April 29, 2020 By SmartBiz Team

When your employees have low morale, their work is likely to suffer. Disengaged employees tend to miss more days of work and have lower productivity levels, which can cost your company. Fortunately, you can motivate your team using a wide range of tactics. Find out how to increase morale in the workplace with 15 fun ideas.

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1. Celebrate Special Occasions

When each workday looks just like the last, staying motivated at work can be tough. To help your employees stay engaged, call attention to special occasions. Start celebrating work anniversaries, birthdays, and holidays to give your team something they can get excited about.
Talk with your team to decide how they'd prefer to celebrate. For example, you might decide to throw a small party for work anniversaries or organize a potluck for holidays. You might even want to designate a few party planners as long as your team has the capacity for the additional work. No matter how you choose to celebrate these, strive to be consistent. Treat every work anniversary and birthday equally, so everyone has the chance to feel special.

2. Invite Communication

If your team is like most, they communicate about work via email, on chat apps, at meetings, and over the phone. When an issue arises or a problem escalates quickly, however, it isn't always easy to keep everyone in the loop. That can lead to miscommunication and misunderstanding, which can frustrate employees.

To improve employee engagement and communication, make status updates available to everyone in a centralized place. Then invite your team to discuss work-related problems openly so you can solve them together.

3. Make Tasks Easier

Dealing with problems and developing workarounds can be time-consuming for your team. If they're constantly experiencing delays or having to solve problems, they're likely to get discouraged.

Rather than forcing your team to come up with alternate solutions, do what you can to make tasks easier. Consider investing in new equipment, upgrading software systems, or even hiring new team members to streamline workflow. After all, making your employees' jobs easier can help them improve productivity and boost morale.

4. Be Flexible

No matter how dedicated your employees might be, no one can deliver top-tier performance around the clock. From time to time, everyone is bound to have health, family, or other personal issues, which can impact work and productivity.

Instead of demanding perfect attendance from your employees, be understanding when they need to take some time for themselves. Develop a policy that allows your team to arrive late when they need to handle something at home or work remotely when they need a little more flexibility. By helping your team achieve a better work-life balance, you can ensure that your employees look forward to doing their best on the job.

5. Allow for Time Off

Even if your employees love their jobs, they need occasional days off to recharge. In addition to your standard paid time off (PTO) policy, consider giving your top-performing employees something extra.

Letting employees take sabbaticals can motivate them to accomplish more on the job, but this perk also provides an added incentive. Employees are likely to return to work refreshed and inspired after an extended period away, so they can continue to improve.

6. Show Gratitude

You might provide employee feedback via annual performance reviews. But how often do you thank your employees for their performance? Even a small expression of gratitude can remind your employees that you value their contributions and inspire them to keep doing their best.

To show your appreciation, thank your employees directly. You can do this via a quick email or an in-person conversation. When your team has accomplished something really great, prepare an employee appreciation speech to show your thanks during your morning roundup or your monthly staff meeting.

7. Share Great Results

Why keep good news to yourself when you could share it with your team instead? When your company accomplishes something noteworthy, make a point of updating your employees. Whether you write it out in an email or announce it at a meeting, make the information public.

By sharing great news, you can help your team understand how their individual projects contribute to big results and company-wide growth. Showing employees that their work matters can be one of the simplest yet most effective workplace morale boosters.

8. Encourage Growth

When you hire driven employees, they aren't likely to be satisfied with small accomplishments. Instead, they often want to push themselves to do a little better every day or week.

To help your team enhance their knowledge, increase their skills, and improve their performance, give them opportunities for professional development. If you manage a large team, plan in-house workplace training sessions so your employees can adopt new technology or master next-level techniques. If you run a smaller company, seek out local seminars and workshops that can help your team level up.

 
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9. Create Volunteer Opportunities

When it comes to boosting employee morale, don't hesitate to think outside the office. Organize volunteer projects that align with your company's mission and encourage your employees to participate. By creating opportunities for your employees to bond, you can strengthen their sense of teamwork while they give back to their community.

To make volunteering as easy as possible, schedule projects during work hours. You'll give your team a break from their typical tasks while inviting them to hone new skills and relationships.

10. Get Creative

Constantly focusing on work can lead your employees to feel burned out or uninspired. To help them find their motivation again, get your creative juices flowing.
Plan some fun office activities to boost morale. For example, you can launch a Nerf gun battle through the office or challenge your team to create art with sticky notes. After giving their brains a break, your employees will be ready to return to work with newfound determination.

11. Sponsor a Team Lunch

Treating your team to a great meal can be a smart way to boost morale, especially when you choose nutritious options. By keeping your team fed and healthy, you can help them feel good and improve their productivity.
Make sure your team gets as much as possible out of their meal by planning a lunch and learn session. That way you can provide lunch while teaching your team something new. Whether you bring in an inspiring speaker or you teach your team about new developments in the field, you can do your part to keep them motivated.

12. Work Out

In addition to providing nutritious food for your team, you can keep them healthy by giving them time or space to exercise. After all, regular exercise can give your brain a boost by improving your memory and honing your thinking skills. With a clearer mind and a healthier body, your employees can truly feel their best.

To inspire your team to work out, invest in an office exercise area, subsidized gym memberships, or organize lunchtime aerobics classes. You can also give your employees extra time to exercise during the workday.

13. Build a Quiet Space

Today's office spaces often encourage collaboration and teamwork. However, not all employees do their best work in front of a crowd. Even if your office has an open layout, you can still give employees what they need to succeed.

Find an empty office and designate it as the quiet room. Add soundproofing and comfortable chairs to create spaces where employees can think or work both quietly and independently.

14. Improve Accessibility

As the boss, you're frequently busy and may not have much time to interact with employees outside of meetings. Although it's important to stay focused, it's also critical to maintain contact with your team. Rather than isolating yourself, make yourself accessible to your team during set hours each day or week.

By opening your office doors to your employees, you show that you care. Creating a more personal connection with your employees can motivate them to do their best.

15. Request Input

You might have dozens of great ideas. If they don't motivate your team, however, you're back to square one. If you're struggling to inspire your team, remember to ask for input. Then move forward with the morale boosters that drive your team to action.

Whether your team needs some serious inspiration or you want to motivate them to keep up the good work, these ideas can help. Keep these workplace morale boosters handy so you can encourage your employees to do their best and take your team to the next level.

 
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