Team morale: it keeps companies together and employees happy. Your company needs high morale, especially during times of stress and uncertainty. However, it cannot be easy to maintain this shared enthusiasm when teams are working remotely. Fortunately, today’s digital resources make it possible to encourage and maintain morale.
Before getting creative about forging team spirit, you must understand how remote work negatively impacts morale in the first place. Fundamentally, team morale is easier to cultivate when employees are physically together. It is not the work that keeps employees engaged — it is human interactions.
An office setting allows for casual communication, increased coworker interaction, and connection. Without these kinds of encounters, employees feel isolated, and the company seems faceless and emotionless. Thus, if you want to increase enthusiasm, productivity, and happiness in employees, you must bring back the humane aspects of teamwork.
Communicate Frequently
One great way to enhance team morale is to show appreciation for employee achievements. Receiving regular positive feedback and recognition helps workers to feel appreciated and confident, leading to greater work engagement, company loyalty, and productivity. “As a manager, it’s important to reach out to employees for more than check-ins and progress updates,” says Marcin Ladowski, COO of CarBrain.com. “Compliments and uplifting statements can go a great deal towards improving employee morale and reminding your employees they’re still part of a supportive team.
Thus, it is vital to engage in more frequent conversations with employees throughout the day. Moreover, it is essential to ensure that these conversations are not all about work. Creating space for casual and work-appropriate fun conversations is key to humanizing the digital space and helping employees feel connected to each other and the company.
Utilize Video Conferencing
While Slack and email can streamline project-related conversations, video conferences are crucial to adding a human aspect to decision-making and work engagement. Behind black and white words are your coworkers. Talking over projects, schedules, and other details, face-to-face helps to reestablish this reality. It also helps keep employees professional.
While working from home allows you to work in your pajamas, a video call reminds you that you are a working professional. Additionally, maintaining a professional appearance and attitude while working remotely increases motivation, confidence, organization, and productivity. Thus, scheduling face-to-face virtual meetings can help to keep employees engaged professionally.
Additionally, allowing a period before or after a video call in which employees can have a casual conversation will encourage connection. This way, employees can look forward to meetings rather than dreading another cold call about work.
Set Weekly Themes or Competitions
One great way to enhance team morale is to show appreciation for employee achievements. Receiving regular positive feedback and recognition helps workers to feel appreciated and confident, leading to greater work engagement, company loyalty, and productivity.
Implementing fun theme weeks and awards is an easy way to get workers to participate and have chances to win. Physical awards are not necessary: praise, recognition, and affirmation are what most employees are seeking.
Share Progress with the Entire Company
When employees are not regularly informed about company or project updates, they can feel aimless, bored, and unmotivated. Therefore, it is essential to update team members and employees about company news, especially when it concerns progress and positivity.
Keeping employees informed can help reduce anxieties and fears that they might feel about the company’s status or health. With less worry on their minds, employees can focus on essential tasks and stay engaged.
Be 100% Transparent
A company that is entirely open about both the good and bad that is happening, especially when team members are working remotely, can create a more positive environment and reinforce a sense of camaraderie among employees.
No matter if it is new protocols, company updates, or feedback, it is essential to keep employees informed as things change and adjust. Even seemingly minor updates can help workers feel important to the company.
Lead by Example
While some workers thrive with remote work, others might be struggling and do not know how to navigate professionalism and productivity at home. As a company and team leader, it is your responsibility to conduct yourself as you expect your employees. It can include:
- Dressing in your professional attire during video calls.
- Promptly responding to messages, emails, and phone calls.
- Sticking to an established work schedule.
- Reaching out to employees and asking appropriate non-work-related questions about their lives or days.
- Remaining transparent about worries, fears, successes, and goals.
Essentially, if you expect your employees to remain positive, productive, and professional, you must demonstrate that those things are possible. Otherwise, trust in your leadership and the company can weaken, and team morale will falter.
