Employee Engagement

Trust is one of the most essential ingredients to a team's success. When colleagues trust each other, they plan more effectively, work more efficiently, and become stronger as a group. But when trust is lacking or damaged, it can impact everything from overall morale to employee engagement, and yes, team performance.

Building strong peer relationships and fostering trust among colleagues makes everything run a lot more smoothly. As a team leader, you can help build trust by teaching people to rely on one another and become more autonomous together. Keep reading for strategies to promote a culture of trust on your team.

Does your team trust each other?

Learning to trust your employees — and getting them to trust you, too — is something you probably want to work on as a manager. But supporting that trust among team members is just as important. Checking in regularly on team trust levels helps you spot any trust issue before it impacts productivity, performance, or collaboration.

Signs of distrust to look out for:

• Employees bring problems to you instead of each other
• Deliverables go through multiple checkpoints or validations
• People don't take ownership of tasks or projects
• Conflict or tension arises in team meetings
• Mistakes happen but no one takes accountability
• The team can't problem-solve together

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Every team is unique, and trust levels can fluctuate over time. You might have a super strong sense of trust, but then a new hire or a departure shakes up the team dynamics. Or, you could have distrust on your team, until they tackle a challenge together and come out of it knowing they can rely on each other. That's why you want to make building trust a part of your ongoing efforts to support your team.

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Building team trust as a manager: 5 strategies

Building trust isn't a one-time activity. Whether you want to establish trust on a newly-formed team, rebuild broken trust, or strengthen the trust that already exists, it's a part of ongoing maintenance for your team's health. Try a strategy from the list below that feels right.

1. Encourage honesty and open communication

Employees want to feel heard, respected, and valued by their peers. When employees feel like they can share their honest opinions and feedback, it leads to better ideas and stronger outputs. But if the culture on your team doesn't allow for open dialogue, it can turn toxic. People can be passive aggressive, confrontational, gossipy, or condescending to one another.

Establishing healthy workplace communication practices and psychological safety is essential, because all of this can be detrimental to the team's trust. This is a common pain point, so if you're struggling with this, you're not alone.

Set the tone for healthy communication

• Ask your team to challenge you, to show them it's okay. When you share an idea, ask does anyone see something I might be missing with this?
• When someone interrupts or talks over a coworker in a meeting, interject and ask the first speaker if they were finished.
• If an employee comes to you about a conflict they're having with a team member, encourage them to address the situation directly.

2. Create opportunities for creative collaboration

For people to grow trust, they have to learn to problem-solve together, and to rely on each other to get the work done. A great opportunity for teams to build these skills is tackling tasks outside of their day-to-day. Facing new challenges and having to get creative helps teams be more resourceful and see things from new perspectives. And this will help build the open-minded, curiosity culture that will take them to the next level.

Help your team get creative

• Set them up with the right tools for collaboration. For a remote team, you can try an online whiteboard or other creative software to facilitate virtual collaboration.
• Seek out opportunities for your team to work with other teams at your company. They'll have the chance to find the overlap in their objectives, see a new perspective, and work with different colleagues.
• Once in awhile, make time for a team building activity. They're great way to get people working together on something outside of the job, and this is how meaningful bonds (and trust) are formed.

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Try thinking like you're somebody else. Our team recently had a brainstorm where we wanted to break out from our tried-and-true methods and ideas. Chloe Allard, our Senior UX Specialist, prompted us to take on an alter ego for our idea generation.

"Think like you're Michelle Obama or Michael Jordan. What ideas would they come up with for our team? Imagine you work for one of them. What ideas would you pitch?"

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3. Empower your team to be self-organized

People start trusting each other more when they learn make decisions together. That's why it's important for teams to take on some leadership for themselves. Good managers tend to give employees a structure to work within, and great managers know how to create a structure that still allows for employee autonomy.

It can be tough to find the balance, but the more self-directed your team is, the more they'll learn to trust each other. Not only that, it can also drive job satisfaction, because employees want more of a say in the work they do.

Help your team manage themselves

• Get an employee to plan and lead each team meeting. This could be brainstorms, quarterly reviews, retros, or another time when the whole team comes together.
• Have the team do their own project planning and documentation. You can be there to support them, but make keeping planning software and meeting notes up-to-date a shared responsibility.
• Meet with your team regularly to understand what's enabling them or blocking them in getting their work done. Be a part of the solution whether it's getting a new software or restructuring workflows.

4. Keep roles and responsibilities clear

One of the best ways to get people to trust each other is to make clear what every member of the team is responsible for. This means each employee knows what their job entails, but it also means they have a clear understanding of their colleagues' roles and responsibilities. When people know exactly what's within and outside of their job description — and each others' — they're more equipped to take and give ownership of tasks.

Create role clarity for your team

• Discuss roles and responsibilities regularly in one-on-one meetings with each employee and set individual goals with each of them.
• Map out your team's structure and have it available for everyone to reference as needed.
• Make sure it's clear who will lead, contribute to, and ultimately be accountable for every project or initiative from the kickoff.

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If you see something, say something. Step in when you notice redundancy, like two people doing a task that only needs to be done once. Let the employees decide if they want to take turns, or if one person can take ownership of the task. Likewise, speak up when a task is consistently not getting done. Ask your team if someone wants to take ownership, or if they want to find a way to divide the work (like doing it in rotation).

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5. Make feedback a part of team culture

For some teams, feedback can be a bit of a soft spot. But the more people get comfortable giving and getting feedback from their peers, the more they can grow individually, and as a team. When people start to see that growth in action, it'll boost individual employee engagement, and overall team trust.

Build your team's feedback culture

• Plan a workshop on feedback best practices so everyone can improve their feedback skills. You can even tell your team you'd like them to have more feedback exchanges.
• Have your team add time for feedback rounds in their workflows. It might make production time a bit longer in the short-term, but could lead to long-term quality improvements.
• Ask your team for their feedback, whether it's in your one-on-ones, through an employee feedback survey, or after you present a plan or strategy.
• Remember that negative feedback isn't the only variety. Give plenty of positive, affirming feedback when you see people excel. Even when someone fails, be sure to highlight what they did well so they know what to do more of in the future.

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Seize feedback opportunities when they crop up. If an employee is struggling with something, ask them if they'd like to schedule some time to workshop solutions together. When a team member presents something to the group, leave time at the end for idea sharing and coming up with possible next steps.

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Team trust is a must

No matter what your team's context is, trust is a must to your collective success. If you're a new team, a virtual team, a leadership team, or any other kind of team, building trusting relationships among peers helps you work better together, and achieve your goals.

At work and in life, we all have to face difficult conversations. For managers, having tough talks with employees can have a big impact on their engagement, development, and the relationships you have with each member of your team. That can feel intimidating, but these tips for having difficult conversations with employees will help you make tough discussions truly productive. That way, you and your employee both walk away with a little more understanding, and a much clearer sense of what comes next.

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10 Tips for having difficult conversations

• 1. Schedule an appropriate time
• 2. Plan your conversation
• 3. Stick to the facts
• 4. Flex your empathy
• 5. Be honest, and be open
• 6. Check for a common understanding
• 7. Brainstorm solutions together
• 8. Build an action plan
• 9. Follow up on agreements
• 10. Develop your feedback culture

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Tips for having difficult conversations with employees

A difficult conversation could be about anything from employee personal issues, to performance troubles, or peer conflict resolution. You might even have to address difficult employee behavior directly. Whatever difficult topic you need to discuss, these tips will help you have a more productive conversation.

1. Schedule an appropriate time 

When having a challenging conversation, be sure to schedule a time to meet in person or over video chat. If you're communicating delicate information, all the nonverbal cues and body language that help deliver your message may be lost when typing through Slack or email.

Schedule a one-on-one meeting with your employee. Set a few talking points in the agenda so you both know what to expect, and ask your team member to add some talking points or questions, too. Of course you want to arrive prepared, and your team members should have the chance to do the same.

2. Plan your conversation 

In a tough conversation, you don't want to appear to be communicating on the fly. It's important to be intentional with what you say, and have your key points prepared. One great way to plan your discussion is to use a difficult conversation framework. You don't need to have an entire speech planned, but take the time to write down what you'd like to get across.

Make sure to give yourself 5-10 minutes to prepare the broad strokes of what you’d like to say. Practice saying the difficult points out loud before you meet with your employee. A little bit of thinking ahead will go a long way when it comes to delivering these challenging messages! 

3. Stick to the facts 

When thinking through your talking points, it's always important to stick to the facts. Point out observable behaviors, and explain the outcome or result of what you’re sharing. The most important thing is to leave emotion and personal attacks out of the conversation. Laying out the facts ahead of time — and weeding out anything subjective or unproductive — helps you manage your emotions during the discussion.

Evaluate your talking points:

• Is it an opinion or perception?
• Can you give a specific example?
• What's the tangible outcome?
• How does this contribute to the discussion?

4. Flex your empathy

As a manager, practicing empathy is one of the greatest ways to connect with your team. Especially when you're having a hard conversation, don’t let professionalism overpower your humanity. As you prepare and deliver a difficult message, make sure to put yourself in your employee’s shoes. Take a moment to imagine that you are on the other side of the situation.

Having empathy for yourself is equally important, so don’t ignore how you feel. It’s only natural for emotions to arise when there’s tension or something important is at stake. Remind yourself that challenging conversations, are challenging. Give yourself a few mindful breaths before the conversation, and go for a walk or decompress once the conversation is done. 

5. Be honest, and be open

To make space for your employee to be honest and open with you, you need to be honest and open with them. Respecting someone enough to be upfront with them shows that you care, so be direct with what you have to say, but always be compassionate. You might even start the conversation by telling them your positive intent.

Vulnerability and an open mind can really help move the conversation along. If an employee made a mistake, you might open up about a time that you made a mistake too to show them its okay. Or if they failed to reach a deadline, you could tell them about a time when you dropped the ball and what you learned from it. A big part of building trust is opening up and being vulnerable.

