Ways of keeping your team Motivated & Engaged
Updated: Jan 7, 2021
[Individually & collectively]
In these times working from home can, for a lot of people, be the ‘new normal’. The challenge for managers is how to maintain motivation & engagement levels with the individual and more widely across the team. The feeling of connectivity, being part of something more, is important to many people.
Working from home offers new challenges and opportunities for managers in enabling their workforce to find a way of working which not only fits into their team’s ‘home life’ but also will enable them to keep their levels of productivity & effectiveness at the same [if not higher] levels as if they were in the office.
Some managers might think that having regular ‘Teams chats or calls’ with individuals will resolve the issue of connectivity and maintain at least some levels of motivation and engagement. However, ‘Teams fatigue’ is a real thing and having chats or calls [whilst important] just for their own sake, does not offer a sense of purpose to many.
Therefore, the opportunity this way of working presents itself, is for managers to be creative in finding genuine, purposeful opportunities to motivate & engage their staff and thereby enable people to feel connected to others and equally importantly, the team’s purpose.
In addition, managers who can demonstrate their own levels of motivation and engagement through the way they ‘Show -up’ in these times, are then able to influence and affect others through their behaviour & mindset. Demonstrating these behaviours can act as a role model for others.
A key behaviour to demonstrate is one of continuous improvement. I’m curious as to the answer to this question.
When was the last time you completed some continuous professional development? In other words, when did you last learn something?
Last week? Last month? longer?
Well if it is longer, I would encourage you to have a conversation with your manager and follow that up with conversations with your team. Learning new skills will improve motivational levels within your workforce as it helps to shift the mind’s focus away from tasks to one of growth and possibilities.
The additional pay-off is that it can then help influence people to change and adapt whilst performing work tasks, increasing productivity, motivation and individuals can see that the things they have learnt are having a positive impact upon them.
‘Shades of You’ can help you with your learning needs, talk to us about the types of learning you and your individual[s] or teams need.
Throughout January we have an offer on our Coaching provision too*[See below].
Coaching can help you with analysis & identification of the challenges you and your team are facing in ‘lockdown’ and help you implement strategies to defeat them and achieve more.
Other ideas on ‘How to’ maintain levels of motivation and engagement with individuals and your wider team: -
Be clear on expectations and articulate them, ensuring you role model them and be prepared to challenge behaviours that fall short of expectations
Be discreet and trustworthy
Look for ways to enable each individual employee to feel part of the team. An example could include opportunities of collaborative working in pairs or small groups of 3.
Ensure that everyone in your team still has clear objectives & outcomes of what they need to do, as this helps them to understand how their work contributes to the team’s and organisation’s bigger objectives
Get to know the individual and their preference for their working from home patterns – this is you looking out for their welfare
Bring out our best in individuals by helping them resolve the problems they encounter from working from home themselves, through coaching techniques
Give them regular, thoughtful, honest, and constructive feedback on their performance
Say ‘thank you’ and acknowledge successes and achievements of individuals and teams – creating a culture of praise and acknowledgement
Ask people for their ideas to solve the wider issue of connectivity, motivation and or engagement within the team.
Some examples are: -
“Ideas Street” – a more modern version of the suggestions box, where ideas are posted online so all colleagues can see and vote on them, and which progress to further consideration if they attract enough support.
“Graffiti walls” – official ones, opened for a period, again inviting views and comments on a particular theme, where staff can write what they think, and colleagues can see what they have written and add their comments.
‘Team sets the agenda’ – ask the team members to put meeting agendas together as this encourages them to focus on and raise the things that are important to them
*Coaching offer
● You can find out more about the work Sarah & Chris are doing here: https://www.shadesofyoucoaching.com/about
● 6 Coaching Sessions for £34 per session! All sessions must be booked in advance and full payment made in advance of your first session -*full cost £204
● Not sure you want to commit to 6 sessions just yet? No problem, book a one-off session for £50.
● Still not sure if this is right for you? Book a Free 30-minute chemistry call to make sure we are right for each other.
Book here
Written for Shades of You by Chris Restell
