Improving Team Morale in a Lean Startup: 12 Useful Pieces of Advice
There are 32.5 million small businesses in the United States alone. Since the competition is fierce, if someone isn’t happy with your work culture, they could go elsewhere.
Training a new employee is a ton of work and money; it’s more effective to keep your current team. You might feel overwhelmed wondering how to do this.
The good news is that there’s hope. Read this guide on how to improve team morale in your business today!
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Set Team Goals
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Motivate your team and improve the performance management cycle by setting fun team goals. They can be short-term and fun activities such as who can eat the most bagels, find the most interesting articles, etc. Have prizes for them to win to build excitement.
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Participate in Team-building Activities
Consider team-building activities. This could include indoor or outdoor events.
Think about the personality of your employees and pick an activity that everyone would enjoy. Create scavenger hunts, go to amusement parks, or have fun activities in the office.
One way to do this is through a lunch and learn. Have an employee teach others how to do a particular skill, whether it’s knitting, learning another language, etc.
Consider participating in an escape room. There are different difficulty levels but consider an easy mode.
If you and your team solve the clues and get out of the room, you win! Pay for your team to go.
Another fun idea is a cooking class. Everyone can participate in learning how to cook different meals and try each other’s dishes.
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Don’t Interrupt Schedules
Boosting workplace morale includes making a work-life balance. Your employees should have time to be home with those they love. Incorporate paid time off, work-from-home policies, and encourage self-care.
Speak with your employees to see if they have a preference for their work schedule. Some offices will allow employees to work when works best for them.
If you’d like to do fun activities outside of work, find out when works best for everyone. This could include Yoga, book clubs, etc. While you can’t meet everyone’s schedule, try to work with as many employees as possible.
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Have a Library/Books
Books are an inexpensive way to encourage employees to relax when they’re not working. Books can also be shared by many.
If it’s within the budget, consider a library. They could also help with productivity and knowledge.
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Improve the Environment
Consider switching up the environment if it needs a redo. If you don’t have a large budget, allow your employees to personalize their desks.
This could include art, pictures of their loved ones, etc. Consider offering them gift cards to buy decorative items for their desks.
If it’s within the budget, you could buy new desks, paint the walls, add art, etc. Consider sitting and standing desks; then, employees can switch it up throughout the day.
Hire an interior designer to incorporate calming colors or your company logo. They might also place calming plants.
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Team Member Appreciation
Listen to the ideas of your employees and reward the best ideas. Consider incorporating them into your products and see how they’ll do.
Never insult an idea that you disagree with. You should praise employees for coming up with ideas.
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Have Proper Training
Include training when an employee begins, and have a dedicated trainer for future questions. Have training whenever anything changes.
Consider online training programs such as Udemy for them to brush up on their knowledge. This will, in turn, increase productivity and encourage employees to do their best.
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Communicate Directly
Avoid miscommunication since it could cause stress and confusion. Effective communication encourages clear goals, deadlines, and tasks.
This can also foster collaboration and productivity. There are workplace platforms that can have everyone communicate in one place.
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Effective Delegation
Delegate responsibilities based on competency, experience, and skill. Ensure that employees aren’t drowning in work either.
Have an overview that shows employees their deadlines and tasks for each person. Consider a task management template. This will allow you to see any overburdened employees and make changes as necessary.
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Train Managers
Train your managers in communication, emotional intelligence, giving feedback, etc. Ineffective managers could hurt morale. Have managers understand the workings of the company and how they can encourage productivity.
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Have Meeting-Free Days
Allow employees to catch up on work by having days with no meetings. Each week have a meeting-free day. This will help to encourage more productivity since they’ll have time in their day to finish projects.
To see if this is successful, you could send anonymous surveys and ask for their feedback. You can also have a blank slot for them to input other ideas to help ease stress.
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Bring Pets Into Work
If possible, allow your employees to bring in their pets. Ensure that you have policies in place such as vaccinated and friendly dogs only. If your team works from home, do Zoom meetings and encourage them to show off their pets.
How To Encourage Team Morale in the Workplace
This guide should give you a better idea of how to encourage team morale in the workplace. Consider the personality of your employees to decide which will work best.
Reach out to them to see how they like the different ideas that you try. An anonymous survey is best to receive the truth and how you can improve various methods.
Would you like to read more helpful information for businesses? Check out our other articles today!