6. Check for a common understanding

Check in throughout the conversation, and at the end to make sure you’re both on the same page and understanding each other. This means asking them to explain what they've understood, but also asking them to explain more what they're saying. The point is for you both to hear each other out, a conversation shouldn't be one-directional.

Questions to check in:

• How is what I'm saying landing with you?
• Could you explain your point a bit more to me?
• What I'm hearing is that [explain what you understood], does that sound right?
• What are the key points you've taken from our discussion?

7. Brainstorm solutions together

Try to let go of any specific plan you have for the best path forward and open it into a two-way conversation. Ask your employee what they think would be the best course of action or if they see an opportunity to make a change. Of course, share your ideas as well, but bring them up as possibilities rather than assignments.

If there isn't necessarily a solution to be determined, make sure you discuss learnings. What can be gained from the situation, and what might apply to your future work or planning? There might be an opportunity to share what you've discussed with your team or your own boss. Just be sure to give time to a discussion around what comes next.

8. Build an action plan

Once you've discussed some possible next steps, decide on a few that make the most sense to you both and create an action plan together. Write down some action items and come up with a timeline for following through. You might consider setting a goal for your employee.

Be open to taking on some action items, too. There might be things you can do as a manager to be a part of the solution. Whether it's talking with another team member, accessing resources, or connecting them with someone else in the organization, offer to help.

Details matter! Decide on who will do what, when, why, and how.

9. Follow up on agreements

Whatever action plan you create, be sure to touch base with your employee soon after your difficult discussion. Even if you don't set specific action items, it's good to check in at your next one-on-one meeting to see how your team member is feeling, and how things are progressing.

It's also important to hold yourself accountable to the commitments you made. If you told your employee you'd reach out to the HR department, let them know what you found out from that conversation. If you offered to take on a task, tell your team member when it's complete.

How to follow up:

• Just letting you know that [task] is now complete.
• Is there anything you need to accomplish [task]?
• I spoke with [person, department] and here's the information they gave me...
• Great work with [completed task], thanks for making it a priority.

10. Develop your feedback culture

The human brain is like velcro when it comes to negative feedback and hard conversations. Employees may be doing a great job in other areas, but when they hear something negative about them, it can stick and hurt their morale which can then decrease their engagement.

If you create a culture of feedback on your team, then having hard conversations won’t feel so out of place. Make it a regular practice to share both positive and negative feedback with your employees during one-on-ones. That way, they won’t feel as shook or worried when you do have something constructive to share with them.

Make difficult conversations easier and more productive

With these tips for having difficult conversations with employees, you're sure to turn every tough talk into a positive outcome. No matter what needs to be discussed, and how difficult it may be, you can show your employees that you care and support them in moving forward with confidence.

Picture this scenario: A manager is trying to keep their team’s productivity and happiness levels high, but the traditional 9-to-5 format is starting to show its limitations. Maybe their team is remote, spread across time zones, or each employee has varying personal realities requiring different work-life balance support. Sounds familiar? 

The world has changed, and so have the ways we work. Traditional methods of ensuring team productivity and satisfaction — like mandatory office hours and physical presence— are no longer effective… or desirable. Today’s employees crave flexibility, and a manager’s priority is ensuring that their teams are productive and satisfied. 

This is where workplace flexibility comes in.

What is workplace flexibility?

Workplace flexibility is any approach to work that accommodates the diverse needs of both employers and employees — in other words, flexible work arrangements. It’s all about creating environments that make work a win-win for everyone. This typically includes practices like flexible work hours, flexible scheduling, and flexible workspaces. 

Flexible work hours

Flexible work hours mean employees have the freedom to choose when they work. That doesn’t mean managers cut slack on performance — it just means that working hours can take different forms within agreed-upon limits. Flexible work hours can help employees avoid rush hour commutes or work during personal peak productivity times.

Let’s say an employee is more energized, creative, and productive later in the day. Rather than forcing them to start at 9 a.m. sharp, they start at 11 a.m. and work until 7 p.m. A full day’s work is still done, but with better outcomes.

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Let’s say an employee is more energized, creative, and productive later in the day. Rather than forcing them to start at 9 a.m. sharp, they start at 11 a.m. and work until 7 p.m. A full day’s work is still done, but with better outcomes.

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Flexible scheduling

Flexible scheduling is a slight variant of flexible hours, where employees have control over the days they work (and the days they take off). Most people have experience with flexible scheduling types, such as part-time work or even sabbaticals. But compressed workweeks, like a 9/80 schedule (where employees work 8 nine-hour days over two weeks rather than 10 eight-hour days), are becoming increasingly popular.

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Think of an employee with childcare requirements. With a compressed work week, they can complete their 40 hours weekly over four days instead of five, so they can attend to family duties on Fridays.

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Flexible workspace

Flexible workspace means giving employees the choice of where they work — be it from home, a coffee shop, or the office. We often refer to this as remote work or hybrid work models, where local employees can split their time between workspaces and fully distributed teams can work from various global locations.

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If an employee has a long commute, they might elect to reserve the days they come into the office for team meetings and creative sessions where in-person collaboration is more impactful. The rest of the time, they choose to work from home, focusing on independent work duties (while saving time on travel).

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More and more, flexible arrangements are becoming commonplace in modern workplaces. And that’s because they pay off! Workplace flexibility not only enhances productivity but also boosts employee morale and wellness. 

Why should managers care about workplace flexibility?

Workplace flexibility can be a real game-changer — not just for employees but for employers, too. We’re talking about increased productivity, higher employee satisfaction, better work-life balance, and improved employee retention. It’s no wonder leaders now see flexible work as a true strategic asset to business success. Here are four reasons why workplace flexibility should be considered.

1. Boosting employee productivity

Flexible work arrangements can significantly enhance productivity. Think about it — if employees save time and reduce stress by avoiding long commutes, they can work during their most productive hours.

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According to a Stanford study, remote workers are 13% more productive than their office-based counterparts, take fewer sick days, and experience quieter work settings.

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2. Enhancing employee engagement (and satisfaction)

Happy employees are productive employees. And employees who have autonomy over their work schedules and locations report higher job satisfaction. Flexibility allows for a level of autonomy that leads to more engagement and motivation.

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Employees value the trust and autonomy that come with flexibility. A People Management LinkedIn Poll revealed that 77% of employees reported flexible work as more important than a pay rise.

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3. Improving work-life balance

Work-life balance has become a modern-day HR priority, as better balance means healthier, more engaged employees. Flexibility in work hours and locations allows employees to manage their personal and professional lives more realistically, which is crucial for overall well-being.

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Gallup research reveals that 54% of employees would switch jobs for one that offers more flexibility. Soon, employers who aren’t accommodating of worker needs will be left at a disadvantage.

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4. Retaining top talent

You could say workplace flexibility is a magnet for talent. Companies that implement flexible work policies demonstrate they care about the employee experience and have more success in attracting prospective employees as well as in employee retention. 

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Global directory Flexa tallied the numbers: 58% of job seekers are looking for roles with remote work options. In other words, companies offering flexible work models are more likely to attract and keep top talent.

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Overcoming challenges in flexible work arrangements

The benefits of workplace flexibility are clear. That said, adopting flexibility isn’t without its hurdles. Managers should be aware of these potential challenges — and the right approaches to overcome them. 

Communication barriers

Remote and flexible work can sometimes lead to communication gaps. This could be due to team members with different schedules working asynchronously or too many remote communication options, which can be overwhelming.

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Here, structure is key. Managers can easily bridge communication gaps by:

• Implementing regular check-ins using video conferencing tools
• Using collaborative platforms to keep everyone connected
• Creating dedicated communication channels with clear guidelines

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Maintaining team cohesion

Keeping a team united while working flexibly requires a little bit of intentional effort — although no more than what’s required with any other kind of management. It’s all about adapting to flexible arrangements’ unique realities.

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To maintain team cohesion, managers can consider:

• Organizing virtual team-building activities to foster connection
• Nurturing inclusivity so remote workers feel as valued as in-office peers
• Encouraging the use of shared tools

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Ensuring equitable treatment

Because flexible arrangements can look different from one employee to the next, fairness is crucial. Flexible work policies should be applied equitably to avoid favoritism or resentment.

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Here’s how managers can ensure equity is at the center of workplace flexibility:

• Setting clear guidelines for flexible work arrangements applicable to everyone
• Monitoring the impact of these arrangements and how they affect team dynamics
• Asking employees to share feedback to address imbalances

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Future trends in workplace flexibility

The future of work is increasingly flexible, driven by tech advancements and evolving workforce expectations. Here’s what to watch for, taking a cue from how forward-thinking companies are setting the stage for a more adaptable, productive, and employee-centric future:

Hybrid work models

Combining remote work with in-office days is becoming the norm. This hybrid approach combines the benefits of remote work, such as fewer commutes and daytime disruptions, with the advantages of in-person collaboration, where creativity, communication, and connection thrive.

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Microsoft allows employees to work from home 50% of the time. This hybrid work model demonstrates trust and allows employees to be in charge of their workloads.

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Advanced collaboration tools

New technology, such as VR meetings and AI-driven project management tools, is continuing to make collaboration even more seamless, regardless of location. In fact, you might already be using a few without even realizing it!

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Slack has a suite of integrated AI tools to streamline project management and communication. Slack Connect enables inter-company collaboration, while its huddle feature allows for quick, informal chats.

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Emphasis on employee wellness

HR leaders won’t be surprised by this. Future flexible work policies will focus more on employee wellness, including mental health support programs and work-life balance initiatives. The healthier employees are, the better they show up for work.

Wondering how you stack up? Become a true EX leader by leveraging the insights from our Spring 2024 Employee engagement benchmark report.

