Leaders managing remote teams are facing unique challenges in the pandemic as team members are feeling isolated and some are even showing signs of mild depression. It goes without saying that the change in the work environment has made it difficult for remotely working employees to effectively engage with their leaders or with each other.
In the realm of remote work, communication tools play a vital role in facilitating effective collaboration and connectivity. The significance of communication tools for remote work cannot be overstated. These tools serve as the lifeblood of virtual collaboration, enabling seamless and efficient communication among remote teams. By fostering real-time interaction, information sharing, and collective decision-making, these tools enhance productivity, foster teamwork, and bridge the physical distance between colleagues. While there exists a plethora of tools dedicated to enhancing remote communication, the true challenge lies in maintaining employee motivation. In these challenging times, where working from home has become a necessity, it is crucial to ensure that employees remain engaged to prevent any decline in business performance.
We have listed below 5 secrets successful team leaders swear by to keep remote teams motivated and engaged:
1. Help Them Schedule Their Time Optimally
One of the major reasons remote employees feel unmotivated is lack of accountability. Since no one is watching over their shoulder, there is no set schedule for the day. This can quickly escalate to them mismanaging their time and procrastinating work.
To help them stay charged up and engaged, help them structure their time in order to achieve their goals within the set time frame. When they are able to complete work on time, they have more time for their personal interests and this leads to a better work-life balance.
2. Avoid Fretting About Every Small Detail
Leaders are supposed to support and guide teams but they often end up micromanaging them to ensure they are actually working. It is important for remote team leaders to stay on top of everything but fretting over every small detail is unnecessary.
When you focus on quality results instead of demanding them to put in a fixed number of hours, employees get the autonomy to decide how they want to best achieve the results. This ensures them that you are placing your trust in them to do their job well which is a huge motivation.
3. Pay Them on Time
A significant reason for many remote teams losing motivation or being disengaged is the delayed payment of salaries. A lot of companies have failed to streamline the payroll process due to the sudden shift to remote work and this has led to them struggling to pay employees on time.
It is crucial to pay employees accurate compensation timely for their hard work. A payroll software automates the entire process and makes paying employees on time a cakewalk. It ensures remote employees always receive accurate salaries on time, which increases their faith in the company and motivates them to achieve company goals.
4. Provide Learning Opportunities
One of the best ways to keep employees engaged is to provide them learning and development opportunities. With eLearning, employees can upskill from the comfort of their homes by accessing training courses at a time of their convenience and grow in their careers.
When an organization invests in the growth of an employee by offering such opportunities, it leads to employees feeling that the company values their contribution. This highly motivates them and builds loyalty towards their employers which improves employee retention.
5. Recognize Their Contribution
More often than not, remote team leaders are so focused on driving teams to deliver results that they forget to appreciate their efforts. A key driver in motivating a remote team is recognizing and rewarding their contribution.
When leaders create a culture of encouraging performers by rewarding them, it motivates them to keep performing better. It also breeds healthy competition in the team to try to achieve similar rewards which boosts engagement.
Final Words
In these unprecedented times it is crucial to show empathy towards your remote team members as this forced scenario is very new for everyone. At the same time, a good leader must help them stay motivated to ensure this transition to work-from-home does not slow down or hamper the overall business growth.