Six creative ways to keep your team motivated while WFH
We’re back to lockdown which means many teams will be going back to a working from home model. Some love it, some hate it but what is clear is that it can have a negative impact on the mental health and wellbeing of your team. Every member of the team can play their part to keep everyone engaged and motivated in these challenging times. These are tried-and-tested methods are great ways to boost team morale and keep spirits high.
- Create a collaborative playlist on Spotify
Miss listening to music together in the office? Spotify makes it so easy to almost recreate this with their collaborative playlists feature. Set up the playlist and add all of your colleagues to the collaborators and you can each add your favourite tunes so you can still be connected in music and pretend that you’re in a coworking space and not home!
2. Host a Netflix watch party
Get your team to vote for a film and then on Friday after work you can all join a Netflixparty to watch it together. There is a chat function (much like YouTube has during a live stream), so you and your colleagues can react and chat in real time.
3. Use Kahoot to host a virtual quiz
Kahoot is an app which makes it incredibly easy to create virtual quizzes that can be hosted by a different person each week. They are fun and interactive and if you google it you can find ready made questions making it even easier. All each team member needs is a smart phone and they select their answer which then get sent to the quiz master and it all shows up on the screen. I love them!
4. Take your team drinks online
The pubs may not be open but that doesn’t mean you can’t unwind at the end of a busy week with a drink with your colleagues via Zoom or Microsoft teams. You can take it a step further with a virtual cocktail or craft beer masterclass which are hosted by lots of providers such as Mixology Events and The Cocktail Service. They manage everything for you so all you have to do is login!
5. Invest in software such as Slack (if you don’t have it already)
Business communication platforms such as Slack has become hugely popular during the pandemic and have been used at many coworking spaces as a way of communicating amongst all members. It is essentially a live chat for your team, and you can create channels for departments and other things such as operations updates, virtual events that are happening and even fun channels such as dog spotting and riddles. It’s one of those things that you can’t really explain how it works until you try it, and they offer a free trial so I would give it a go!
6. Send care packages
Self care is important in times of high stress and has been proven to improve coping mechanisms and cognitive functions. If your budget allows you could send self care kits to their home address which can contain things such as bath bombs, chocolate, books, candles, tea, and face masks. This will ensure your employees know you are still there and supporting them.
I love learning new ways to improve and keep motivated so if you have any additions please let me know!
Holly