Practical steps for implementing flexible work arrangements

Ready to make flexibility work for your team? As a leader, here’s a cheat sheet to create a more flexible work environment step-by-step:

1. Assess your team’s needs

Before making any decisions, first understand your team's specific needs and preferences. Use surveys to gather this information—they can help gauge employee sentiment and identify areas for improvement through flexibility schemes.

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Pro tip: Tools like pulse surveys are a quick and easy way to understand your team's flexibility needs.

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2. Introduce flexible work policies

Once you’re ready to introduce new flexible work policies, clearly communicating what they are ensures everyone understands how they can be implemented—for themselves and their peers.

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Pro tip: Like introducing new policies, managers want to avoid going from zero to 100. Retaining some structure, such as core hours for everyone, helps with incremental but scalable integration.

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3. Foster a supportive culture

Supporting balance is more than flexible policies—it also lives through the company culture. Managers must model a flexible work mindset in their management styles, advocating for open communication and empathy.

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Pro tip: Don’t save employee check-ins for performance-related discussions. Make sure to set aside one-on-one time with team members to chat about work-life balance, too.

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4. Monitor and adjust

Regularly evaluating the effectiveness of flexible work policies means being ready to make changes based on employee feedback. An iterative approach will help you achieve a flexible and productive work environment with equally successful and sustained outcomes.

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Pro tip: Data analytics tools help track productivity, employee satisfaction, and engagement levels and will help you make informed decisions about adapting your flexible work policies.

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Where employee experience meets management: Tools to support flexibility across teams

More than a trend, workplace flexibility is a genuinely strategic approach to modern team management. By implementing flexible work arrangements, managers can increase employee productivity, job satisfaction, and overall employee morale and wellness. So, don’t fear workplace flexibility. Embrace it and watch your team thrive.

As the future of work and hybrid workplaces continues to evolve, staying ahead of the curve is crucial for employers to attract and retain the best talent. Discover how Workleap Officevibe can equip teams with the right tools to meet employees where they’re at.

Managers have a hefty mandate. You have to get all team members heading in the same direction, and motivate each individual to contribute their part. Not to mention keeping everything clear, documented, organized, and accessible, both for your team and for your higher-ups. The best team management software are built to streamline tasks and make your life easier. But do you ever feel like you’re getting lost in multiple platforms that only do the job halfway?

Finding the right tools for your needs can take a lot of time, research, and trial and error. This list gives you a quick overview of the top software for managers, so you can easily assemble the right tech stack to support your needs. Discover the best software to streamline your team’s processes, and lighten your work pile — not add to it.

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The 10 best team management software

• 1. Trello: a simple task management tool
• 2. Asana: for managing complex projects
• 3. Jira: total work management software
• 4. Softstart: onboarding software for new hires
• 5. Toggl Track: time and task tracking software
• 6. Miro: virtual creativity and collaboration tool
• 7. Slack: centralize internal and team communication
• 8. Officevibe: a team management software
• 9. Bonusly: employee recognition software
• 10. Unito: the project management solution

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1. Trello: a simple task management tool

A simple tool to help your team organize their projects and oversee their collective workload at a glance, Trello is an excellent task management software for teams of all sizes. You can assign tasks, create a task list, and move project cards from ‘to do’ to ‘doing’ to ‘done’. It also helps you see everything you’re working on at a glance and feel the satisfaction of completing each task. Trello offers free and paid options depending on the size of your team and the complexity of your work.

2. Asana: for managing complex projects

Asana is a more robust project management software, with options for different types of teams (marketing, product, sales, and operations). It also has multiple view options and features, like reporting, timelines, calendars, project boards, and more. So if you’re doing more complex work or managing multiple projects and workflows, this might be a better project management tool for your team. Free and paid options are available for different team sizes and needs.

3. Jira: total work management software

The number 1 software development tool, Jira can be used as a project management app by all types of teams for planning and producing great work. Build project cards filled with all the information employees need to get the job done, and connect team boards with higher-level product roadmaps. This is also a great way to get teams to adopt similar work methods, and align them with the greater goals. Multiple pricing options are available, including a free version for a small team of 10 or less.

4. Softstart: onboarding software for new hires

The first weeks and months of a new hire’s employee experience have a big impact on their engagement and how they integrate into the team. Softstart sets every new team member up for success by connecting them with the people, tools, and knowledge they’ll need to get started. The software is built to focus on company culture and team spirit, so people get the technical and human onboarding experience they need — even on remote or distributed teams. Sign up for free and test it out, no credit card information required until you onboard your first new hire.

5. Toggl Track: time and task tracking software

Do you ever wonder where the time goes? Toggl Track helps you understand and analyze where your team is investing their time, and how you can optimize it together. They’re on a mission to help teams and individuals work smarter and save both time and money. Boost performance and team productivity so your team can do their best work. You can sign up for free or book a demo to see what the best plan is for your team.

6. Miro: virtual creativity and collaboration tool

Miro is an essential collaboration tool if your team is into virtual, asynchronous collaboration and planning. It's great for creative teams and every remote team, distributed team, or in-person team. The online whiteboard has templates to build maps, frameworks, flowcharts, and more. Or, you can create your own board with post-its, shapes, and frames. Then vote, set timers, and leave comments to elaborate and finalize your plan. Free and paid versions are available depending on your needs.

7. Slack: centralize internal and team communication

Slack is the best software to eliminate jumping from emails to documentation to announcement boards and back. It has individual messaging, channels, group chats, workflows, and integrations available for all the top workplace software. These features help you streamline team communication and ensure important information is communicated effectively to your team. Select a pricing plan that’s right for your team or organization.

8. Officevibe: a team management tool

Okay, you caught us. But there’s a reason why over 50k managers use Officevibe every day. Automated weekly employee surveys with simple reports give you a quick overview of where your team is thriving, and where they need support. You can also collect and respond to employee feedback directly in the app, turning it into a two-way conversation. The one-on-one tool makes meetings simple to plan and next steps are easy to track. Officevibe is a team management software where you can access everything you need to be there for your team, all in one place. Sign up free or find the right subscription for your needs.

9. Bonusly: prioritize employee recognition

Showing employees that they’re valued and appreciated is essential to maintaining their engagement and keeping up team performance. Bonusly takes your employee recognition practices to new heights with meaningful rewards (gift cards, cash-out options, and nonprofit donations) and analytics for the team manager. So you can see the real impact of employee recognition on your team with various pricing options to match your needs.

10. Unito: the project management solution

Unito is another project management platform, but it integrates all of the top-used software to connect your workflows and planning in one place. Their integrations include Asana, Jira, Trello, and more — and they work to add new ones on a monthly basis. So no matter what other tools you’re working with, you’ll have access to everything you need in one place. Whatever your team size, there’s a pricing package for you, and they all offer a free trial.

Set up the best team management software stack for your team

Whatever your team needs, and however they work best, the right tools and tech can be a game-changer for productivity and collaboration. This list of the best team management software should be a good place to start in pinpointing the right supports for your team, and setting them up for success.

Nick Patterson has been managing creative teams for over seven years as a co-founder of Storm & Shelter production house. With employees who work on film, animation, and video projects, he gets to coach and work with creative people every day. So, what’s uniquely rewarding about managing a team of creative employees? As Nick puts it,

From their passion and dedication to their innovative thinking, creative people tend to work together a little bit differently than more corporate teams. And this can be seen in everything from how they collaborate, to what kinds of collective goals they set, their work methods and project management style, and ultimately what they produce.

We spoke with Nick about the best and most challenging aspects of managing a team of creatives, and now we’re sharing all of his key insights with you!

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5 Tips from the interview:

• 1. Shift your perspective of development
• 2. Be mindful and intentional with feedback
• 3. Set goals that are led by creativity
• 4. Respect other people’s vulnerability
• 5. Prioritize openness and honesty

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What’s different about managing creative people?

If your team is working on projects that are design-oriented or innovative, then you might consider them to be a creative team. People who get into creative fields often have a real passion for their craft and identify strongly with what they do. Their skill sets might serve them beyond earning them a living, they could also be a key source of fulfillment in their lives.

For some creative workers, their job is deeply connected with their sense of self, and even of self-worth.

This is why it’s important to put extra care into how you manage creative employees. When you oversee a team of creatives, you’re supporting people who are doing what they love, and helping them achieve not just goals, but dreams. Managing creative people can be tough work, and feel really personal - and that’s also what makes it so rewarding.

5 tips to help you manage creative employees

All the stand-out tips from our interview with Nick Patterson on how to manage a creative team...

1. Shift your perspective of development

Creative employees need freedom when it comes to their growth and development. Try not to assume the next steps for your team members, and break out of seeing employee development as a linear path. When a creative person has the opportunity to move in different directions, they’re more empowered to find the right challenges for themselves.

Nick wants his employees to have "the confidence to say 'hey, maybe I could be stretched a little here.'" From there, it’s about "being able to give guidance and take time to give feedback, and giving people small responsibilities as they go to test things out." You want to give people the agency to direct their own career path, and help them figure out how their personal ambitions align with the goals of your team.

2. Be mindful and intentional with feedback

When it comes to giving feedback to a creative person, it’s important to be extra thoughtful about what you share, and how you share it. Taking into account people’s personalities and preferences is essential when you craft your feedback, Nick says. His advice?

Beyond delivering your feedback so it lands, you want the other person to understand why you’re sharing it and how it’s relevant to the bigger picture. Can your feedback help them achieve their goals? Will it help them grow? How might it improve their creative process? Be specific when you give context to it.

Check out our best employee feedback examples →

3. Set goals that are led by creativity

Rather than focusing on solely performance-based goals for employees, it might make more sense to set objectives that are driven by development. On setting individual goals with his team members, Nick says that "because the work is project-based it’s a bit more creative-led. It’s less of a case of people having solid KPIs. That part’s easy."

