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For many, working from home has been a big change. After years of full days in the office, many are now working from their beds instead of their desks, and with their kids playing in the next room instead of at daycare or school. With the countless distractions that working from home brings, it can be difficult to motivate your employees to stay focused on work.
As a boss, however, there are things you can do to help your employees stay on target. Being a motivating boss while working from home means being a mixture of compassionate and serious, understanding peoples' hardships while keeping them on track with their tasks. Here are a few tips for how to be a motivational remote work boss.
Set Clear Expectations
In the office, your employees have you breathing down their neck, making sure they're completing a project or a report on time. But with a flexible schedule, it can be easy for employees to procrastinate their work until it's too late. Setting clear expectations will help with this, making sure they know exactly what you want from them and how you want it. Periodically checking in on your employees to make sure they're meeting these expectations will make them likely to complete their work in a timely manner, and holding them accountable for showing up to meetings--or even team happy hours--will help keep them motivated. The bottom line is, be clear about what you want and hold your employees accountable.
Make Health a Priority
Your employees cannot stay motivated to work if they are not healthy. Of course, this means advising them to practice social distancing and wear masks, protecting themselves and their families from the pandemic. But health is in more than just the immune system. As the boss, you should be encouraging your employees to get enough sleep and eat well, so that they have the energy they need to work--and to be happy. This might mean dropping off some good-for-you snacks every once in a while or buying them a Thrive product, which will help them get enough vitamins and supplements to be their healthiest selves. Reading about Thrive Side Effects can help you decide if it's a good fit for your employees.
Stay Connected
A huge part of remote work is technology: we couldn't do it without Slack or Gmail or Zoom. Technology is also important for staying connected with your employees. Make sure your team has the right software and tools for the job, and maybe even give out company cell phones that they can reserve for work only. Establishing regular check-in calls or sending "How are you doing?" emails will let your employees know that you care, while also holding them accountable for their work. The right technology will also let ideas flow more freely and easily between your employees, leading to successful collaboration.
Manage Accomplishments
While setting clear expectations and conducting periodic check-ins are important, you need to trust your employees to work and complete their tasks. Instead of making sure they're at their computers every second of the day, judge their work ethic by their ability to create high-quality content and meet the company's goals. When they are successful, make sure you congratulate them on a job well done.
Make it Personal
While you don't want to cross any boundaries, it's important that you show your employees you care about them as individuals. Asking them about their family and friends or their personal hobbies shows that you care. Don't forget about a birthday or a big milestone, and make your employees feel special and celebrated whenever you can. This will make them feel appreciated, and they'll be both happier at their jobs and more motivated to work harder.
In all, being a motivating boss during work does not mean showing up at your employee's houses to make sure they're doing their job or calling them late at night with a new task. It means being tough but kind, and making your company a place where employees are both productive and happy.
Related: Employee Retention Strategies to Keep Your Star Employees