The typical 9-5 work day can seem long sometimes. As a result, it’s not at all uncommon for employees to sometimes find it challenging to stay motivated throughout the day just as much as it’s challenging for leaders and managers to find effective means of motivating their employees.
But without motivation, a workplace lacks productivity. And without productivity, deadlines aren’t met, tasks are left unfinished, and teamwork can suffer.
But it doesn’t have to be that way—today, we’re exploring 3 key secrets behind keeping your employees motivated so that they can have a more positive start to their day, and thus a better chance at being productive.
Efficient meetings
When run the correct way, meetings can actually increase productivity. But it’s no surprise that meetings have such a bad reputation—too often, they can prove to be time-sucks that don’t contribute anything meaningful to your team’s work day.
The key is to make your meetings as efficient as possible.
If your meetings run for too long or don’t lend themselves to any forward-motion among your team members, then you might want to re-evaluate the purpose they serve in your place of work. Are they hour-long sessions where you review every single update happening within the company? This isn’t necessary, as updates can easily be sent out in email blasts, saving everyone time. Do the meetings end with clear action items that are designed to specific individuals with agreed-upon deadlines? This is the heart of task and project management and is one of the foremost reasons why a meeting should be held.
Meetings should also include the following:
–allowing employees to go through their accomplishments for the week (a great morale booster)
-and affording the opportunity for team members to highlight what they’ll be working on in the days ahead and what they might need help with.
The first use gets your team excited about the strides they’re making toward their goals. The second holds employees accountable to their projects and helps them create a schedule for the week that they can then focus on. It’s a great method of motivating team members and keeping them engaged!
Flexible hours
Everyone has a set time of day where they are naturally more productive. There are those who are morning people and others who are night owls. Some hit their stride right in the middle of the workday.
If your workplace offers ‘flex hours,’ this is a great opportunity to loosen the reins on your employees and allow them more fluidity with their work schedule. Flex hours allow workers to alter their start and finish times (as opposed to adhering to the traditional 9 to 5 schedule). While flex hours are most common among remote workers, more and more companies are starting to see the benefit of providing on-site employees with schedule flexibility.
For instance, perhaps an employee comes in at 11AM instead of 9AM, thus avoiding the rush hour traffic that typically puts them in a bad mood and makes it difficult for them to be motivated in the office. On this new schedule, the employee no longer has to deal with rush hour and gets to enjoy a more peaceful start to their day, which maximises their productivity.
If you manage remote workers, perhaps you find that they’re at their most productive in the evenings. So long as they’re meeting deadlines, allow them the flexibility to work at their peak times. You’ll often find that the quality of their work tends to be much better when allowed to create it on their own schedule, thereby making flexible hours an effective means of motivating your team.
Automate processes
It can be quite the time-waster to constantly have to do the same processes over and over again on repeat. And repetition can very often kill motivation and productivity in the workplace, not to mention drain energy. More importantly, little to-do’s add up over time, until they take hours away from an employee who can better use that time on more pressing projects.
What are some of the things you can automate among your team members? Are employees spending too much time answering customer service questions on the phone or via email? Consider installing a smart bot on your company’s website that answers those questions for you. If regular emails to new clients are keeping employees’ hands tied, consider creating an automation sequence through email marketing services such as MailChimp or MailerLite. CRM technology (customer relationship management) can easily shave off several hours a day from your schedule by performing lightning-quick data analysis, thereby letting you focus on bigger priorities.
What other ways can you automate processes? Doing so can prove beneficial to employees, giving them more time to focus on the things at work that matter, thereby motivating them to be more productive.
These are just a few ways of motivating your team throughout the day.
Remember, the higher the motivation, the more productive your team will be.
Even better, your employees will have a better state of mind with a more efficient, flexible, and organized workplace—whether onsite at the company office or right in their own home office.