You can (and should) still track performance data and monitor the key objectives that are important for your team. But put extra time and effort into setting meaningful creative goals for people as well. How can they expand their expertise and become more skilled in their field? Prioritizing this doesn’t have to be separate from striving toward business objectives.

Check out our best employee goal setting examples →

4. Respect other people’s vulnerability

Creative employees often put a lot of passion into their work, and so sharing it with their team or manager can be nerve-wracking. This is why it’s important to be considerate when challenging an idea or giving negative feedback.

It can take a lot of courage to share creative work. And unlike other domains, there might not be a 'right' and 'wrong' way of doing creative tasks. If something isn’t making sense to you, ask questions to better understand it before you share a critique. Commit yourself to an open mindset and be curious to learn from your team.

5. Prioritize openness and honesty

This tip applies to every other tip on the list! Making honesty and openness a part of your core team values and creative workflow encourages:

• Seeing things from a new perspective,
• Giving candid feedback with care,
• Letting creativity lead the way, and
• Making space for vulnerability.

As Nick puts it: "One of the most important things, especially when dealing with a creative team, is openness and honesty. The more that people can be open and honest, the more they can trust each other."

That last part is perhaps most important: building trust. With a high-trust team, you’ll improve collaboration and increase productivity and innovation. People will feel empowered to do what they do best, and rely on one another for the right things. When they’re in it together, they’ll feel comfortable to take smart risks and try new approaches. And it starts with making space for honesty.

A final piece of advice

The last piece of advice Nick shared for managers of creative employees? "Don’t hesitate to give people responsibility." Give your creative team members the space to lead themselves, and you’ll be amazed at where they take you.

You know your team has everything it takes to succeed. They’re smart, they’re talented, they’re productive...at least, they’re productive most of the time.

Most teams go through periods where they struggle to get things done, and this happens for a variety of reasons. Whether it’s a lack of motivation, low morale, or interpersonal issues getting in the way of collaboration, team productivity can take a major hit.

As a manager, you want to figure out the root cause behind your team’s productivity issues so you can address the problem, and get your team back on track. But how, exactly, do you do that? What strategies can you use to improve team productivity? We've outlined ideas to help you get your team back to doing their best, most productive work.

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In this article...

• What is team productivity?
• How to improve team productivity in the short term
• How to improve team productivity in the medium term
• How to improve team productivity in the long term

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What is team productivity?

Team productivity is how your team performs as a whole; it’s your team’s ability to effectively manage their tasks, make progress, and get things done as a unit.

This is a little different from employee productivity. While it’s important for people to be autonomous and get things done on their own, you can have a group of individually productive employees and still have an unproductive team. This is especially true if team members can’t figure out how to work well together.

Team productivity is all about collaboration. It’s about each employee’s ability to collaborate and leverage their strengths. This extends beyond striving to hit their personal goals, to moving the team forward towards their collective goals.

Highly productive teams are a must for successful organizations. When your entire team is progressing and getting things done, you can harness the power of the collective to make a much bigger impact and build a high-performing team. This means better outcomes than if people were working solo-even if each of those employees were individually productive.

6 strategies to improve team productivity

You might need to take a short term, medium term, or long term approach to improving team productivity. This will depend on your team’s context and the productivity challenges you’re facing.

How to improve productivity in the short term

1. Identify the cause of decreased team productivity

Before you can improve team productivity, you need to understand why your team is struggling to get things done. Observe what’s happening with your team and company. Where is the issue with productivity coming from?

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For example: If your team is growing, they may be going through the storming phase of team development. Maybe you’ve introduced a new policy, system, or technology to their workflow, and they’re struggling to adjust. If your company is going through major changes (like a leadership change), morale may be low. Any of these things may impact productivity.

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Your issues with team productivity could also indicate a larger issue within your organization. If your company culture values overwork, your employees could be burning out, and struggling to get things done. If there are issues of favoritism or inequity, it could be bringing down morale, and performance along with it.

2. Take immediate steps to address the issues you find

Once you know what’s causing the productivity issues, you want to address it head-on. Get your team to brainstorm potential solutions, and see if there’s anything you can do to support them. The faster you address the issues causing team productivity to dip, the faster your team will get back on track. And that means getting back to the high performance you know they’re capable of.

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For example: If you’ve recently hired a new team member and people are struggling to adjust how they divide tasks, you might schedule a team building activity to help people collaborate more effectively. If your team is struggling to adapt to a new process or technology, you could schedule more in-depth training to get them up to speed.

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How to improve productivity in the medium term

3. Set clear expectations for the whole team

When your team isn’t clear on expectations, it can cause confusion, and that confusion can quickly lead to productivity issues. So if you want to improve productivity, try setting clear expectations. Make sure everyone on the team understands those expectations, and work to get people on board.

For example: If you want your remote team to communicate more effectively, set clear expectations around team communications. Establish preferred communication channels for certain things, and how to make a time-sensitive request. If people are unsure what they’re accountable for or passing tasks off to each other, establish clarity around job roles and who is responsible for what.

The clearer you can be with your remote team on what’s expected from them, the easier they’ll be able to meet your expectations-and the more productive they’ll be as a result.

4. Give your team some breathing room

You may think you need to be on top of your team for them to be productive. But micromanaging can cause morale, employee engagement, and ultimately team performance and productivity to take a major hit. So if you want to boost your team’s productivity, take off your micromanager hat, and give your team some space to do things their own way.

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For example: Instead of following up with your team multiple times per day to see how projects are going, ask them how often they’d like to send progress updates. Agree on a frequency that works for you both (for example, once per week). Then, as long as they’re making progress at those regular intervals, give them the leeway to manage tasks in between project updates as they see fit.

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As a manager, it’s your job to lead, to support, and to inspire your team. But don’t forget that you’re a team member, too. It’s your responsibility to make sure the work gets done, but that doesn't mean micromanaging every little thing. In fact, this can slow things way down and reduce the team productivity you’re hoping for.

How to improve productivity in the long term

5. Anticipate-and prepare for-productivity challenges

The best way to solve team productivity challenges? Prevent them from happening in the first place. If you can anticipate things that may interfere with team productivity, you can be proactive in addressing them quickly. That way, you solve issues before they have a negative impact, and keep your team productive and performing.

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For example: If you know your team struggles with productivity during periods of growth, you can rework your onboarding process to help everyone adjust to new hires. If your team's productivity tends to drop when there’s a major change in the company, you can develop a plan to support them through it. Better yet, put that plan into place before the change happens.

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Staying one step ahead of team productivity issues means keeping up with how your team feels through employee surveys and one-on-one meetings. That way, you can spot issues that might impact productivity early-and deal with them before they become a major problem. Officevibe’s employee engagement software lets you measure team engagement, collect and respond to employee feedback, and keep track of every one-on-one all in one place.

6. Make adjustments as necessary

Planning for team productivity challenges is a must. But you can’t plan for everything, and being flexible to adjust, adapt, and make changes as necessary helps you tackle productivity issues as they arise.

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For example: If a key team member leaves unexpectedly, it could throw your team off track. So it’s important that you assess the situation and adapt as necessary to keep your team moving forward . You might reassign the employees’ tasks and scheduling a team meeting to talk through any concerns your employees have about the unexpected departure.

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There will always be new, unexpected things that have the potential to threaten team productivity. But if you’re on the lookout and ready to be agile, you’ll be able to roll with those changes and adapt and adjust your strategy accordingly.

A productive team is a high-performing team

Keeping team productivity high is a must if you want your team to thrive. And now that you know how to improve team productivity, you have everything you need to keep your team productive, and empower their best work.

If you want your team to succeed, they need to feel motivated to engage with you, each other, and the work at hand.

Some people are great at motivating themselves. But after the past year, and all the challenges that came with it, even the most naturally motivated employees may be having a tough time mustering up the drive to get things done. And for people who struggle with motivation in the best of times? Chances are, the pandemic sent their motivation spiralling towards an all-time low.

But motivated teams perform better (and feel better!) at work. So as a manager, it's your job to keep your team motivated, engaged, excited, and moving forward.

But how, exactly, do you do that? Let's take a look at 10 team motivation ideas you can use to inspire your team — and empower their best work in the process.

What Motivates Teams?

Between navigating the uncertainty of the pandemic, adjusting to working from home, and trying to juggle work and home/family/personal demands, many employees are feeling burned out — and finding motivation in the face of that burnout can be a real struggle.

That's why, as a manager, it's important to understand what motivates teams, and how you can use that to get your team motivated.

A study outlined in a recent Harvard Business Review article identified three positive motivators that generally lead to increased performance:

• Play: The space to explore, experiment, and have fun can be a major motivator for individuals and teams.
• Purpose: When people feel like their work has meaning, it motivates them to do better.
• Potential: The potential to learn and grow is also a key factor in inspiring and motivating teams.

If you work these three elements into your management strategy, you'll motivate your team and inspire their best work in the process.

So, what do those motivating factors look like in action?

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Looking for a source of daily inspiration for your workforce? Our motivational quotes for employees will ignite their passion, fuel their determination, and propel your organization towards greatness.

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10 team motivation ideas

1. Host a weekly team meeting to celebrate wins (purpose)

When you celebrate your employees, they feel seen, recognized, and appreciated, which can be a real motivator. Schedule a recurring weekly meeting with your entire team where you recognize individual and collective wins, and invite your employees to also recognize their fellow team members.

2. Host team brainstorming sessions on how they want to see the team grow and change (potential)

You may have ideas about the direction you'd like to take your team-but if you really want to motivate them, they need to give them a sense of control over that direction. Schedule periodic team meetings (for example, once per quarter or at the start of a new project or initiative) to brainstorm with your employees about how they'd like to see the team grow and change.

How do they feel about where things are? Where are the current growth opportunities? And how can you work together to grow, change, and evolve in a way that aligns with the team's goals, purpose, and desired direction?

