20 tips how to keep your employees motivated when working from home

We all know that good employees are hard to find and can be hard to keep. Working from home is not for everyone and it can be difficult for a lot of people to stay focused.

From our experience there are many different ways in which will encourage those who work from home. Here are a few things that you can do to help your employees stay motivated which increases productivity and will strengthen the company culture.

1. Create online channels

There are different online tools that can be used for communication. We personally prefer using Slack. With Slack you can easily talk to your team. We would suggest that you have multiple Slack channels running at the same time. For example one can be dedicated to specific projects where as the others can be for daily conversations etc.

2. Have short morning meetings

Nobody likes long and tedious morning meetings. A quick 10 minute virtual meeting every morning with the whole team, where you as a group set up goals for the day, will motivate and make people feel included. It also gives your employees a clear understanding of the expectations for that day.

3. Learn from each other

Arrange a 30 minute session per week where the team catch up via video link. Here you can nominate a team member where the person talks about any topic related to his/her role. The team gets to share insights and learn from one another.

4. A virtual work party

Schedule virtual after work drinks with the team where you don’t talk about work or projects. Just have fun! You can for example use the app Houseparty. It’s great for team building and creating strong work cultures. And why not order home delivery food for everyone if you’re able to.

5. Encourage people to take breaks

Everyone’s different, some people are all about breaks and then there are some that won’t even stop for a lunch break. Everyone can benefit from taking a step back once in a while, especially if someone is stuck they might see things in a different light after a short break. The whole team can even have virtual breaks together.

6. Does your employees have the right tools?

Not all homes are ideal working environments. However small investments can really make a difference and also make working from home more enjoyable. Talk to each employee and see if there is anything they need which may help increase productivity. There is nothing more frustrating than when you as an employee don’t have the right tools needed to do the job properly.

7. Don’t micromanage

Most bosses want to have control and with employees working from home it’s usually harder to manage the team. But remember to never lose trust. When employees don’t feel trusted they can lose motivation and this can cause cracks within the company’s culture.

8. Schedule workouts

Hire a personal trainer for shorter virtual team workouts. It will be a fun team building experience. You can also encourage your employees to incorporate exercise into their daily routines which will help them stay focused and have a sense of general well-being.

9. Celebrate achievements together

How do you usually celebrate achievements when you’re at the office? And how can you create an online version of this? Involve the team and get creative! Celebrating achievements and milestones will encourage the team and also be motivating for yourself.

10. Time for a quiz

Allow a different person to run weekly quiz competitions. The topics can vary each week. This will bring the team closer and break up the day and make people stay more motivated.

11. Reward accomplishments

Working from home can be easy for some and hard for others. Don’t forget to check in on the employees one on one to see how each individual is going. To acknowledge achievements and give positive feedback means more than you think. It’s an easy way to encourage your employees.

12. Get to know each other

Perhaps there are new people within the company whom the team haven’t had a chance to meet or get to know yet. Remember to give new employees attention and a space within the group so they also feel included.

13. Keep up with social media

Don’t let your company become invisible just because people are working from home. Keep sharing insights and work party snaps as you would normally do. Employees usually like sharing what’s going on at their workplace. It will also strengthen your employer branding.

14. Swap tasks instead of giving people more work

When tasks go stale adding more work to an employee won’t help. Getting employees to swap tasks between each other and helping each other out will be more effective than adding more work to their existing schedule. Rearranging project between employees will activate the brain again and create motivation.

15. Work from different locations/areas

Are your employees able to get down to the park or maybe a cafe to work? Changing workplaces even if it’s within their own home, going from the home office to the living room can stimulate the brain and boost creativity.

16. Encourage teamwork to keep kicking goals

Encourage the team to have online meetings within their project groups. As we mentioned before – don’t micromanage, instead trust your team and their capabilities. This also builds trust between the employees.

17. Online learning

Get the team to tune into online conferences to learn new skills and get insights. After the conference take time to talk and reflect the outcome.

18. Keep people stimulated

Working from home can be challenging for a lot of people. To encourage give employees different tasks and more responsibilities when possible.

19. Implement fun team activities

Maybe you have a pool table, VR, a ping pong table or other offline games at the office which your team members use to bond with each other. Instead of this you could all play online games during some coffee breaks. It will strengthen the remote work culture. We also find that games provides a lot of conversation starters prior to meetings. It’s great especially for a more introverted team.

20. Be transparent

This may be even more important now than ever. Your employees like to know what is happening and what management are discussing. They may have concerns whether or not they will still have a position within the company. It all comes down to mutual respect. Treat your employees the way you would like to be treated.

Have you got any other suggestions or like to bounce ideas? Shoot us a message hello@bonza.se