Employee motivation is critical to their overall productivity and ability to get things done on the job. Unfortunately, keeping employees motivated is an ongoing challenge for many businesses. How do you keep your employees motivated, both when they’re there in the office with you and when you’re dealing with remote employees? By following these five steps, you can improve employee motivation, improving employee productivity so that you’re better able to get important tasks taken care of throughout your business.
Step One: Make Goals Clear
It’s hard to be motivated when you don’t know what you’re working toward. Make sure that each employee clearly understands what is expected of them and how they’ll need to perform.
Z-Stream, for example, offers the Tasks feature, which makes it easy to break down the specific goals that each team member is expected to reach. Releases and Sprints also offer efficient planning options that make it easier to see what employees need to accomplish in a given amount of time.
Step Two: Check Employee Workload
Each employee can only accomplish so much in a given day–and only so much in a given week, as well. Check your employees’ workload regularly. Does each employee have enough to do to keep them engaged each day? Are they doing so much work that it’s easy for them to get overwhelmed? Thanks to Z-Stream, it’s easy to get a look at exactly what each employee is expected to accomplish, allowing you to keep a closer eye on their workload. Over time, you will also develop a better understanding of exactly what each employee is able to accomplish on a regular basis.
Step Three: Allow Autonomy
Employees are often more motivated when they have the ability to set their own tasks and decide for themselves what they want to do each day. Remote employees, in particular, don’t need you to look over their shoulder all the time. Once you set them their tasks through Releases and Sprints, allow your employees the freedom to decide for themselves how they want to accomplish each task and, to some extent, what order they want to accomplish things in. This simple step can free employees to work more effectively.
Step Four: Pay Attention to Employee Interactions
The way you interact with your employees matters. This is true both of employees in the office, who will need to interact with their leaders on a regular basis, and remote employees, who interact only occasionally with their boss back at the office. Make sure that your interactions are positive and friendly. In many cases, the way you choose to interact with an employee can set the tone for the entire day. Not only that, it may shape the way they feel about your company as a whole–and positive interactions are much more likely to bring up positive feelings.
Step Five: Keep the Lines of Communication Open
Communicating effectively with employees is one of the most important ways to maintain employee motivation. Employees need to have the freedom to ask questions as needed, share their problems, and get clear advice at critical moments. Not only that, they need to know what’s going on throughout the company as a whole, especially when things don’t seem to be going according to normal plans. Keeping lines of communication open makes it easier for employees to address their concerns and keep motivation high.
Often, teams don’t care for traditional project management tools. They’re too complicated, have too many bells and whistles, and eat up more time than they’re worth. Working with these tools can significantly decrease motivation in the workplace, rather than encouraging employees to give their best. Z-Stream, on the other hand, is designed with teams in mind. This platform can easily be customized to the specific needs of your team, allowing you better, more effective project management options that can actually help increase employee motivation. Try out a free trial to see just how effective Z-Stream can be for you.
