Work-from-home life has been an amusing and great opportunity for many workers worldwide. Everything’s exciting and perfect for them. I mean, who would want to go back to their physical workplace? They don’t need to get up early to shower before work. After a shift, they can just lie down on their beds and chill!
Ninety-eight percent of employees in the United States say they’d like to work remotely (at least part-time) for the rest of their lives. Eighty-nine percent already work in the comfort of their homes (both part-time and full-time). Yet most people would not imagine the classic representation of a typical 9-5 job to be work from home! For sure, it’ll demand a significant change of company management.
But WFH isn’t always that good. Some miss an office vibe. Working from home can involve unrealistic expectations, contradictory instructions, being yelled at for being proactive,… many types of problems can arise. They lower the morale of a remote worker and make them think of resigning. You don’t want them to feel this way, do you? Especially when you have treated them as your family already. 🥺
In this article, we’ll be your tour guide on this train of ideas to boost the morale of your remote team members. Get ready: here are seven simple ways to supercharge the most-essential confidence of your virtual workers. From start to finish, we’ll make sure that each of these steps will elevate your gang’s morale.
1. Plan employee catch-ups with virtual happy hours
Let’s start this with something simple.
Many people love to catch up with one another. And while they are catching up, team spirit and communication are getting built. These two things are the key to success in any team growing towards a goal. That is, to lift each other’s confidence in what they do to be productive.
It’s hard to catch up with your members when they work remotely. So how do you make it work for your remote team? Plan and create virtual happy hours for them.
A virtual happy hour is genuinely incredible. It’s an event that few people could have imagined organizing only a few decades ago. The dream of video conferencing has been alive since 1927 (according to Encyclopedia Britannica). But it’s only in the last few decades that we have been able to speak by video anytime and anywhere we want. Virtual happy hour is the ideal way to unwind, relax, or congratulate your team on a fantastic project win. It’s the perfect time to bring everyone together to celebrate and enjoy each other’s company. Make it a memorable one!
Virtual happy hours don’t need to have alcoholic drinks. For starters, here are three activities that you can do to produce a happy moment with your remote team:
- Bingo – first one who finishes a straight line of squares on their card wins
- Trivia game – individuals (or groups) who get the most answers win
- Charades – teams who get the highest score from a teammate pantomiming an action and guessing what it is win
Click here for more of our blog posts about virtual happy hours. There are more options you can find there. 😉
2. Respect their private time
We’ll be straightforward about this next train car we’re giving you. Respect each of your member’s private time. Just because someone works from home and has a flexible schedule doesn’t imply they’ll always be available. People have different ‘productive’ hours every day. Some choose to work after midnight; others work afternoons and evenings. Sure, everyone should always do work as early as possible. But you don’t have to limit their capacity to be productive just because you want things to finish at your own pace. The specific time of work you allow them will not always lead to productivity. They might be getting in their precious private time to rest or take responsibilities as a person in their household.
That said, team members need to be as responsive as possible. While not every message needs a quick response, some do. Getting a message at 8 am and responding at 6 pm is unacceptable. They should answer messages as soon as possible.
You need to communicate with your team. Create a schedule that works both for you and them. Then be consistent with it. You hold the time stone (I mean you and your team’s time) to amplify your team’s morale. That way, they’ll feel that you understand them. And understanding them will help you lift their morale more as we go on to the next car of the train.
3. Boost your team’s energy
There’s always a point when everybody’s tired (that includes you). Every project your team works on will have a hump to get over. Sometimes, everyone asks, “What will get us across the finish line?”
At this point, energy is everything. Improve the morale of your team by boosting their energy. Lessen the amount of weight sapping the energy of your team by
- Shortening your meetings’ length or scheduling them according to what benefits you and them.
- Sharing encouraging ideas for self-care and appreciating them. (You can also ask if they have ideas on how to increase energy in your working environment)
- Providing essential programs that can get them out of 2 pm slumps (time of the day when all employees get sleepy)
- Answering their questions with kindness and cheerfulness (always smile, add emojis if you contact them through chat platforms)
- Checking on them to see if their health is good or not
And so much more. As a final piece of advice, take a group vacation if you and your team feel exhausted. It’s a great idea to boost your team’s energy, right?
It’s your job as a boss or a team leader to look out for your team. One person who drags down a whole group could lead to many issues in the future. Always remember: team energy isn’t just something you can ignore. Their energy is directly proportional to their productivity. You can also add to this list the next train car we have for you. There are many ways to boost your team’s energy, and you can find more here.
4. Ask about your team member’s needs
Treat each of your remote workers as special. To do this,, ask them about their needs. This is an important way to boost morale as they continue to work for you.
Because we can’t possibly know what every person might want for themselves, it’s best to ask them about it. It enhances communication and engagement with your team. It also helps you get closer to them. Acknowledge, listen, and note what they share.
You can ask them through a survey, too. Here are some sample questions:
- Do you have a good work-life balance?
- Are you comfortable with life now?
- Is turning off work mode at the end of the day easy for you?
- Have you been stuck on a work routine or schedule?
- Do you have regular breaks?
Always go over the list with everyone. Follow up in a couple of days according to the results you get from them.
There are certain needs that have to be met if a worker is going to improve. They’re just afraid to ask for them. But don’t let them stay as they are. Open your doors to them. It’s an opportunity to raise their morale. Don’t let the chance slip by just because you’re their boss or team leader.
5. Create a buddy system for your team
Do you wonder why soldiers don’t get lonely when training, even if they are isolated from their families? It’s because they have their buddies to help them. The buddy system is a simple yet fantastic way of keeping your team’s morale high. This system builds an immediate personal connection between your employees and your organization.
The buddy’s role is always to check on their partner. Whether it be work, health, or relationship matters, they should always be ready to help. This builds a foundation for each team member to guide one another and support them in their work.
Results from a successful buddy system should include the following:
- Setting of expectations for each other’s well-being
- Discerning what knowledge the buddy should share to improve performance
- An efficient follow-up process that leads to more productivity
Seeing a lot of success with companies that use this system is encouraging. When we started thinking about employee morale, this system came to mind.. We didn’t have any second thoughts in adding this for you. It’s so much better than one leader handling many individuals. This unique system will definitely help level up your team’s morale.
FINAL NOTE
Now that you know how to supercharge the morale of your remote team members, it’s time to put these ideas into practice. Remember, even small changes can significantly impact your team’s happiness and productivity. Be sure to check out our other blog posts for more tips on managing a remote team. And as always, if you need help getting started or want advice on specific issues, feel free to reach out to us. Check out more of our blogs here.
