Motivating Remote Teams

  It is seen now as a general trend according to many recent surveys that teams working remotely/virtually due to this Pandemic often are less motivated and lose focus over a period of time. Some negative motivators could be as below:

1. Emotional pressure and economic pressure are soaring as people worry about losing their jobs, paying their loans/rents/bills and protecting their health.
2. Barrage of negative news related to pandemic about deaths and hardships faces by friends/relatives is distressing
3. Inherent inertia to work is increasing due to lack of clarity on whenthings will shape up for good

 

So how do we tackle this and motivate our team? The most powerful way is to give people the opportunity to experiment and solve tough problems by creating a sense of belonging. You can make them feel part of one unit by asking them some questions like, how can we deliver value to our customers? What can be fixed to improve the team’s performance? What Ideas will create growth even in time of pandemic? Simply make sure every single person on your team feels like they have a challenge that they can help solve.

 

 

 

Some of the things that we can discuss in our weekly meeting start of every week that has been recommended by Industry veterans as below:

 

1. What did we do last week and what did we learn?
2. What commitments do we have this week? Who is the Single point of contact for each?
3. How can we help each other with this week’s commitments?
4. What are the areas where we should experiment to improve performance this week?
5. What innovations will we run, and who is Single point of contact for each?

 

Mid of the week have at least one individual meeting with each of your team member who need motivation to focus on tackling challenges that are a slight stretch. You can also coordinate small group meetings in which team members can collaborate on the week’s innovations and tackle problems together.

By end of the week set the example by asking team members how they are feeling: Where did they struggle with their motivation, and where did they thrive?

It is possible for teams to experiment and adapt. We also know that it is possible for teams to freeze under pressure and recede. Make it your mission to achieve greater levels of growth and productivity as a remote team than as an in-person team.