Team motivation directly affects the performance of any company. While in the past the best motivation was a good salary, younger generations don't just fall for high salaries. One of the ways you can improve motivation among your employees is to regularly use a hybrid office space.
How Teams Lose Motivation
Every company starts with high motivation at the very beginning. Every employee is close to everyone else. The company's vision and mission, although not formally written down, flows through the veins of every single employee. The energy that fills the air is so infectious that it seems to everyone that, hey, our crew is unstoppable.
But over time, as the team grows and each individual is focused on their own work, slowly but surely, that enthusiasm wanes. Meetings are no longer so electrifying, employees are no longer so enthusiastic, and team leaders are quick to embrace that new situation.
Slowly and imperceptibly, that initial infatuation and enthusiasm that filled the air, is now slowly being replaced by weariness and disappointment. If team leaders do not recognize the beginnings of this dangerous phenomenon, the team will begin to divide into "ours and yours" which may even result in legal problems.
Also, we can’t forget to mention the financial losses. In our country, we often hear people saying "Well, he can't pay me enough, I can’t work so much for what I'm paid." And in this way, a gap appears between employees and managers.
Ways to Keep the Team Motivated
There is a lot of research on what affects team productivity and how much. But here in Macedonia, we don't have to look any further than the companies around us.
Even in the disciplined West, research shows that on average, the most productive workers barely work 5-6 hours a day. The average at the company level is about 4-5 hours worked every day.
Part of the problem is interpersonal relationships, but part of the problem also is the monotony that we all get from going the same way to work every day. Entering the same building, sitting on the same chair, even if that chair cost 1000 euros.
We want change.
We want frequent changes.
Business trips, team building events, hackathons, etc. become part of the general practice in order to break that monotony. All this, however, can be very expensive. That's why companies are not always happy when someone suggests organizing such an event.
One of the cheaper but quite effective methods of motivation is organizing Pizza-Fridays. At the end of working hours, the team can gather and eat pizza together. The psychological benefit here is that everyone eats "from the same plate"... more precisely, everyone takes a piece from the same box, from the same pizza. Just sharing the same food offers an interesting moment of closeness, belonging, acceptance. As this becomes a ritual, team cohesion improves, and we haven't done anything expensive or extravagant.
A third, and completely free, way to improve team spirit is to remember the higher purpose of what we do. This challenge lays primarily on the shoulders of the management team.
The vision, mission and higher goals come from the managers, while the team is expected to understand and accept the message.
Here's an interesting story that you can use in your next meeting, and feel the pulse of how your team is thinking.
Some time ago, in a small village, the local church caught fire and burned down. The villagers came together to rebuild their church, and quickly gathered all the necessary money, materials and craftsmen.
While the craftsmen were building the church, one of the local people, an elderly man, came and started talking to one of them. “What are you doing?” asked the old man. The foreman, a younger man, quickly answered him "Ah bro... now bricks, then mortar, and so all day every day."
Then the next day the old man asked the other craftsman the same question. He replied, "Here, I'm building a wall."
And on the third day the old man came and asked the same question to the third craftsman. And he answered "Hey uncle, I'm building a house for God!".
From this story we can see how the same thing can be a simple mechanical thing, but it can also be a grand vision of something extremely important.
Our motivation to do daily work will be significantly affected if we choose to think of the bigger picture. But the management team has to approach this creatively, and challenge employees with this kind of thinking. Each member of the team should find their own way, to connect their daily work with a higher goal.
Doctors have solved this easily. They do not examine patients, and they do not issue prescriptions. They save lives.
Lawyers do not stand trial, but enable a legal state where everyone feels equal.
The police do not argue with thieves, but establish order and peace, so that every citizen feels safe.
We need to find a way to connect our work with a higher purpose, so that the daily work doesn’t rob us of the joy that we would otherwise have.
Why a Hybrid Office Space is a Great Motivational Strategy
In addition to these three methods of motivating your team, there are countless other ways you can energize your team. But sometimes, something completely different is needed.
One such change is to literally change your place of work. Most companies are already investing either in their own office space or in a long-term lease. For owners and managers this is a good approach to solve the issue of space. But the employees will get tired of that space after some time, no matter how good and comfortable it is. Therefore, there is an option to use temporary offices that you can rent for an hour or two, or even longer.
Such a lease of another office space will help the employees to get out of the daily monotony. By just knowing they have somewhere else to go, the indifference goes away. Sometimes even nervousness can be better than indifference. However, such temporary offices are usually very pleasant places to work, so employees will eagerly wait for the day and time to go to the other, "new" office. Such a hybrid office space is a great alternative to introduce fresh energy.
The older the company, the more effective the regular rental of temporary offices will be. Just imagine how you would feel if after years and years of going the same way, climbing the same stairs, walking the same corridors, and now suddenly you have another place to go to work.
Imagine how much more energized everyone on the team will feel if you start every Monday in a different work environment. So, with fresh energy, the entire work week can take on a completely different, more positive tone.
Conslusion
Team motivation has a direct and measurable impact on the productivity and profitability of any company. Demotivated, discouraged workers find it very difficult to achieve above-average success. With that, the very competitiveness of the company is called into question.
That's why managers should think seriously and often about different ways in which they can encourage and refresh their employees.
From expensive team building events, to plain and simple eating pizza at work, there are different ways of motivating the team.
But one of the most effective ways to break that monotony is when companies introduce a change of location. Renting a temporary work space, i.e. a hybrid office space, is a very effective motivational tool, and it doesn’t have to be expensive.
Various teams from several companies from Skopje have been coming to our hybrid office space for some time now. From their experience so far, this kind of change has had a positive effect on everyone.
"A new address, new corridors, new chairs, new air to breathe, and all that creates a positive energy that money can't buy." Such statements, accompanied by a smile, are a common occurrence. There are already companies that regularly book our hybrid workspace and thus offer their employees fresh perspective and enthusiasm for work every week.
If this sounds interesting to you, and you want to know more about how your team can use these offices, feel free to contact us at the phone numbers below.
LinkAcross Development Center:
+389 2 32 20 426
+389 70 530 599
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