3. Let your team set the rules (purpose)

If your team feels like you don't trust them and that you micromanage everything they do, they're not going to be motivated to do their best work. Instead, give them more autonomy over how they work and let them set the rules.

Schedule a sit-down with your team and ask for feedback about their ideal workflow. When your team has control over how they work, they'll feel like they're in the driver's seat of not only their day-to-day work experience but their larger career trajectory. Employees will be motivated to work harder as a result.

4. Identify motivation allies and help them motivate the rest of the team (potential)

As mentioned, some people are naturally more motivated than others. As a manager, those people can be one of the best team motivation tools available to you.

Identify the most positive, motivated people on your team, and then invest your time and energy into those people. Use a 1-on-1 meetings software to schedule regular conversations and ask how you can support them. Put them in charge of team meetings, projects, and initiatives. Give them as many leadership and mentorship opportunities as you can.

By giving a more visible and leadership-oriented role to your naturally motivated employees, their positivity and motivation will spread to others. The team will be more motivated and positive as a result.

5. Make room for side projects (purpose/potential)

If your team has the space to work on projects they're passionate about, it gives them a sense of autonomy and a space to grow their skills in a way that feels true to their goals and aspirations. The purpose and potential that working on personal projects gives your team will help to drive motivation, and that employee motivation will carry through to the projects you need them to work on.

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Pro tip: Every week, block out two hours on your team's calendar: one hour for them to work on a side project of their choice, and another hour to share their projects with the rest of the team.

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6. Incentivize your team (play)

Next time you want to motivate your team to hit a goal, give them a clear incentive. For example, if you want to motivate your team to hit a quarterly sales goal, offer a $100 gift card for the team member with the highest sales numbers. If you want to motivate your team to power through a project, let them know that, if they hit the established deadline, you'll treat the entire team to lunch.

By giving them a tangible reason to put in the effort in the form of a reward, you'll give your team the extra dose of motivation they need to hit their goals.

7. Use team building to keep people motivated (play)

For your team to do their best work, they need to trust each other. So, if you want to motivate your team to perform? Help them build that trust.

Team building exercises can be a great way to build relationships and foster trust within your team. Which will, in turn, motivate them to collaborate and perform at a higher level. However, with the shift to remote work, these exercises might be harder to have. Schedule at least one small team-building exercise per week, like a "virtual coffee break" to connect in-person and remote workers, or an after-work excursion that gives your team a chance to socialize and get to know each other better.

8. Go to bat for your team (purpose)

There are core essentials your team needs to do their jobs like fair compensation, the right software and tools, and ample learning and development opportunities. And if your team is operating without those essentials, motivation can take a nosedive.

So what can you do if your team is working without the essentials they need? And we mean, not only to do their jobs but also to stay engaged with their work and motivated.

Schedule a meeting with your company leadership. Let them know your team is struggling. If you don't work out a solution to get your team what they need to thrive, they are going to be unmotivated and won't reach their full potential. And this can lead to employee retention issues.

In a perfect world, you'll get everything your employees need. But even if you're not ultimately successful, just knowing that you went to bat for them can motivate your team to try harder.

9. Ask your team what motivates them

There's no one-size-fits-all solution for employee motivation; different teams need different motivators. So, if you want to know how to motivate your team, ask them!

Schedule a meeting with your team and ask them what they need from you to feel more motivated at work. Follow up with 1-on-1 meetings to get a better sense of how to motivate individual employees. Then, use the information you got from your team to motivate them in a way that works for them.

10. Lead by example (purpose)

You can't expect your team to be motivated if you're not motivated yourself. So, if you want to motivate your team, make sure you bring your most motivated self to work every day.

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For example: if you want to motivate employees to have a more positive attitude at work, make sure that you're bringing positivity and optimism to all your team interactions. If you want to motivate them to engage in more professional growth opportunities, make sure you're investing in your own learning and development.

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As a team leader, motivation starts with you. So if you want to motivate your team, make sure you're leading by example.

Use these strategies to get (and keep!) your team motivated

You know your team has the potential to do amazing work. And now that you know how to motivate them, you have everything you need to empower them to do their best work — and become more successful in the process.

The distributed work model is becoming a major workplace movement, both in the large and small business world. But what, exactly, is a distributed workforce? Why is it becoming such a popular work model? And, how do you manage a distributed workforce effectively?

In this new landscape of work, you want to make sure you’re empowering people to do their best work, no matter where that work happens.

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Managing remote workers in a distributed environment

• What is a distributed workforce?
• Managing a distributed workforce: 6 essential tips
• Why distributed work is here to stay

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What is a distributed workforce?

A distributed workforce is when multiple employees work from different locations. They might work from head office or home, a satellite office, co-working space, or out in the field. Some distributed teams embrace a hybrid model, where employees can work from different locations at different times. For example, they might want to work remotely from home a few days a week and the rest of the time from the corporate headquarters.

💡 Learn more about what a distributed team is and how it differs from remote teams.

Managing a distributed workforce: 6 essential tips

With more companies moving towards a distributed workforce model, managers may soon find themselves managing employees in various locations for the first time. Here are some tips to get your distributed team collaborating effectively.

1. Create opportunities to bring people together

When employees aren’t working in the same place, it can be challenging for teams to build the trust they need to perform at the highest level. So it’s important to create opportunities to bring your distributed team together to help that trust develop. Schedule regular team-building events to help remote workers and in-person employees connect and build relationships.

Team-building activity examples:

• Host a weekly "lunch and learn” where team members can take turns presenting a topic that’s important to them. Have a live stream for remote workers, and record it so they can watch at another time if they’d like to.
  
• Have a monthly game event that pairs in-office employees with remote employees. Try fun games that are easy to play with people in different locations (for example, trivia or virtual Pictionary).

2. Anticipate challenges and proactively offer solutions

Part of your role is to anticipate distributed team challenges and proactively offer solutions. Solving problems before they become overwhelming issues squashes short-term upsets and sets your team members up for long-term success.

Without regular team pulse-checks, managers can develop a false perception of what's happening on the office floor—whether that's virtually or not. A pulse survey tool like Officevibe can help you see the whole picture. By cluing into what your employees won’t tell you directly, Officevibe reveals what you’ve been missing.

Problem-solving examples:

• You’re managing team members spread out across three different time zones. Instead of waiting for the inevitable scheduling challenges to frustrate your employees, create a shared calendar that highlights the portion of each day when work hours overlap and blocks off when people are unavailable. This will make scheduling real-time meetings easier for everyone.
  
• You have remote employees with children, and you know they’re struggling to juggle work and home responsibilities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Talk to leadership to see if you can get them an adjusted or reduced work schedule. That way, they can give their kids the attention they need, and tackle work during the hours that work best for them.

3. Invest in the right tools for distributed teams

For distributed teams to work well together, they need the right tools. Are tools and software an investment? Yes. But investing in tools for your distributed team helps them do their best work, regardless of where they’re working. This could mean communication tools, group training, collaborative software, a shared calendar.

The exact tools you’ll need to invest in will depend on your team and goals.

Tools to consider for your distributed team:

• Video conferencing software
• Virtual collaboration software (like Miro whiteboards)
• Cloud-based file-sharing system (like Sharepoint or Google docs)
• Real-time communication and chat platform (like Slack or Microsoft Teams)
• Calendar and scheduling app that automatically updates time zones
• Platform to understand your team’s needs and measure employee engagement (like Officevibe)

Pro tip: don’t just set up these tools and hope for the best. Schedule time for group or individual training for your team to learn how to use these tools effectively for their needs.

4. Focus on crystal clear communication with your remote workers

Being clear in your communication is always essential, but it’s especially so when you’re working with distributed teams. Communication can be more challenging thanks to time zone issues, internet trouble, and a lack of nonverbal indicators.

Lay the foundation for crystal clear communication between distributed team members by developing team communication principles.

Questions to help set communication principles:

• What are the best channels for communication?
  • For example, if a remote employee needs to contact someone working in the office, is it best to send an email or send a Slack message?
    
• What are your expectations on response times?
  • For example, if an employee is working in PST and makes an end-of-day request to an employee working in EST, when should they expect a response?
    
• How will you manage urgent communications with team members working in a different place?
  • For example, if you have a question that needs an immediate answer, how do you push through that request to someone working remotely?

5. Create equal opportunities for all employees

As a manager, you always want to be treating each member of your team fairly and equally. And on a distributed team, that can become a bit more complex. You need to make sure every employee has the same access to experiences and opportunities - no matter where they’re working.

Equal opportunity examples:

• There’s a big pitch meeting coming up where your team will present a proposal for their next project to the stakeholders. Can you schedule the meeting during overlapping work hours so remote employees can attend live? Could you book a conference room with the best video conferencing tech to enable a remote employee to present their part?
  
• You’re rolling out a wellness initiative for your team that offers healthy snacks in the office kitchen and a weekly yoga class at the office. Can you send them a snack box with the same healthy snacks you’re stocking your kitchen with? Is it possible to live stream or record your weekly yoga session so remote team members can join in at a time that works for them?

6. Ask for feedback

What’s the best source for insights into how to better manage your distributed team? Your employees, of course. The more feedback you get from your employees, the better you’ll be able to spot any issues before they turn into problems and take action where it really counts. Make sure you’re regularly touching base with all employees and asking for feedback on what’s working, what’s not working, and how you can better support them.

Ask for feedback in your one-on-one meetings, team meetings, and through employee feedback channels.

With Officevibe's employee feedback tool, you can keep up with how people feel on an ongoing basis through weekly employee surveys with simple, digestible reports. Employees can share their feedback with you anytime, with an option for anonymity. And you can respond to them directly in the app, turning it into a two-way chat while employees stay anonymous (or not).

Why distributed work is here to stay

In addition to technology that's made it possible for people living anywhere with internet access to collaborate on projects together, regardless of geographical boundaries, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many companies to make a shift to fully remote operations. And now that offices are re-opening, many of these organizations are planning to keep some of that flexibility by adopting a hybrid model of distributed work. Why?

