Motivation is essential to keep remote workers productive, engaged, and satisfied with their jobs. But not every business is getting it right.

A survey of 1,000+ employees suggests that 59% are struggling with distractions when working from home, while 45% say they find it hard to stay motivated.

Despite these dire statistics, workers don’t want to return to the office. Forcing them back could make firms less competitive in the job market, leading to lower worker morale and higher staff turnover.

The key to this problem is to find ways to keep your remote team motivated, regardless of where they work. A highly-engaged, globally distributed team is one of the most valuable assets a company can have.

In this post, we’re going to provide ten actionable tips to keep your remote team motivated. Every tip in this post is something that you can do today that will instantly have an impact on teams motivation.

How You Can Track Remote Employee Motivation With Analytics 365

Before you get started, it’s important to assess whether there is a problem with motivation in your team. With Analytics 365, you can dive into things like usage, chat, and meeting analytics, to get insights into your team’s motivations.

Some quick ways you can use it to get a snapshot of employee motivation levels are :-

  • Measuring employee sentiment. You can evaluate chat sentiment reports to gain a deeper understanding of how employees feel about their work and motivation levels. Quick, machine-learning-driven analyses reveal issues and furnish you with comparative data trackable through time.
  • Proactively addressing burnout. Analytics 365 also makes it easier to track burnout and take preventive steps. The tool lets you keep track of teams spending unnecessary time in unproductive meetings or working outside of regular business hours.
  • Fostering balanced collaboration. Finally, you can use dashboards and metrics to track teamwork with Microsoft Teams. The software lets you identify groups and individuals struggling with workload or meeting deadlines, struggling to manage their workload.

What Causes Remote Employee To Feel Less Motivated, and What You Can Do To Help

Several factors can cause remote employees to feel less motivated than their in-office counterparts. This section details the leading culprits and actionable steps you can take to deal with them.

Feeling Isolated

Feeling isolated is a leading cause of remote employees’ lack of motivation. According to figures, loneliness and isolation affect 30.9% of remote workers in the UK, which translates to millions of people.

Remote workers often miss out on the daily in-person interactions with colleagues that characterise office life, such as casual conversations, impromptu meetings, and socialising during breaks. While these face-to-face interactions seem minor, they can significantly impact workers’ well-being. Without them, many people feel disconnected and alone, unable to derive emotional satisfaction and fulfilment from their jobs.

Furthermore, remote employees may find it more challenging to seek support and camaraderie from their coworkers. Physical distance can make building and maintaining relationships with colleagues harder, leaving people feeling left out and alone.

Fortunately, there are several ways to combat the problem. Actionable steps include:-

  • Encouraging employees and remote workers to communicate consistently through various channels, including video calls, instant messaging, and collaborative tools. Microsoft Teams, Slack, Zoom, and Google Meets are all popular options for keeping people in the loop.
  • Creating opportunities for remote employees to engage in virtual social activities, such as team-building, virtual coffee breaks, or online game sessions.
  • Arranging occasional organisational meet-ups, where feasible, including retreats to bring remote employees together. Gatherings can powerfully strengthen relationships, build trust, and deepen connections among team members.

Lack Of Clear Goals And Motivation

Another leading cause of remote employee malaise is a lack of clear goals and active encouragement. A study in the UK found that 28% of employees feel less motivated when they work from home, primarily because of poor goal setting.

This isn’t just a remote issue, but remote work can sometimes make it worse.Remote work relies heavily on digital communication tools that can sometimes cause miscommunication or leave workers with incomplete information. As a result, staff may struggle to fully understand their roles, responsibilities, and how their work contributes to the organisation’s success. Tools may not provide the nuance that in-office communication sometimes offers.

Again, business leaders can implement solutions to remedy these problems, such as:-

  • Holding regular meetings, either individually or as a team, to discuss goals and expectations. Leaders should specify the expected outcomes and key milestones and use timelines to create clarity and alignment. These meetings can prevent remote workers from feeling isolated or confused.
  • Using online project management or task-tracking tools to facilitate collaboration and communication. These tools can help employees monitor their progress, increase accountability and transparency, and provide feedback.
  • Conducting periodic goal review meetings to assess performance, identify challenges, and make adjustments. These meetings can ensure team members are working towards relevant, achievable goals and are on track.

Lack Of Recognition and Reward

Lack of recognition and reward is another significant issue affecting remote teams’ motivation. According to data from industry research groups, only 13% of employees feel recognised by their executive team.

Several theories explain why this is the case. First, organisations may limit remote employees’ visibility due to physical separation. As such, their contributions, achievements, and breakthroughs often go unnoticed by colleagues, managers, and decision-makers.

Second, remote environments emphasise output over effort and dedication. Measurement of tangible outcomes overshadows praiseworthy hard work that doesn’t yield results management can see, leading to less recognition and praise.

Finally, remote employees have fewer opportunities to send spontaneous feedback than their in-office counterparts. Lack of structured feedback systems or regular performance reviews may force remote employees to languish in low productivity and lack professional development.

