When working with peers in a physical office, the atmosphere people get is very different from the virtual setting.

It’s easier to communicate.

The relationship with peers is more tangible.

And it’s easier for them to get “in the zone” at work since they’re in a work environment.

While some prefer working from home because of its apparent benefits, working in a virtual setting can be very demotivating for some (for many people, actually).

To prevent your team from getting demotivated while working online, we will cover five tips to keep them highly motivated.

1. Use a reliable project management platform.

Don’t be surprised if your team is experiencing immense stress. After all, the abrupt transition they had to undergo due to the COVID-19 forced them to live out a very different work environment.

The last thing you want to do is cause them further stress by not giving them an excellent platform to collaborate.

Without a central platform where your team can work together, task handoffs become more complex and stressful. Tracking results become a total nightmare. What’s more, you might find your staff quarreling with each other due to misunderstandings.

Issues like these can suck your team’s motivation dry.

That’s why learning about the best project management solutions available in the market is crucial. With the right project management platform, your team can avoid doing menial tasks by leveraging automation, get quick access to essential documents they need to do their work, etc.

ClickUp, for example, has several automation features your team can use.

It also has a documents tab where your team can store all your crucial documents so everyone can view them with proper access.

With a robust project management software, collaboration becomes easy peasy for your virtual team. The smoother their collaboration becomes, the more motivated they are to work.

2. Conduct regular meetings

Just because your team is separated physically doesn’t mean the same has to happen virtually. Run regular virtual meetings to keep in touch with each other.

You can do the meetings once or twice a week. Or, perhaps, daily.

The crucial bit is you feel the “temperature” of your team. If you’re starting to feel a strong sense of indifference or you hear a lot of complaints and frustrations from them, you’d do well running daily meetings until you see some improvements. Just make sure you don’t drag your sessions longer than it has to be.

Also, you don’t always need to talk about work. You can ask them how they’re doing, their family, basketball, pet dog Ccino, etc.

You can even ask them about their most recent Facebook or IG post. Conversations like these are often more organic since you end up talking about a recent event in their life.

3. Run contests. Funny ones.

Here’s the deal: when your staff work from home, their eyes are glued to their laptops almost the entire time. There’s not much fun there, really, unless they’re using company time to watch cat videos on Youtube. (Let’s not assume that, shall we?)

Because that’s the kind of environment your team is now exposed to, you need to give them a breath of fresh air.

Something that will make them smile. Engaged. Heck, if you can get them to roll on the floor laughing, all the better. That way, they can distress and get a boost in dopamine (known as the “feel-good hormone”), preventing them from feeling overwhelmed and overworked.

When you give your team a pleasant and enjoyable work environment, you give them a reason to be happy and motivated.

Want some funny contest ideas? Try these on, for size:

  • Funniest joke. Some of them will come up with so-freaking-lutly boring jokes. They’re so dull and bland that your team will laugh about it. 🙂
  • Funniest memes. This one’s very easy to make. They won’t even think twice about joining.
  • Staring contest. Get them to stare at each other while making faces. Whoever laughs or smiles first loses.

By running these types of contests, not only will your team feel light-hearted and happy — which helps them feel motivated — but it’ll even glue them together.

4. Setup a digital training section

By using a learning management system (LMS), create a digital training section on your website that details your standard procedures, workflows, and other helpful internal resources.

Doing so increases your team’s productivity since those with questions about your internal procedures can look up the answer themselves. They can avoid spending several minutes chatting back and forth with another staff who’s also loaded with things to do.

This is especially true for new employees.

Suppose you’re running a graphic design agency, and your newly-hired designer is unsure about your company’s standard procedure for naming files and where to save them.

Just by visiting your website’s digital training section, they can obtain the info themselves and start applying your standard procedures for naming and storing files without having to ask other tenured designers.

You get maximum ROI from your LMS by setting up the internal digital training section. Not only does it help increase your team’s productivity, which impacts your profits, but your newly hired employees feel more comfortable working in your company because of all the internal resources they can access.

5. Publicly recognize extraordinary contributions.

If you’ve only been giving fistbumps to your employees who did exemplary work during your days in the physical office, know that isn’t going to be enough anymore.

If you want to keep your online team motivated, you need to give them more than just a virtual high five or thumbs up.

It would help if you gave them great recognition for their extraordinary contributions, otherwise, they won’t feel appreciated — a giant motivation killer.

Use these strategies to show recognition for your employees:

● Mention their achievements or contributions during team meetings.
● Give them a shout out on your social media pages or website.
● Give them awards.
● Etc.

What’s next?

Keeping your team motivated is crucial to the success of your business.

If they go to work lifeless and unmotivated, they are likely to make mistakes, they won’t pay too much attention to the quality of their work, or worse, they’ll end up quitting to look for another more exciting job.

Don’t let that happen.

There are so many things you can do to improve your employees’ experience while working digitally.

Follow the tips shared to improve your team’s level of motivation.