It’s what employees want

Employees want flexibility now that they’ve had a taste of the benefits of remote work over the last year.

85% of employees want to continue working remotely at least two to three days a week post-pandemic.

Workforce Sentiment Survey from CBRE

And according to the Reimagining Human Experience study from JLL, 70% of employees favor a hybrid model that allows them to work both remotely and in-office.

To stay competitive and keep employee engagement high, many companies are choosing to offer more flexible remote work options.

It lets you hire the best talent and be more inclusive

When you have a distributed workforce, you’re not limited by geography, and potential hires have more flexibility for how they’ll do their work. Whether they live on the other side of town, the other side of the country, or the other side of the world, you won’t be limiting your hiring pool. Plus, barriers that might make office work challenging for some are removed, making you a more equal opportunity employer.

It can help keep overhead costs low

When a company doesn’t have to have office space for their entire staff, it helps to lower overhead costs. Organizations can use that extra budget to invest in initiatives that will move the company forward. And this is good news for managers, because it could mean more opportunities for developing a new product or hiring a new team member, for example.

Use these strategies to better manage your team, no matter where they work

The era of the distributed workforce is here, and it's an exciting one. Managing a distributed team is undoubtedly a different experience from managing an entirely in-person or a fully remote team. Equipped with the right tools and informed with the best approaches, you'll have everything you need to empower and engage your team—no matter the work location!

Check out Officevibe's best practices for distributed teams to learn more on this topic.

Whether you're winding down from the year, ending a quarter, or completing a project, it's invaluable not to miss this critical step: the reflection!

Retrospective meetings are your team's chance to take a step back and learn from past successes and failures so that you all can begin to improve together.

In this article, we’ll run through the basics of team retrospectives and share how our team uses Officevibe to guide our meetings by surfacing the most acute pains and challenges, all in a remote work context.

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What are retrospective meetings?

The retrospective is a ceremony about the team, made for the team and led by the team. Teams that use the Scrum framework or agile methodology run various team meetings —called ceremonies—and retrospectives systematically happen at the end of each work cycle.

Simply put, the retrospective meeting consists of reflecting on events and work done in the last iteration, learning from it, and collectively deciding on action items to improve going forward.

What sort of teams can have retrospective meetings?  

Good news! All teams should be running frequent retrospectives, regardless of their activity or industry. Scheduling this time on the books every two weeks or every month gives space for important team conversations to happen so the team can move toward collective improvement.

How do you format a retrospective?  

The most straightforward format of a retrospective is made up of three core questions:

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• What went well?  
• What did not go too well? 
• How could we improve? 

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How often should you host retrospective meetings?  

How often you hold retrospective meetings with your team depends on what you want to focus your learning on.

Year-end retrospectives help look at all accomplishments and misses from the last twelve months from a bird's eye view.

Holding a retrospective at the end of a campaign or project is also good practice. That way, you examine the specifics of that initiative during that timeframe.

If your team works in sprints, you might want to have one every two weeks, like clockwork.

Even if you don't think your team has things to discuss, you'd be surprised to learn how much people have on their minds when given the space.

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Why are retrospective meetings essential for teams? 

The more people can air their grievances and speak openly about what’s not working for them in this period of time, the more likely the team is to succeed. 

🙌 The best teams run on honest conversations.

For this reason, transparency is a core principle to adopt when conducting a retrospective. There can be no fruitful retrospective without a solid level of openness, vulnerability, and psychological safety.  

Since team members are encouraged to openly share their point of view about what went well and not so well during the last cycle, your team could quickly acquire these benefits: 

• Enhanced collaboration, communication, trust, and team spirit 
• A more robust ability to identify how to improve our processes 
• Improved team productivity 
• More opportunities to learn as a team 
• The power to prevent past mistakes from happening again 
• Better anticipation of future problems 
• Stronger, more resilient team relationships 

💡 Tip: To create a safe environment for employees to speak their minds, make sure to remind your team of the Prime Directive before a retrospective.

5 tips for more effective retrospective meetings

Retrospectives can easily be conducted online. We have been doing retrospectives remotely frequently over the last 12 months, and we will probably be doing so for the months to come as well. 

Here are our five best tips to make your next online retrospective a success!

1. Create meeting norms so everyone is on the same page 

Here are some examples of team norms for remote retrospectives:

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• Turn your camera on 
• Have a timekeeper  
• Turn off your microphone when others are speaking 
• Seek to understand perspectives before challenging  
• Avoid long monologues to ensure everyone has a turn to speak  
• Take a break as needed  

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2. Use a collaborative tool for your retrospective meeting. 

When we started to consider online retrospectives, we wanted to find a tool that would encourage all remote team members to participate, help avoid group thinking as much as possible, and ensure a high psychological safety level.

We also needed an easy-to-adopt tool so our team would feel comfortable using it.

Our team chose Neatro. Team members can write comments or vote on ideas without being exposed to the other participants' content. Plus, every comment can be shared anonymously under the participant's name.

Here’s a glimpse into the Neatro board we created for one of our recent team retros.

3. Keep your retrospective meetings short and frequent. 

Remote work can be a source of many challenges. This is why we encourage you to take frequent opportunities to look back on what the team has accomplished and how the team could even learn from past events to become more efficient.

Retrospectives are a natural fit for this exercise. Still, when problems arise (because they always do at some point, right?), you don't have to all wait until your next retrospective to voice an issue altogether 

Cultivate your transparency, and create a culture of direct and frequent feedback. Then let retrospectives be the place of introspection and adaptation for the team.

4. Make sure everyone is heard 

It is crucial to provide a space where everyone feels safe to discuss and share their opinions even more in a remote working environment.

If you think psychological safety is a challenge in your team, using a tool that allows people to voice their opinion anonymously could be a great start to get some insights.

5. Vary your retrospective meeting exercises 

Since you can't provide a different physical setting for every retrospective, be sure to offer diverse and refreshing activities to keep the team engaged. 

There are many sites where you can find great ideas for retrospectives depending on the vibe of the team and its immediate needs. 

Real story: how Officevibe helped us have one of our most important retros yet

I have been working at Officevibe as a developer for the last four years; that means a lot of retros! One retro meeting idea that continues to stand out to me are the ones driven by my team’s Officevibe metrics.

For those of you who don’t know, Officevibe is a tool that allows our team members and manager to keep a pulse on how we’re all feeling with regards to different aspects of our work life.

The surveys we answer are anonymous, so we get to share how we really feel. This thankfully allows important conversations to get started that might otherwise not happen.

What did our metrics reveal?

During one of our weekly meetings, our manager mentioned that he saw a significant drop concerning the Relationship with Peers score in Officevibe. Specifically, our team’s Communication and Collaboration sub-metrics were the ones that dropped the most. 

Officevibe helped surface the problem.

Now it’s time for the team to get talking.

Understanding how important solid team relationships are for performance, we decided it should be the focus of our next retrospective meeting.

How we structured our retrospective meeting to solve team conflict 

It’s important to understand that difficult conversations don’t always just happen. Approaching conversations using a retro format is a structured way to have important discussions.

Everyone is given the opportunity to share and since the subject is pre-determined, your team might feel more prepared for the conversation to come.

To broach the topic of underlying team conflict, we picked the Start, Stop, Continue activity template to uncover where our diminished team dynamics were coming from.

This simple, yet effective retrospective technique led our team to think about three core questions regarding the last two weeks:

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• What should we start doing?
• What should we stop doing?
• What should we continue doing?

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The ideas that surfaced in the Stop section helped us understand where the drop in our Relationship with Peers metric was coming from:

• Frustration in work processes: Developers had lost time working on something another team was already working on. The feeling of working for nothing created frustration amongst colleagues.

• Loss of confidence in work: Designers felt overwhelmed because they had to work for several teams at the same time. Being spread thin, they were less confident in their designs, which caused tension on the team.

• Communication problems: Developers had less opportunity to discuss the new designs, which led to communication problems during the implementation phase.

We took our time to share and discuss these issues, then came up with action items. To choose which action items to focus on, we voted! The next step was getting to work on making improvements.

Did our team improve? You bet.  

Two weeks after this retrospective, the Relationship with Peers metric started going up again. Our team’s progress was tangible via Officevibe, and this felt great.

Simply put, Officevibe helped us anticipate an emerging problem through the drop of one of our core team metrics. Hosting a data-driven retrospective meeting, we managed to tackle this challenge on time and decided to make it our next retrospective's focus as well.

Try Officevibe for free with your team!

Retrospectives are a great way for your team to build trust, collaboration and aim for continuous improvement. Remote work can sometimes be difficult, and this context naturally increases the need for frequent sessions of inspection and adaptation for all teams.

Run a retrospective with your team, observe the behaviors during the session, and enjoy the action plan that will help your team improve quickly. 

Let's finish this article with a quote that sums it up brilliantly from Diana Larsen and Esther Derby in Agile Retrospectives - Making Good Teams Great. "Retrospectives help teams - even great ones - keep improving." 

Have you or your team ever felt overwhelmed by the changes taking place in your organization?

Maybe you navigated your team through an uncertainty like the shift to remote work? Led them through strategic pivots, structural changes or an acquisition?

Whatever the scenario, it seems that change is constant these days. And while these moments are not always easy, they are inevitable.

In many ways, leading people through change is a great opportunity to put your best leadership skills forward. On the other hand, change can make you (and your team) feel like you’re losing control.

We want to help you regain it. Follow our 5-step framework for leading through change to help your team adapt, build resilience, and be better prepared for the next time the wind changes direction.

What it means to lead through change

When you lead your team through organizational change, you act as the intermediary between the C suite where decisions are being made, and your team, who is affected by those decisions. You are the voice of the company in this instance.

It’s a delicate position to be in, and one that takes time and experience to master. Leading through change means mobilizing and motivating people toward a new direction.

