Whether your company is staying remote or implementing a hybrid workforce, here are some ways that managers of remote teams can help motivate their group.
Give More Flexibility and Understanding
If you started your job with an in-person team and have become manager of a remote team by default, then you may not be a natural at encouraging the flexibility of a work from home schedule. But if you try to hold the reins tightly on your remote workers, staying in constant touch on email, and expecting instant responses to your messages, your management style could backfire.
Instead, to increase team motivation, encourage individuals to take advantage of the flexibility of working from home, so long as they get their projects done. Discuss deadlines in advance, and give people freedom to complete their tasks when it works best for them so long as they do so on time.
Touch Base with Each Team Member on Their Needs and Preferences
Many people have far more concerns than they did over a year ago, and greater personal responsibilities as well.
You can win your team’s respect and fuel motivation by showing concern for each person’s individual situation. Take time to talk one on one with everyone on your team, and find out what each person’s unique challenges and needs are. Let them know that when it comes to setting times for meetings and team communication, you’re willing to work around their scheduling preferences so that they can keep their bigger picture running smoothly.
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Set Clear Goals
A huge part of your team’s success rides on the impact that you and them have on the business. Set clear, transparent goals to ensure that your team knows what they are working toward, and why. Provide context and be sure to quantitate some of the goals where possible so that measurement and success can easily be tracked. This will help safeguard against employees feeling like they’re in limbo with their contributions. And by consistently updating team members on progress, you set a standard of accountability and can pivot if needed.
This mindset will help facilitate a culture of outcomes versus hours, which helps avoid common management pitfalls for both in-person and remote teams.
Make Virtual Meetings More Fun
Employers who want to keep teams engaged must think outside of the box when it comes to requiring their group to participate in video calls.
If budget allows, let people expense a meal while discussing team business. You could also make video calls more appealing by adding in a connective event that promotes team bonding, such as giving people (who want to) time to tell stories and share challenges that they are going through outside of work in a safe, supportive environment.
In larger meetings, using breakout rooms is an idea to facilitate engagement and collaboration.
When Connecting with Your Virtual Team, Give Everyone a Responsibility
As is the case with in-person meetings, it’s easy during team team calls to find the floor dominated by the manager, or by a handful of people on the team who frequently hold center stage. This can diminish morale for the introverts in the group, and it also hurts the whole team if some voices are silenced–even if it’s unintentional.
To avoid having this happen and ensure that everyone gets an equal chance to share their perspective and ideas, assign a task to every team member on the call. For example, alternate who moderates the meeting, who records the key points, and who summarizes and disseminates the decisions to the group. Structure the meeting such that everyone has equal airtime for at least part of the event.
Successfully Motivating Your Employees
By being in touch with what each member of your virtual team is going through outside of work as well as in it—and using that knowledge to empower flexible schedules—you can increase morale. Take the time to plan these experiences with an eye toward offering interesting and motivating activities.
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