As before, there are several strategies available to deal with these issues, including:-

  • Implementing structured programmes that highlight and reward remote employees’ contributions. For instance, virtual recognition ceremonies, online appreciation platforms, and peer-based systems to nominate team members for accomplishments and achievements.
  • Fostering a culture of appreciation and recognition by creating more opportunities for employees to express gratitude. Virtual bulletin boards and chat groups are great tools that allow colleagues to appreciate and celebrate each other’s work.
  • Hosting virtual team celebrations to mark milestones, project completions and outstanding achievements. These events should be fun and engaging, letting colleagues celebrate their wins and collective progress.

Struggles With Work-Life Balance

Struggles with work-life balance also adversely impact team members’ motivation. Remote work blurs the line between work and home, increasing the potential for working hours to spill over into family or leisure time. Unlike office work, boundaries are less defined, and employees cannot block their time as effectively as they once did. As such, 29% of remote workers say they struggle to achieve a work-life balance.

Lack of structure when remote working can also take its toll. While it offers flexibility, many workers function poorly without the office routine. Work tends to bleed into personal time, making it harder to achieve balance.

Finally, remote employees can find unplugging challenging when working from home. Constant access to their personal computer means they could work every hour of the day, responding to emails and completing projects.

If your team is struggling to achieve work-life balance, here’s what to do:-

  • Regularly ask for feedback from remote employees about their work-life balance and the support they need. Adapt policies, practices, and resources based on their feedback to address their needs better and foster a healthy work-life balance.
  • Monitor workloads to ensure they are fair and realistic for remote employees. Assign tasks and projects appropriately, accounting for individual abilities and existing workloads.
  • Create guidelines to avoid unnecessary after-hours communication or interruptions. Suggest shared calendars, status updates, or team collaboration tools that increase transparency and reduce the need for immediate responses outside of working hours.
  • Foster a culture of disconnecting from work when not working. Discourage employees from checking emails or doing work-related tasks during their personal time.
  • Support remote employees to take regular breaks during the day and use their vacation time. Highlight the benefits of rest and rejuvenation for productivity and well-being.
  • Establish and communicate clear expectations for work hours, availability, and response times for remote employees. Emphasise the importance of creating and maintaining boundaries between work and personal life.

Lack Of Ownership and Being Micromanaged

Another cause of poor remote worker motivation is a lack of ownership and micromanagement. Employees may feel they have limited autonomy due to managers and executives constantly breathing down their necks, telling them exactly what to do at all times. These practices can inhibit full creativity and reduce their sense of ownership over company activities.

Data suggest that it is a pretty common issue as well, with over half of U.S. employees reporting being micromanaged while working remotely.

Micromanagement usually occurs when supervisors or executives do not trust workers who are not physically present. Leaders may believe they must constantly monitor staff’s activities because of doubts over their productivity and commitment.

Finally, remote workers may feel excluded from critical decision-making, again leading to a loss of their sense of ownership. The inability to shape organisational direction can feel disempowering and de-motivating.

Correcting lack of ownership and problems with micromanagement involves:-

  • Fostering a culture of openness and honesty among remote workers, setting up numerous touchpoints, including online team sessions.
  • Empowering remote workers to operate autonomously gives them the flexibility to solve issues and make choices in their area of responsibility without needing permission from those higher up in the organisation.
  • Refraining from excessive tracking or unwarranted oversight of employees’ activities, trusting their ability to complete tasks to a high standard.

Lack Of Access To The Right Tools

Lastly, failure to provide the right tools can also impede remote employees’ ability to feel motivated by stopping them from collaborating with colleagues. Resulting problems can include poor communication, lower efficiency, and more feelings of isolation.

On a practical level, remote employees may find accessing essential company resources, such as databases, apps, and intranet services, more challenging. Workers may feel frustrated because they can’t source the proper materials to work effectively, leading to further demotivation.

Again, though, business leaders can help. Proven tactics include:-

  • Creating surveys or questionnaires that cover different aspects of technology usage and needs, asking them the challenges they face and the solutions could help them most. This approach finds out if there are any gaps or deficiencies in your technology setup.
  • Collaborating with IT departments to learn about remote employees’ technology infrastructure. Finding out common issues, technical problems and areas for improvement lets your IT team discover specific issues remote employees face.
  • Talking about technology-related topics during meetings, encouraging employees to share the experiences and challenges they face. Creating a supportive and open atmosphere encourages more employees to come forward, share their challenges, and ensure they have the tools they need for the job.
  • Trying out new tools for small groups of remote employees to see if it is worth scaling their implementation. Colleagues can provide detailed feedback on user experience and the impact on productivity and overall job satisfaction.

Conclusion

Understanding the causes of remote employee demotivation is essential to devise effective solutions. Factors like feeling isolated, lacking clear goals, and struggling with work-life balance can all lead to decreased motivation. However, you can take decisive steps to overcome these challenges and create a supportive work environment for your remote team:

  1. Encourage consistent communication and virtual social activities
  2. Set clear goals and expectations
  3. Implement recognition and reward programs
  4. Support work-life balance
  5. Empower remote workers and avoid micromanagement
  6. Provide access to the right tools

By implementing these actionable tips and leveraging Analytics 365, you can build a highly-engaged and motivated remote team that contributes significantly to your organisation’s success. Remember, investing in your remote employees’ well-being and motivation ultimately leads to increased productivity, job satisfaction, and a competitive advantage in the job market.