It means ensuring they have all the information they need to understand the change, as well as the guidance they need to adapt to the challenge.

It sounds simple enough in theory, but as we’re sure you have experienced, people don’t always respond well to shifts in their routine.

Part of your role as a manager is anticipating this resistance and outlining how you plan to get buy-in.

This can be tough when you too feel the change was imposed on you. This is where a shift in mindset will come in handy! Lead the change, don’t let it lead you.

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A 5-step framework for leading through change

There’s no one-size-fits-all transition to change. Leading people through successful change means applying some basic steps to ensure you cover all your bases while helping your team lean in.

As we walk you through our 5-step framework, we also look into some scenarios for specific types of change you may encounter in your organization.

1. Be clear about the vision behind the change

Change is harder to accept when it’s not understood, which is why communicating the vision - the why - behind a certain change is essential.

That’s where you come in! Connect the change to the bigger picture and even the company values. Give full context to let your team process this change as part of the bigger picture.

Scenario: your company faced challenging times and restructured

After a restructuring where positions were abolished, your team may feel insecure. This could be about their own jobs or about paving a new course. This is where effective leadership is applied to empathetically provide more context.

“I understand how this can be difficult to process. I want to explain why this was done from a business perspective. The role of X was a temporary role to help us improve our skills in X area. After two years, the skills have been improved so we are no longer in need of this position. Applying these skills autonomously will allow us to move forward and improve other areas of the business so we can continue to thrive and remain competitive. This all aligns with our value of constant growth.”

2. Give your team the floor

Simply dictating change will not result in buy-in. While they are not “part” of the high-level decision, they do have an impact on how it all plays out. When people feel in control of decisions that affect their work, they demonstrate more accountability.

Turn this into an opportunity for your team to share their questions, concerns and even feedback. See this as a chance to build a sense of community on the team by approaching change together with open discussions. Give your people the floor!

{emphasize}💡 Tip: For more difficult discussions, use Officevibe’s anonymous feedback tool to ensure employees express everything on their minds. Not knowing how your team really feels during these moments can be a dangerous blind spot.{emphasize}

3. Share an action plan with next steps

Naturally, your team may be looking around asking “now what?” To the best of your ability, tell them! Knowing what’s around the corner will ease nerves and stir motivation as the change rolls out. You don’t need to have all the answers, but clarity and visibility should be go-to items on your change management checklist.

Scenario: Your company is going digital-first

"This is a big change that we are very excited to embark on with you! You must have a lot of questions, so I’d like to give you visibility on what I know is coming up next for us. Next week, the IT team will send a survey to understand everyone’s long-term tech needs at home. I will also book us a meeting to go through HR’s “remote work guidelines” together. It would be great if we can take this time to discuss how we can appropriate them to our team culture. As I am given more visibility on the next steps, you will be the first to know!"

4. Account for resistance

No matter what your leadership style is, or how well you communicate change, there’s a good chance you’ll experience some resistance. Don’t let this fall through cracks! Not getting buy-in to change can result in disengagement, and when one employee jumps on that bandwagon, it can affect morale all around. Don’t discount how impressionable your team’s engagement is. In fact, in a recent study run by Gallup they noted how 70% of team engagement is influenced by their manager.

Now is the time to maximize your 1-on-1 meetings with resistant employees. Have tough conversations, dig deep to understand people’s resistance and try to uncover unease around the change. Often, resistance is due to just that: fear. According to Forbes,

"Fear makes change intensely personal. People fear for their income. They worry about their families. They wonder what will happen to their careers. When people are afraid, they literally can’t hear or think as well."

Scenario: Your company is growing fast

It might be hard for long-time employees to embrace constant change when they are used to a certain way of working. They have their routines, their processes, their tight knit team. Change is going to shake this all up. They might question if the company is outgrowing them or if they are still a viable team member.

“Thanks for taking time for this 1-on-1 meeting. I know we spoke as a team about the upcoming growth of our team and company, but I want to know how you’re doing. You’ve been here since the beginning and I recognize that. What are your thoughts? I am here to listen.”

{emphasize}💡Tip: Our 1-on-1 meeting tool is crafted to help managers have more effective and meaningful conversations, especially when the going gets tough.{emphasize}

5. Make time for recognition

When a big change shakes the certainty of your team, it’s important to celebrate wins (big or small). This helps buffer the negative effects of the change. Even if goals are not yet being reached and your team entered a storming phase, highlight other accomplishments such as how the team has adjusted. Positivity and encouragement will help push people to keep going.

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Tips to communicate change effectively

Plan your communication ahead of time

This is not a moment where you want to wing it. Taking the time to draft the essential elements you must communicate will be helpful in not only delivering the news, but answering questions.

To be clear, including the following in your message:

• Who is implicated by the change and how will it affect them
• What are the high-level details of the change
• When will the change be implemented
• Where does documentation exist on the change
• Why is change is happening, and what is the vision behind it

Don’t share too much information at once

Be careful not to share too much information all at once. This can spark unnecessary overwhelm and might not allow your team to absorb critical elements of the message. Start with what is most important: the change and why it’s happening.

As the change begins to move forward, you can then begin to share information on the more procedural elements. Work in increments while giving visibility as to what’s next along the way.

Create a safe space for honest discussion

When a change occurs, it is imperative to lead with empathy and psychological safety. Let your team know they can trust you with their questions and concerns. Remind them that it’s normal to have feelings or fears about the change, then give them the floor to speak. As people open up, you will be able to gauge how well the team is going to adapt or accept the change.

Let’s face it, tough conversations are…well, tough. But they don’t have to be impossible to get through. Officevibe’s anonymous feedback tool gives your team the freedom to tell you what they think and need, so you can learn about their concerns firsthand. That way, you get to the heart of what really matters, and can tackle those tough topics head-on.

Change moves us forward and helps us evolve. Without it, we’d be stagnant. When you accept that change is part of the natural evolution of your work, you’ll learn agility. As you navigate this throughout your leadership career, you’ll even develop the foresight to put contingency plans in place for you, your team and your company.

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Collecting employee feedback is a key part of maintaining your team’s health and growing as a manager. Whether it’s positive, negative, or constructive feedback, effective communication channels allow you to keep a pulse on what's enabling or blocking your team’s success and overall employee happiness.

When you collect feedback you can offer support and realign team goals and priorities. This is what distinguishes a good leader from a great one: being open and adaptable to the needs of your team, and making employee satisfaction a priority.

So, how do you get employee feedback? There are several avenues for soliciting employee feedback, each with important benefits. Discover five ways you can collect honest feedback from your employees to improve your team’s workplace experience.

A feedback-positive culture

The most successful organizations are those that foster a safe and inclusive company culture where employees can express their opinions and concerns candidly. This means being open to receiving feedback, and demonstrating that employee opinions are valued.

How to build a feedback-positive culture

• Let employees know their opinions matter: You built your team of bright minds because you believe in them. Tell employees that sharing their ideas, questions, and perspectives contributes to their collective success. Encourage them to exchange feedback among themselves and build on each other's suggestions.
• Practice being open and curious: Negative feedback or constructive criticism can feel like an attack. If you notice a defensive wall going up, ask a question or repeat what you've heard back to the other person. When people elaborate on their feedback, you both understand better what it means and how to proceed with it.
• Turn insights into action, and give credit: Find ways to implement the feedback you receive and brainstorm with employees about how you can apply it in your team's workflow. Thank your team for their input, and give employees recognition for the efforts they put into developing solutions.

How you solicit —and how you receive constructive feedback—sets the tone for your team. Lead by example and make exchanging ideas a positive, collaborative way to improve team dynamics and performance. This will amplify both the quality of the feedback you receive and how you apply it.

Honest feedback loops between management and employees

Workplace communication is a two-way street. For a team to thrive, management should excel at giving constructive feedback to boost efficiency, but should also master the art of how to get feedback from employees to improve the overall employee experience.

By building and enabling a continuous feedback loop where comments and concerns are analyzed, you can make informed decisions to support your team and encourage innovation, productivity, and creativity.

Collect employee feedback using pulse surveys

Pulse surveys are one of the best ways to maintain a high-level view of what your team needs and feels in real-time. Pulse surveys let you spot fluctuations quickly and are especially helpful for remote or distributed teams where managers are at risk of losing touch with their teams.

Keeping a pulse on employee happiness and satisfaction with a weekly or bi-weekly employee feedback survey helps you understand how your employees feel and stay connected with your team members by discovering sore spots before they lead to larger challenges.

How do pulse surveys work?

Employees respond to a select few targeted questions more frequently than with more traditional models like annual or even quarterly employee feedback surveys. This not only lightens the workflow for your team members, but it also provides you with more accurate insights by collecting it regularly, rather than just once or a few times a year.

Most pulse survey platforms, like Officevibe, will synthesize data into a simple, digestible report, so you can take action when issues arise and show your team you're taking their feedback to heart.

When to use employee surveys/pulse surveys

Use surveys on an ongoing basis. A key benefit of pulse survey software is its consistency, which allows you to track trends on 10 metrics and 26 sub-metrics of employee engagement, like recognition, wellness, or manager-employee relationships. Pulse surveys are an excellent way to collect employee feedback regularly and implement meaningful changes in real-time.

Regular one-on-one meetings

Connecting individually with your employees on a regular basis is fundamental to establishing a healthy and productive work environment. One-on-one meetings paint the perfect scene for giving and collecting feedback from employees and help create a feedback culture on your team.

A question as simple as “what can I do to help you this week?” can reveal insights that might help you better support your team. When people are comfortable sharing their thoughts with you directly, fewer surprises arise, and you're better equipped to make adjustments when necessary.

Officevibe's one-on-one software makes building collaborative agendas simple, so you and your direct report can add talking points ahead of your team meetings. This lets you both bring up what's on your mind while allowing your employee to come to the meeting prepared.

