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Rewarding your virtual team is a great way to keep morale and motivation high. Just like in physical workplaces, it is essential to recognise the achievements of your team and reward them for their hard work. In fact, in some ways, it’s even more important, as remote teams often find their day to day is lacking in the smaller face-to-face interactions that contribute to team bonding. In this article, we’ll suggest 5 fantastic ways you can go about rewarding your virtual team.
Rewarding your virtual team is even more important if they are part of a wider organisation with a physical office, too. When staff in the office receive a benefit and this isn’t carried over to remote teams, it can leave a bad taste in people’s mouths and make them feel left out.
Remote employees can often feel like the only reason their managers reach out to them is to ask them to do something or tell them off. This can lead to a whole world of problems, including employees not asking for help or feeling anxious and stressed about work. For this reason, you should be very vocal about achievements and go out of your way to celebrate your team members’ success. You can do this in a number of ways. For example, you might decide to start an ‘Achievement Of The Week’ which is awarded during video meetings between the whole team. Alternatively, you may just make a point of highlighting achievements as and when they arise, either through email communications, instant messaging or during team calls.
Praise is most effective when it’s delivered quickly, so be mindful of when you are communicating good feedback. Don’t wait until the end of the day, when they might have logged off, or hold it up until the team meeting at the end of the week. Instead, deliver praise and good feedback as quickly as possible, either through a video call, via email or instant messaging. You should also make a point of publicly praising and thanking team members for their hard work, as sharing this with the team is both motivational for the specific person and the wider team.
The large majority of your virtual team will be keen to progress and evolve in their job role. Teams that feel like they are stagnating, with no opportunities to evolve, can experience low morale and motivation, not to mention higher staff turnover. For this reason, you should offer opportunities for personal development as a way of rewarding your team. For example, if a team member has shown interest in a certain area, offer them the opportunity to develop in that area by taking an accredited online course. This not only boosts confidence and morale but also helps your organisation as a whole, as staff will be more experienced and competent in fulfilling their roles.
If your physical office often rewards employees by buying them lunch, then replicate this in your virtual teams. For example, you could reward your employees by offering to buy them lunch from a local restaurant or fast food service, and have it delivered to their door. If this sounds like too much of a logistical challenge, you could also send out flowers, hampers, Christmas cards, or sweet treats to your remote workers. Physical gifts and benefits are very powerful and really help employees to feel valued and appreciated in their virtual team.
All work and no play is…well, no fun at all. Even virtual teams need to let their hair down and get a little silly every now and again. In fact, it’s super important to do so as informal activities can support in developing team bonding and help people to feel better connected. Virtual team building events are a fantastic way to achieve this, and they come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. For example, you might decide to host a company-wide virtual quiz or even more formalised team building activities, like an online escape room or challenge. These kinds of events work in two ways. Not only do they reward employees and give them a chance to blow off some steam, but they can also help to improve core skills like communication and problem-solving.
If you’re looking to reward your team, our virtual events are the perfect choice for remote teams. We have a wide selection of fantastic events, which can be delivered to teams anywhere in the world. From virtual Christmas parties to wine tasting and chocolate making, there’s something for teams of all shapes and sizes here at KDM Events.
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