Motivate your team
Motivating our teams is very challenging and sometimes can even feel impossible. Daily stress, relationships at works can make it complex sometimes to set aside time and actions to create the necessary motivation amongst our team to keep the level of engagement high and ready.
When it comes to motivation, it all boils down to create a bond around a common goal. It is about creating that engagement with our employees in which they feel part of a family or a project in which they understand their role and importance in it.
So what are some great strong ways to motivate your team? Read the following ideas to find out some of the best ones we use.
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Team building activities
A classic, but always good. Why? Because it does work. Team building activities usually force a different level of communication and the use of a different language. It also creates contact with people amongst our team that we might not usually interact with.
We also highly recommend to bring these activities outside of the workplace. A change of scenario also means a change of attitude. While being at the office might allow some interesting activities, it still creates some level of tension since it is the work atmosphere. Being outside can liberate everyone a bit more, help them relax and actually enjoy the activity and not focus too much on the fact that it is somehow “related to work”.
Also, these activities will help us work on team values, personality matches and better communication to solve problems.
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Be flexible, allow remote work when possible.
Not all jobs require us to be sitting in our desks at all times. Whenever the possibility arises, propose the option to work from home. This way your employees will see a better possibility to combine and meet their professional life with their personal life.
Allowing working remotely will also show them that you do trust them and believe in their ability to do things on their own and make decisions when it is necessary.
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Give them a break space that they can actually enjoy.
Breaks are necessary for the daily productivity of your team. They need to be able to put their heads to rest and relax a little bit before the take over their challenges and responsibilities everyday.
Having a designated space where they can go to relax, enjoy time and unwind, will not only increase their level of commitment, but you will also notice a difference on the results.
Make sure that their break room is a enjoyable space with enough possibilities to relax, places to sit and good vibe to be able to disconnect from work. Also make sure that when they are there the conversations are not always work related and that they can have a coffee in peace during their break to fully recharge before they go back to work.
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Show your appreciation.
None of the above will do much if you don’t make sure to show your team how much you value their engagement and work in your team.
Validate their attitude, their ideas and their commitment, and be vocal about it. A general message to the team can be good from time to time, but a personal touch, where you verbally say “thank you” or “good job” while looking in the eyes, that makes a huge difference and a much greater impact in your team.
Don’t be shy about communicating with your team. As much as some of these ideas to create that level of motivation and engagement sometimes might be receive from your team with a bit of reservations, they will soon open more and become their own selves while developing their roles. Bare in mind that everyone works better when they can relax and be open about their own personalities than when they feel like the have to be kind of robotic at work.
