How To Boost Employee Morale and Motivation in a Remote Team

It’s no secret that the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic changed the landscape of the working world forever. With so many forced to work from home due to closed offices and public spaces, the pros and cons of remote work soon became very apparent. 

Even post-pandemic, many organizations have chosen to continue operating remotely, either on a full or part-time basis, and as of 2022, 16% of companies worldwide were operating completely remotely. 

If you’re leading a team that is completely remote, it’s likely that you’ve seen both the positives and negatives of this working style already. 

Employee well-being and happiness generally improve with remote work, and workers can save precious time and money on their commute. However, one challenge that has become clear for employers is keeping up employee engagement and morale from a distance. 

The good news is we are here to help. 

If you run a remote team, whether on a full-time or hybrid basis, here are some of our top tips for improving employee morale and happiness and, as a result, productivity. 

Aid collaboration and communication 💬

Collaboration and connection are important parts of a successful workforce. The problem is remote workers can’t just pop over to their colleague’s desks for a catch-up or book a meeting room to discuss a project quickly. 

As such, it’s vital that you encourage virtual collaboration in a different way. 

Video conferencing tools will play a part in this, but you should also encourage employees to pick up the phone and call one another to ask quick questions. You should also invest in apps and platforms that make this easier. 

For example, instant messaging apps like Slack make quick communication and collaboration much easier. Similarly, project management tools like Trello and ProofHub make it easier to work on the same project and stay up-to-date from remote locations. 

Plan virtual team bonding events 🤝

Just because team lunches at the local pub or after-work drinks are much harder to organize with remote teams, it doesn’t mean that team building events are impossible. 

Thanks to video conferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams, you can still arrange fun virtual events that serve no other purpose than to get everyone talking and bring the entire team closer together. 

There are loads of great ideas out there, ranging from the very simple Happy Hour after work on a Friday to trivia, virtual escape rooms, lunchtime hangs, and more. 

Whatever your preferred method and whatever works best for your employees, arranging virtual events can be a great way to bring everyone closer together. 

Encourage regular meetings 📅

Following on from the above, conference calls also mean you can arrange regular meetings for everyone to catch up on work and what’s been going on. 

You might wish to have a Friday meeting each week to go over the events of the past five days, or perhaps you have a company-wide call once a month, where leaders can feed back to the whole workforce about what they’ve been doing. 

It’s important to find out what works for your company, but this can be a great way to unify the workforce and make sure everyone is on the same page. 

Promote work-life balance ⚖️

Working remotely has a whole host of benefits, including cutting out commuting times and being able to work from any location you choose. However, when working from home, getting the balance between work and home life can be a little trickier. 

In fact, almost one in three (29%) remote workers say they struggle to achieve a work-life balance. 

Poor work-life balance can be very damaging to teams and can make employees feel disengaged or burnt out, leading to low employee morale. So, to boost morale, you must promote a healthy work-life balance for every team member. 

This could be encouraging them to have a dedicated office space or providing technology such as phones and computers so they can separate their work and private devices. 

There are lots of ways you can boost morale through promoting good work-life balance, and if you notice a pattern with some motivated employees always being online or putting in overtime, address this right away. 

Remember to recognize hard work 🏆

It can feel much easier to congratulate employees in the office on a job well done as you see them in person. You can also shout them out to their team in meetings, and many offices will run employee of the month rewards. 

Well, just because your team works remotely, it doesn’t mean they should miss out. Employee appreciation goes a long way in boosting employee morale.

Be sure to recognize hard work, whether you shout it out on a Zoom call or send the employee a thank you email. You could also run employee of the month schemes with rewards, giving your team something to strive for each month and rewarding their hard work. 

Offer personalized experiences 🎉

Employee benefits and perks are an important way to reward your employees and keep them engaged. But more than this, offering personalized benefits can drastically increase morale. 

There are lots of different benefits you can choose for your remote team, for example, healthcare and wellness packages, goodies, staff discounts, the latest tech, and regular training opportunities. 

What you choose to offer will depend on your company and your employee’s preferences (you can always ask them what they’d like to receive). Just be sure to tailor these to suit individuals as well as the team. 

Ask for feedback 💭

Finally, feedback should be an important tool in any business, but when running a remote team, this can become a pivotal weapon in your arsenal. 

The best way to increase morale is to make sure your employees are happy and that they are being heard. When it comes to tackling challenging issues like communication and collaboration, ask them what they want. You can ask about the tools and apps you already use, as well as ask them to suggest any other tools they think would be beneficial.

You can also gather feedback on virtual team building events, whether they enjoy these, and what can be done to improve them. 

By asking employees to take an active role in making the company culture better, as well as implementing their feedback and making real changes, you can quickly increase employee motivation, morale, and productivity across the workforce.

Get started with Confetti 🎊

With the rise of remote work, it becomes even more crucial to find creative ways to bring your team together and cultivate a sense of unity and engagement. By leveraging the power of technology and innovative platforms like Confetti, you can create memorable experiences through team building events that break the monotony of remote work and inject a sense of fun and camaraderie into your team’s day.