We all get that Monday feeling from time to time. We’re only human, after all.
Whether you’ve had a busy weekend, a bad night’s sleep, or you’re simply just not feeling it, it’s normal for our motivation levels to rise and fall. This is especially common during peak seasons such as summer, when weekends are jam packed with plans, wedding bells are chiming, and festivals are in full swing.
Whilst considerations should be made depending on the person, an overall lack of motivation within your workforce can cause a drop in business. Staff starting their workday feeling exhausted, unenergetic and unbothered about their work could spell big problems for your business.
But what can managers do to improve morale, create a surge of energy and bring their team together?
We have a few tips for you!
Here’s some inspiration for any of you looking for quick and easy ways to motivate your staff and keep business moving.
1. Share your success
Have you received a glowing email from a client? Send it to your team.
Has someone performed exceptionally well by winning new business? Celebrate your successes by shouting them from the rooftops!
Sharing feedback, news, facts or figures is a great way to stimulate your staff. By singing your team’s praises, you’ll be showing them how much you believe in them. And someone in your team may really need to hear that right now.
To further inject some positivity and energy into your workplace, why not try setting objectives? Gamifying things by creating a challenge is an effective way to incentivise your staff and shake things up.
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2. Read the room
Your environment has a huge impact on your state of mind. A messy environment often means a messy brain.
If you and your team work in an office, take a look around you.
Are the desks clutter free and conducive to effective work? If not, get everyone to join you in a twenty-minute tidy up. Cleaning is a great way to restore a sense of calm. Plus, the process of getting up and about and moving together will wake everyone up. Afterwards, everyone will feel less distracted and better able to concentrate.
If you’re all working from home, ask everyone to do two things to improve their workspace. It could be as little as opening a window to let the fresh air in or adding a desk ornament to introduce a little more colour into the workday. Ask your team to send you a before and after picture and you can all chat about what you’ve done on a quick team catch up. There’s likely to be laughs as you admire each other’s home decor!
The act of getting up and thinking about something else that isn’t work-related, even if it’s only for a short while, will liven up everyone’s state of mind.
3. Don’t let the conversation go dry
For people who work remotely or mainly remotely, some days can feel a little lonely. You can go eight hours without really speaking to anyone. And for some people, this can cause dips in mental health and general wellbeing.
Sometimes, a five-minute chat can really help cheer things up.
Whether you’re the manager of a fully remote team, or your staff work on a hybrid basis, scheduling regular meetings is a great way to keep your team connected and foster a sense of community.
Of course, discussing work-related matters is of the utmost importance. However, managers should also create time and space for chit-chat.
Ask your team about their weekend plans. Create conversation amongst your peers and allow your staff to speak openly with each other. Show interest in your team’s out-of-work lives.
Creating an ongoing dialogue with your team that feels natural and casual, as well as professional, will really help your staff feel more invested in their work and each other.
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4. Consider the week ahead
Similarly to our last point, we encourage managers to do a little bit of forward planning.
What bits of fun and energy can you inject into your team’s week to add some excitement and energy to a routine they may be getting too used to?
Is a team lunch a possibility? Can you set aside an hour on a Friday afternoon for a team quiz? Or if everyone is working in different areas of the country, can you send them all a mail order brownie to enjoy together on a virtual tea break one afternoon?
Sometimes, it’s the little things that make the biggest difference. Small and thoughtful efforts are what make a manager a great leader. After all, your firm is only as good as the people behind it, so it’s in your best interest to make sure they feel well looked after and valued.
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Is low morale a regular problem?
As a manager, it’s your job to recognise patterns or repeated periods of low motivation and bad habits.
Is one member of staff consistently to blame? Are they bringing the tone of the week down across the team? If so, you may find that your problem isn’t how to motivate the team, it’s how to performance manage one team member.
Or perhaps your working weeks are set up in a way that isn’t conducive to a great start? Are you asking your team to submit important information or issuing deadlines that fall on a Monday? Does everyone arrive feeling stressed before they’ve even logged in? Sometimes, a simple change is all that’s needed to give the working week in practice a better sense of flow.
Therefore, we encourage managers to take a step back and really think about the finer details.
Is there a risk of burnout?
If your attempts to bring some energy into the team are scoffed at, or you find that your staff are negative and unmotivated on a weekly basis and there’s no one issue to blame, chances are they just can’t keep up and are not enjoying their jobs as a result.
This is the point where action is really needed.
In this instance you have a short period of time in which to analyse your organisational structure and figure out what the missing link is before you have to deal with issues such as extended periods of sick leave, high numbers of resignations and poor mental health amongst your employees.
Taking on more staff may seem like a cost you can’t bear, but the repercussions of consistent poor motivation will cost you far more than a new salary in the long term. And if your firm gets a bad rap as a result, the next generation of talent within public practice won’t want to work for you.
Are you struggling to keep your team motivated? Do you think it’s time to reassess your management style?
Here at Public Practice Recruitment Ltd, we’re uniquely positioned to offer our clients advice on how to reduce burnout and offer employee value benefits that drive motivation and happiness at work. As firm believers in the employee-first approach, we’ve seen first-hand the results that prioritising staff wellbeing can have on a firm’s bottom line. Spend more on great people and earn more in great fees. It’s really that simple!
Want to hear our expert advice and start securing the best talent that public practice has to offer? Get in touch with our team today!
