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While working from home sounds fantastic – it does come with a number of drawbacks.

Employee production, engagement, and working hours are all subject to fluctuations. Many factors aren’t as ‘containable’ as they are in an office environment.

To this end, we present you with our top ten ways to motivate your work-from-home employees. With our help, you can keep production up and morale high. This is how…

10 Ways To Motivate Work-From-Home Employees

1. Keep Engagement High

Communication is key when employees work from home. You may find idleness is at an all-time high and production slows with unengaged staff. BlueDogInk.com has put together an exemplary article on employee engagement ideas.

2. Team Building

When employees are out of the office, they are psychologically disconnected from each other. Keeping team building activities going, even in turbulent economic times, is a sign of a good leader. Try turning meetings into games and applying weekly themes (movies, celebrations, sports teams) to keep everyone included.

3. Communication, Communication, Communication!

Keeping your employees in the loop is the best way to reassure everyone’s job safety. Financially speaking, an employee assumes that their job is safe unless otherwise stated. If there are other parts of the company closing down, they need to know… even if it is only to reassure them.

4. Staff Experience

Consider each member of your remote team as a contribution to the flexibility of your business in the same way as a team member on-site. This remote worker has a particular set of skills that allows them to work away from the office… so why not build on those skills with other work they can do from home?

5. Incentives!

On that same note, offering incentives such as bonuses, education programs, or participation in weekly meetings and classes, can all help to keep them included. Growing their experience is good and they should be rewarded.

6. Invite them out

One drawback of remote working is the lack of camaraderie. If something terrible (like covid-19) happens and all of your staff suddenly have to work from home, you don’t need to invite anyone anywhere… however, your remote staff should be expressly invited to any staff outing throughout the year.

7. Look Forward

In the same way, as an incentive gives the remote worker a reason to beat their own personal targets, a company goal makes them feel part of the group. Collective targets are a great way to make them part of the team – especially if it involves collaborative work.

8. Pay Attention to Onboarding

When you hire a remote worker you should start with good habits for the future. Have face-to-face time, even if it is through a video conferencing software system. Make sure they feel included from the beginning before the isolation becomes ingrained.

9. Play Games

There are plenty of browser games out there that can help keep your employees included. Did you know that removing yourself from work for five minutes to focus on a different activity is like pressing the proverbial reset button on your brain and actually makes you more productive?

10. Schedule a Night Out

Work-from-home employees will feel left out after long periods of remote work. Even if you go the extra mile – those employees don’t see anyone day in, day out. Schedule a big night out every few months so you can reap the benefits.

Lastly, have some sympathy… life is much harder working from home than you might think!

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