Keeping Your Remote Creative Team Productive

Creatives On Call is working to provide for you the best resources we have on hand during this time, especially our Managers and CEOs who are trying to keep their team on their feet. As an employer, if you no longer have the time to get the production work done that you used to now that you are in a new environment, reach out to us at clientservices@creativesoncall.com and we’ll get you set up with one of many elite professionals ready to go. Managing your remote team looks different now, and we're here to help.

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Looking for new ideas to keep your remote team productive and engaged? As a manager or CEO, you want your team to remain productive, even amid uncertainty. Here are 10 creative ways to keep your team motivated and on task. 

1. Give Remote Workers Priority Lists

Co-founder of Trello, Joel Spolsky came up with the idea of asking employees to limit their task list to five items. Joel found it too difficult to remember what all his employees were working on. And then there's the question if employees are working on a long list of tasks, are they being that effective? Limiting each employee's task to five makes it simple for everyone and allows employees to focus.  

2. Gamify Remote Work

Who doesn't enjoy games to make work more fun? Gamification is a way to boost productivity and have some fun at the same time. Have employees earn badges or points for completing certain tasks. Set up work projects like levels in a video game. Create rewards for completing a certain number of points or completing a new level. People are incentivized to get work done.

3. Have Employees Create a "Christmas" List 

Employees are more productive when they have the proper tools and the best technology. Ask employees to create a "Christmas" list including applications, software, and technology they wish they had to perform their job better. If it's in the budget go out and purchase it. If it's not in the current budget, have employees prioritize the list for when funds become available. 

4. Be Completely Transparent 

Transparency leads to trust in managing your remote team. Transparency makes employees more invested in their role and the organization. Buffer is one example of a company that does transparency well. Buffer shares its revenue and data with employees in detail. Buffer even shares salaries of employees. They own up to their mistakes and explain what they are doing to make it right. Being completely transparent with employees will earn your employees respect. 

5. Limit Meetings 

Having too many meetings takes away time for employees to get work done. Evaluate the frequency of meetings in your company. Create strict guidelines on what calls for a meeting. Question if a meeting is needed or if it can be put in an email instead. Respect people's time to keep meetings as efficient as possible. Asana has taken it one step further to implement no meeting Wednesdays. Try setting aside a day of the week where no meetings allowed to improve productivity. For the days you DO have meetings, make them pop - check out our Zoom meeting info guide here.

6. Respect Individual's Productivity 

Everyone has a time of day when they are most productive. Learn when you are most productive and when your team members are. For example, you might be more productive in the morning, but your employee is more productive between the hours of 7 pm and midnight. Be flexible and respect when people are at their best. 

7. First Things First
   

First things first is a way of prioritizing tasks. One way you can apply this is by prioritizing the hard tasks or projects first to get them over with. Another way you can apply this strategy is by having your team accomplish the task they view as most important before anything else gets in the way. Everyone wins because team members are happy, they achieve their goals and the most difficult tasks are completed. 

7. Personalized Recognition 

Ask your remote employees how they feel most appreciated and want to receive recognition. Not everyone likes to be called out for their accomplishments in front of a group. Some people may prefer personal notes or high-fives. People are more engaged when they feel appreciated in the way they want to receive it.     

9. Check-in with Individuals Personally 

Another way to make people feel appreciated is to show them that leadership cares about them. Ask how people are doing to make sure they're OK. Ask about people's families and personal life. Share your struggles and personal situation too to be more transparent. People value a personal touch and feeling like they're not alone. 

10. Accountability Without Micromanaging

Micromanaging or being a macro manager is not ideal. It's better to manage somewhere in the middle. Hold employees accountable without micromanaging their work. For example, Creatives On Call has a daily 9 am check-in meeting for 15 mins for updates. The team uses the time to discuss goals as well as share recipes and TV show recommendations. It’s the right combination of accountability with room to interact personally. 

Maintaining productivity is a challenge. By shaking things up, you can keep your team involved and performing their best. The smallest effort can go a long way to build rapport. Reach for one of these 10 ideas the next time you feel productivity wane. You'll see results and strengthen relationships in the process. Having a hard time staying productive in your new environment and need more hands on deck? Give Creatives On Call a call at 1-866-316-8919.

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Check out our other resources:

• Hiring Through Crisis: Recruiting & Onboarding in Challenging Times

• CARES Act Part 1: Your Guide to the Paycheck Protection Program

• Digital Marketing: What Does it Mean to be ADA Compliant?

• Coronavirus Disaster Loans Available to Small Businesses, Including Freelancers

• New Federal Law Provides Paid Sick Leave for Employees, Tax Credit for Freelancers