We
are now a few weeks into the new normal of working at home. Some people may be thriving in this new environment. For others, they may be missing colleagues and a formal office space. Maybe by now the shine of being at home has worn away. Yet work continues and needs to be completed. How do you stay engaged and motivated while being away from your usual workplace routine?
Here are our top 5 tips for keeping motivated and engaged while working from home:
1. Keep all meetings to 30mins or less
We encourage you to over communicate so you feel more connected with your colleagues. But don’t let your meetings drag on. Adjust your agenda to have shorter, sharper meetings. This will boost engagement as the pace picks up and conversations become clearer and more concise.
2. Nominate a social champion
If you naturally have social people in your team, utilise them! Get them to lead social initiatives to encourage connection – such as starting each meeting with a fun fact or sending a question to engage everyone to answer. If you would prefer something more subtle why not create themes for virtual meetings. For example, everyone wears something on their head, or chose a colour a day to coordinate clothes choices for something fun.
3. Create a channel for fun
Engagement stems from being naturally driven to pay attention and get involved. Encourage this by setting up channels for fun topics on your collaborative tool like MS Teams. It could be as simple as sharing new background images for everyone to use on your virtual meetings, sharing funny photos of your pets, or maybe sharing your home cooking disasters and delights. Either way, the more we share the less isolated we will feel
4. Change up your workspace
If you have the ability to, take your laptop outside to work. If you don’t have that option, look at rearranging your current workspace. Maybe de-cluttering is a good option after a few weeks of working. Only have what you need around you and put away everything else. Consider introducing some plants or moving your desk more towards natural light. Small changes can make a massive difference to your state of mind. If you’re comfortable at your desk, you’re more likely to enjoy working there.
5. Learn something new
Now is a great time to develop your skills. Maybe take up a new hobby, read a self-empowerment book in your downtime or formally advance your professional skills. When we learn something new we usually want to share it with those we are connected to. This is a great way to communicate knowledge and increase motivation at the same time. When we are motivated our energy resonates to others, leading to increased connection and engagement for new shared understanding.
Implementing these tips can help foster engagement and connection among team members. This in turn is motivation to achieve more, resulting in strong successful teams.