Challenges
When an entire business works together in an office, problem-solving seems a bit easier. A worker could easily ask a coworker questions as they arise, so troubleshooting is fairly simple.
Now, put yourself in the position of a remote worker blankly staring at their screen and embarrassed to ask for help. Everyone is busy with their tasks, and admitting in writing that something is not understood can feel intimidating. But this only leads to a bottleneck of unfinished tasks.
On the other hand, you may have workers living in a full house. Whether with roommates or their spouse and children, the lack of privacy can be rough. For instance, if a worker has their children interrupting meetings with questions or cries for attention, it’s important to be accommodating. With an open and empathetic mind, find out how you can help that employee.
3. Invest In Your Employees’ Wellbeing
Providing health insurance coverage or simply communicating on a human-to-human level can do wonders.
While working from home has its benefits, it can be challenging for some people. Workers who live alone may feel isolated in their home, only venturing out for necessary errands. Face-to-face interactions can become sparse, and it can take a toll on a person’s morale.
So find ways to both show and prove you care. If your business can’t yet afford insurance, then be open with your employees about a timeline. If insurance is available, make sure your employees have the tools to navigate their benefits.
Overall, it’s important to reach out. Encouraging healthy lifestyles through walking or running 100 miles a month is a great place to start.
In the end, your employees’ well-being affects that of your business.
4. Celebrate Employee Wins
Whether through a thoughtful email, a gift card, or shoutout on Microsoft Teams, celebrating employee wins can go pretty far.
Put yourself in your employee’s shoes. If an idea proposal of yours turned out to be a hit, you would be feeling good about yourself. The same goes for decisions that save the company money.
When accomplishments go unseen day in and day out, it might start to seem a little irritating – especially if small mistakes or anything out of your control goes wrong and gets all the attention. Those things may not matter to an employer, but they could be everything to the employees.
Retain your employees and promote productivity by celebrating employee wins more often than you drag them on errors.
5. Remain Accessible
While no one likes a micromanager, a hands-off approach can be troublesome too.
If an employee has a question or just simply wants to run something by you, how easy is that? Do you have an open-door policy? Do you respond to their emails promptly?
As a business owner or manager, remaining accessible is important to running your business. Of course, everyone needs time away from distractions. So if you’re going to be muting your phone, at least let your employees know what time they can reach you next.
6. Encourage Comradarity
Having someone to vent to or to simply help pick each other up after hard feedback or a bad day can go a long way.
While some managers may see employees chatting here and there as a loss of productivity, it’s best to let that slide within reason. Why?
- Those conversations are probably about work.
- Human-to-human connections keep the world running.
Would you rather your employees stare blankly at a computer for two hours?
Or would a quick 5-minute conversation be what they need to reinvigorate their remote worker stamina?
All in all, it’s better to encourage workplace comradery than to discourage speaking throughout the workday. You can creatively and virtually take it further with trust exercises, employee appreciation events, raffles, and friendly competitions.
7. Weekly Check-Ins, At The Very Least
We can’t say this enough – keep in touch with your remote workers.
Especially when working from home, workloads can seem overwhelming. There may be mistakes on your end that you’re not aware of if you’re not opening a line of communication.
The best way to keep everyone on the same page is to have scheduled check-ins. At the very least, meet with your employees (remotely) at least once a week. Go over the to-do list, make sure no one is overwhelmed, and be your team’s hype person.
Motivate Your Remote Workers & Watch The Rise In Productivity Follow
While communication and positivity can go a long way, setting your team up with the right tools is mandatory for the success of your small business.
Brooks IT Services is Houston’s comprehensive, full-service IT solution provider for small businesses like yours. Whether you’re just getting started, or need to migrate an older system into the future, we are here to help.
From choosing the right software to keeping within your budget, our experts specialize in setting small Houston businesses up for success.
Get in touch with Brooks IT Services to find out how we can help you and your business succeed!