So we are in our 11th week of lockdown, possibly more of your remote working and it’s raining! This is an absolute mood killer for anyone so how are you going to help your team and even yourself stay positive and motivated over the coming days and possibly weeks?
Don’t worry if you’re running out of ideas, that is what we are here for! I have lots of years of experience of managing teams and helping others to build successful teams so I have come up with some suggestions to help with employee engagement and motivation as you may need it now more than ever.
1) Reach out to each of them personally either on a call or a zoom and have a proper one on one catch up. Talking and sharing is key in releasing tension and good communication is absolutely crucial for keeping your relationship strong particularly in the absence of face to face interaction. You may be having regular team Skype/zoom/teams chats but it’s easy for someone to be unheard in this format and hide their feelings behind their face in a grid.
So we are in our 11th week of lockdown, possibly more of your remote working and it’s raining! This is an absolute mood killer for anyone so how are you going to help your team and even yourself stay positive and motivated over the coming days and possibly weeks?
Don’t worry if you’re running out of ideas, that is what we are here for! I have lots of years of experience of managing teams and helping others to build successful teams so I have come up with some suggestions to help with employee engagement and motivation as you may need it now more than ever.
1) Reach out to each of them personally either on a call or a zoom and have a proper one on one catch up. Talking and sharing is key in releasing tension and good communication is absolutely crucial for keeping your relationship strong particularly in the absence of face to face interaction. You may be having regular team Skype/zoom/teams chats but it’s easy for someone to be unheard in this format and hide their feelings behind their face in a grid.
2) Set an uplifting song for the day and share it with your team to listen to – then ask each of them to do this in the coming days, one at a time. We did this in our own team and it really worked and helped to build team spirit! (We sent you tube link via email) Some studies have shown how listening to uplifting music can improve a mood in minutes!
3) Ask each team member to share “one thing” that went well last week. By focusing on something that has been a success can help the person to relive the happy feelings that went with this event and accomplishment. Others can also be motivated by hearing other people’s successes,
4) Feeling brave? Why not do a zoom HIIT session as a team – only needs to be 5-10 minutes to lift the mood and if you’re no Jane Fonda yourself go to you tube and Joe Wicks is there waiting for you! Take this a step further and you could jazz this up by getting some fancy dress competitions going or wigs etc! Get creative as everyone needs a good laugh at the moment and who wouldn’t love to see their boss in lycra?!
5) Ask each person to write down 3 things they are grateful for, no matter how large or small. Do this each day and it’s guaranteed to help your mindset. There are psychological benefits to practising gratitude and studies have shown that doing this regularly for a prolonged period of time actually changes the molecular structure of the brain making us happier! There are also links to improved physical wellbeing so certainly worth a try. Personally I have kept a daily gratitude journal for over a year and I have definitely seen these results.
6) Treat your team! If there is a budget, why not send something in the post to say thank you for their hard work. It doesn’t have to be something expensive, it could even be an uplifting card with a positive message of thanks and I’m sure it will certainly lift them and be appreciated.
Over the years I have tried lots of team building activities and whilst we can’t get out an build rafts at the moment there are still plenty of things you can try. Don’t be afraid to try new things and seek ideas from your teams on what they would like as well.
Set an uplifting song for the day and share it with your team to listen to – then ask each of them to do this in the coming days, one at a time. We did this in our own team and it really worked and helped to build team spirit! (We sent you tube link via email) Some studies have shown how listening to uplifting music can improve a mood in minutes!
3) Ask each team member to share “one thing” that went well last week. By focusing on something that has been a success can help the person to relive the happy feelings that went with this event and accomplishment. Others can also be motivated by hearing other people’s successes,
4) Feeling brave? Why not do a zoom HIIT session as a team – only needs to be 5-10 minutes to lift the mood and if you’re no Jane Fonda yourself go to you tube and Joe Wicks is there waiting for you! Take this a step further and you could jazz this up by getting some fancy dress competitions going or wigs etc! Get creative as everyone needs a good laugh at the moment and who wouldn’t love to see their boss in lycra?!
5) Ask each person to write down 3 things they are grateful for, no matter how large or small. Do this each day and it’s guaranteed to help your mindset. There are psychological benefits to practising gratitude and studies have shown that doing this regularly for a prolonged period of time actually changes the molecular structure of the brain making us happier! There are also links to improved physical wellbeing so certainly worth a try. Personally I have kept a daily gratitude journal for over a year and I have definitely seen these results.
6) Treat your team! If there is a budget, why not send something in the post to say thank you for their hard work. It doesn’t have to be something expensive, it could even be an uplifting card with a positive message of thanks and I’m sure it will certainly lift them and be appreciated.
Over the years I have tried lots of team building activities and whilst we can’t get out an build rafts at the moment there are still plenty of things you can try. Don’t be afraid to try new things and seek ideas from your teams on what they would like as well.