If you're not sure what questions to ask during one-on-ones, you can always select from conversation prompts available on the platform, or check out your list of notes and action items to follow up on what you discussed last time.

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When to have one-on-one meetings:

At regular intervals. Whether that means weekly or monthly will depend on your team's context. The important thing is that you have recurring one on ones with every team member where you can exchange feedback. Be fully present during these conversations, set clear action items, and follow up in your next scheduled team meetings.{emphasize}

Anonymous feedback methods

Anonymous feedback channels come in different shapes and sizes but all have one thing in common: they provide employees with a safe space to share their honest thoughts, questions, and ideas directly with their managers in a remote setting. 

Whether it’s a traditional suggestion box or comments on a public review site, receiving anonymous feedback opens up conversations that might not otherwise happen between employees and managers.

Don't stop short at collecting anonymous feedback—let employees know that they are heard, and turn it into a discussion. Share how you plan to take action on their feedback whenever possible.

With Officevibe's anonymous employee feedback software, a secure chat is created each time feedback is submitted. This way employees can have a two-way conversation with their manager while maintaining anonymity. Officevibe creates a direct line to provide feedback, and the usage speaks for itself: in one year, employees submitted 2.1 million anonymous feedback messages to their managers using Officevibe.

In one year, employees submitted 2.1 million anonymous feedback messages to managers using Officevibe.

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When to use anonymous feedback:

Any time. The option for anonymity should always be available so employees know that they can ask any question or raise any concern without having to identify themselves. It could be to address a sensitive subject, offer constructive feedback, or simply share an idea. Being able to do so anonymously can give employees the confidence to speak up.

Check out more examples of employee feedback.{emphasize}

Custom employee feedback surveys

A customized employee survey gets you the specific, real-time feedback you need to understand your team's feelings around a particular topic. Anonymity is a key feature of custom feedback surveys. These surveys can touch on personal or sensitive subjects, team dynamics, company decisions, or contentious issues. Making it safer for employees to share their honest feedback with anonymous employee surveys paints a more accurate picture of the tensions and concerns that exist on your team.

It's important to know how your team reacts to big events, like changes in strategy, staff turnover, or restructuring. Similarly, it's important to have a starting point when you want to address issues like diversity and inclusion or your team’s happiness within a remote context.

That's where Officevibe's Custom Polls come in. You can create your own or select from dozens of expert-built templates where your employees maintain their anonymity. The data is then compiled for you directly in Officevibe.

{emphasize}When to use a custom employee survey:

Addressing changes, events, or other specific topics. If your team just had a big win, you can better understand what drove their success. If they're facing a challenge, you can uncover any uncertainties or concerns.

Whether you use one, all, or a combination of these methods to collect employee feedback, the most important thing is that your team members feel heard. Soliciting feedback from your employees shows that you care, and contribute to the ongoing development of your team. {emphasize}

Other ways to collect employee feedback

If the traditional suggestion box or annual surveys don’t fit with your management style, there are many other ways you can hear from your employees and keep in tune with your team. You can get creative with your communication methods and test out different innovative ways to collect employee feedback. 

Conduct stay interviews

Periodically checking in on your team and gauging how your employees feel can make all the difference in reducing unfortunate employee turnover. If an employee tells you that they are thinking of making the switch to another team or that they have received an external offer, hold a stay interview to see what you can do to best support them and motivate them to remain on the team.

{emphasize}💡Tip: Ask the right stay interview questions to improve employee satisfaction and enhance the employee experience.{emphasize}

Carry out exit interviews

Occasionally there’s just no way around it; despite your best efforts, some of your most talented employees will leave for new professional opportunities. Conducting exit interviews allows management to dive deeper into what challenges arose during their time on your team, increases employee engagement for your current team, and can help you improve the employee experience for future hires.

Find the best way to collect employee feedback for your team

There are myriad ways to get feedback from your team, but it’s important to know which methods will work for your people. While some employees will feel at ease offering candid feedback in team meetings, some might opt for the comfort and ease of a more private anonymous survey.

With Officevibe, you can gather feedback from your employees and create a safe space for your team to communicate their thoughts at their own pace thanks to the software’s intuitive easy-to-use platform.

Workplaces thrive when teams collaborate to accomplish shared goals. One of the main challenges for teams is they’re made up of unique individuals with their own style of working. Furthermore, remote work poses additional challenges to traditional employee motivation techniques. Methods that managers relied on for employee engagement may not work as well in a remote work environment. To prevent this, managers must understand which employee motivation techniques are applicable to each team member.

We’re exploring 4 different professional personalities and the motivation techniques applied for each one. Bonus: we're tackling how to adapt towards these, remotely.

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Employee motivation strategies for different personality types

1. Creatives

Creatives are known for drumming up plans and ideas. They're the first to throw out suggestions in meetings. Creatives are typically perfectionists, reworking the fine details of a plan. They can't help it; their brains are hardwired for brainstorming out-of-the-box solutions.

Creatives become engaged employees  in a flexible work environment. Rather than stick to a routine; they're inspired by change and growth. To increase job satisfaction with Creatives, managers must find ways to harness their solution-oriented mindset. 

Motivation techniques for Creatives: 

• Put creatives on projects that highlight their strengths.
• Assign creatives detail-oriented work and projects that are stimulating.
• Encourage Creatives to lead out-of-the-box brainstorm meetings on the team.
• Remote work tip: Keep Creatives in the Flow state, and allow flexible scheduling

2. Rising Stars

Rising Stars love what they do, their main motivation is to get better at it! They thrive on productivity. Rising Stars win fast, and often. Whether that means landing a new client, staying late to finalize a critical deal, or wowing the crowd in a presentation.

They take their careers seriously and invest in professional development or networking opportunities. Rising Stars are hard workers who shine brightest when they reap the reward for a job well done. 

Motivation techniques for Rising Stars:

• Praise Rising Stars both publicly and privately during 1-on-1 meetings.
• Create "stretch goals" that challenge them beyond their daily mandates.
• Listen actively in 1-on-1s to really understand their development goals
• Remote work tip: Provide ad-hoc outlets where Rising Stars can engage with colleagues. Group chats work perfectly for hard workers to integrate downtime in between tasks! 

3. Difference Makers

Difference Makers have a higher calling. They are often drawn to non-profit work, being of service, and purpose driven roles. These employees want to make a difference in the world and bring about positivity.

Motivate a Difference Maker by getting to know them. Learn their values, and the causes they care about. Knowing this information incentivizes their work. Find ways to direct their strengths toward organizational goals that dovetail with their values. Purpose led Difference Makers who contribute towards an organizational goal, are known for their high morale! 

Motivation techniques for Difference Makers: 

• Tap into Difference Makers for long-term plans and visionary thinking.
• Offer constructive feedback to help them improve, so they feel more impact.
• Connect their work to the larger purpose of the team and organization.
• Remote work tip: Host meaningful informal gatherings, like a Zoom happy hour. 

4. Directors

Directors are known for mentoring their peers. They gravitate naturally toward leadership or project management roles. Directors are typically charismatic, visionary thinkers as well as detail-oriented, logical types.

Without leadership opportunities, Directors get restless. The best way to keep them focused and increase their job satisfaction is to give them responsibility. They shine best while leading a project, team, or chairing a committee. 

Motivation techniques for Directors: 

• Assign Directors leadership roles and responsibilities.
• Give them tools to stay connected to the team, like collaborative software tools.
• Use 1-on-1 meetings as mentorship opportunities to help them develop as leaders. 
• Remote work tip: Tag Directors to host Zoom meetings or guide retrospectives.

{highlight}Unlock your employee's potential with our inspiring quotes and empower them to reach new heights of success and productivity.{highlight}

How to use Officevibe to motivate teams

Officevibe's employee engagement solution helps managers cut through the noise. Our tools enable employees to express how they feel. By taking pulse surveys and applying honest feedback, we allow managers to pinpoint team motivational strategies that are applicable for high-level engagement.

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6 questions for managers to grasp their employees’ motivation: 

1. Do you enjoy the work that you do? This key data point enables managers to engage with employees who aren't feeling fulfilled by their duties.
   
2. Do you feel you have enough freedom to decide how you do your work? Generally, when employees feel micromanaged, they quickly become demotivated.
   
3. Are your responsibilities clear? Without clarity, employees will not feel empowered to perform tasks. Evaluate where gaps in communication may exist, then clear up confusion individually or with the team.
   
4. Are you satisfied with the frequency and specificity of feedback coming from your direct manager? Incentive, reward, and recognition are part of a motivation technique. Get a pulse on employees' needs by asking them this question.
   
5. I feel my work serves a purpose. This sliding scale question gauges motivation levels. When employees feel a sense of purpose they feel fulfilled. Without purpose, motivation will be low. 
   
6. How well does the organization use your strengths? This allows managers to know if employees feel they're working up to their strengths.{highlight}

You can ask these same questions to your team! Officevibe's employee engagement solution generates real-time engagement data at a glance allowing managers to quickly take action, discuss results as a team, and nurture alignment and connectivity.  Imagine having a weekly, high-level view of what's going well on your team and where people are struggling? This is every manager's ticket to success.

Here's an example of a simple report that shows the fluctuation in metrics on your team 👇

How TOAST Studio managers used Officevibe to increase motivation

Alexandre Gravel, Co-president of Montreal-based content agency Toast Studio, manages a team of 35 employees. According to him, Officevibe has been a difference-maker when it comes to understanding his growing team. 

"It helps me get important information directly from my team members which allows for a deeper understanding of their different personalities and other dynamics at play. With this knowledge I can better offer support to my employees, who can choose to remain anonymous or not, and build much better team cohesion."

Tailoring employee motivation techniques to individual personalities, ensures that managers encourage employees to feel seen and heard. 

Empower your team while cultivating trust and strengthening collaboration. Try Officevibe, to boost employee engagement, teamwork, and empathetic leadership.