Tips for Motivating Your Employees While Work From Home
Work from home can have its advantages. You can work comfortably in your own office dressed in soft clothes. Many people dream of the chance to work in their own four walls, avoiding the chaos of the crowd outside.
After a while, working from the limits of your home can lose its appeal. Your employees risk falling into routine and feeling that every day is the same. There follows a lack of motivation, even for the most responsible workers.
Home, in the end, is not the office. Here are some tips on how to keep your employees motivated while working from home. They’ll help to keep energy high and get things done in good spirits.
1 – Be In Good Cheer
If the boss is complaining about how things are, it’s likely that the negativity will rub off on employees. When you talk to your workers on the phone or over video chat, try to reassure them that this state of quarantine is temporary. Remind them of the progress that is being made, and thank them for the great help they are offering.
2 – Choose a Good Platform
When you’re communicating with your employees, make sure you’re using a video chat platform that’s clean and easy to manage. The clunkier the platform, the more likely your employees are to groan when you announce an online meeting. Finding communication venues that are modern will take much of the hassle out of working from home and add excitement instead.
3 – Hand Out Gifts
Everybody likes gifts, and when you’re stuck at home working, a surprise can motivate you to continue putting in your best work. You don’t need to get something very expensive, but a gift card to a local coffee shop can go a long way. It gives your employees the impression that you value your employees enough to give them a treat as thanks. On the same note, office work is always easier to do with coffee close at hand. If you hand out gifts of coffee, you’re making their job easier for them!
4 – Call Out Their Strengths
Everybody has a forte in the workplace. Whether their strength is in communicating with the rest of the team, or perhaps a knack for complicated equations, take the time to appreciate each of your employees. These days, it’s hard to see our strengths; the world feels too bleak, and tends to give us a sense of helplessness. Your employees will feel better when they feel that the work they’re putting in is being appreciated. Consider starting an Employee of the Month prize.
5 – Ask For Their Opinions
Often, regular employees see a business from a different angle. They can come up with ideas to help it grow that you, as the boss, perhaps wouldn’t be able to see. Every now and then, arrange a video chat where you listen to them, and not the other way around. You’ll be pleasantly surprised when you hear what your team has to say; they might have been quiet up to this point, but their ideas could turn the company around.
6 – Schedule A Motivational Speaker
If motivational speaking isn’t your strong point, there are plenty of people who have a gift for lifting the spirits of those listening. Schedule for one of them to join your next video conference; they might bring the cheer that your company needs.
Conclusion
When working from home loses its novelty and becomes stifling, you need to approach it with a different strategy. Connecting with your employees will motivate them and make them feel valued. Surprising them with gifts will not only make them smile, but it might be the random act of kindness to brighten their day. We have much to learn from our employees; we need only start to listen.
