How to Keep Remote Workers Happy and Engaged
As summer settles in, many of us find it harder to maintain focus on our work. The siren song of the outdoors can be hard to resist, and when your team is remote, it’s even harder to keep workers engaged and motivated. Fortunately, all is not lost. A little extra effort and consideration from management can inspire workers to push through during the 9-5 and enjoy the summer on their own time.
Communicate Well and Often
One of the biggest challenges of remote working is that those small moments of organic chit-chat or communication at each other’s desks or around the water cooler don’t happen. It’s easy for remote staff to feel out of the loop or even overlooked and unappreciated – especially when they’re stuck inside working during those perfect summer days. Developing a policy of regular and personalized communication and feedback can help keep your team feeling confident about company expectations and their performance, while also reassuring them that their efforts matter. Try a virtual equivalent of the morning stand up, create separate Slack channels for company communications, send out a weekly “roundup,” and make yourself available over chat or the phone.
Host a Virtual Get Together
Ensuring that workers feel part of a team is vital to their performance and their engagement. Employee-centric businesses know it and lean into it with a calendar of team-building activities and events. While traditional get-togethers are off the table for distributed teams, consider replicating the experience virtually. There are myriad opportunities for your team to come together to share an experience, learn a new skill, or just hang out. At-home craft brewing events, virtual escape rooms, trivia, distributed after-work drinks catch-ups, and “job well done” events are great ways to foster belonging and participation all summer long.
Think Beyond the 9-5
As the days warm up, you may find your employees agitating for extra flexibility around when they’re expected to be at work. Fortunately, remote working needn’t adhere to the typical office schedule. So long as your staff are meeting their milestones and are in regular communication, they don’t necessarily have to be chained to their desk during regular working hours. In summer especially, offer some leeway around company work hours. This may include embracing the four-day work week, allowing staff to log off early on Fridays, or cutting “hump days” short. Another option during the quieter summer months is to encourage your employees to work on personal projects or to use those empty calendar blocks to give back to the community. Your employees will find themselves better able to create the work-life balance they long for – and can make the most of those long summer days while they’re at it.
Provide a Space Away from Home
Remote working doesn’t have to be all or nothing. If your employees are craving a change of pace this summer, consider renting a desk or office at a local coworking space. Your employees will be able to enjoy an office “staycation” while taking advantage of a full suite of amenities that they wouldn’t otherwise have access to. It’s a perk that shows that your company is invested in employees’ wellbeing, performance and happiness, and one that will foster loyalty and engagement even during the dog days of summer.
Optimum Coworking’s highly amenitized, state-of-the-art office environments are designed to promote optimum productivity – no matter the time of year. For more information about working with us, please get in touch.