7 Tips to boost team morale after the Summer break

February 7, 2022

It's no secret that team morale is important to any organization or company. You can't build a strong workforce if the members don’t believe in their work and one another! Research has proven that businesses benefit from having less stressed staff, as this translates into better productivity. When a work place holds an excellent morale, employees are much more engaged and that engagement shows immediate positive results in terms of customer service and long term staff retention.

When the after holiday blues set in, try these tried and true ideas to get your team motivated again. Get them focused again at on what's at hand:

1) Including a gratitude segment in meetings or huddles can improve not only psychological but also physical health, moods, sleep patterns - all of which are vital if we want our best selves on the job.

The value of displaying gratitude to your employee's have certain positive outcomes: projects get completed at a better quality and time frame, targets are reached, the right people pitch in, co-workers feel they are true contributors to something bigger than themselves and most of all they feel valued.

So how to apply this in the workplace?

a. Have a weekly huddle, either at the start or end of the week. The team can decide on either a bi-monthly or monthly system for sharing what they are currently grateful for.

b. Some small teams use part of their huddle to recognise peers with a sort of regular awarding of points for having displayed a particular corporate value.

c. Laughter is the best way to release tension! So next time you're feeling stressed, go find a colleague with an awesome sense of humour and have them pick out their favourite funny joke for your team's whiteboard.

2) Organise team-building events. Team building activities are a way to get everyone acquainted with one another's strengths and weaknesses while thinking outside of the box. The importance of team building cannot be understated. It is one way to create camaraderie, improve communication skills and increase productivity, strengthen bonds between employees who possibly have never met before in person but still need each other for their jobs.

Integrating 'Corporate Social Responsibility' events into your annual calendar is another great idea for team building and morale. What could be better than building relationships between staff members while also supporting a local charity? Such feel good events all round.

3) Hold light exercise / fitness days. These can be done either in-house or virtual. A short 20 minutes of simple movements and activity can be a great way to lift team spirits and get the blood circulating again. If it involves fitness, nutrition, team building, or related wellness activities, it will be a sure-fire motivator.

4) Include healthy food choices and advice in the staff kitchen / staff room. The fastest way to get on everyone’s good side is free healthy food! Nutrition affects and influences our moods and the way we process thoughts. By providing healthy food options for staff ensures that you are providing the best possible working environment. In return it will help to improve productivity because it makes workers more efficient across various tasks.

5) Celebrate special occasions together! Whether it’s someone's birthday, work anniversary, a milestone reached or just because. Celebrating special occasions within the workplace is a great way to boost team morale. Get everyone together for a morning tea or lunch and make sure to have a cake (or something else sweet) on hand!

By taking the time with your staff to reflect on and celebrate their successes or other will allow them to be more optimistic, take better care of themselves and feel less stressed at work. Celebrations will increase your teams sense of general well-being, regardless of socioeconomic factors, education, age or gender.

6) A weekday coffee break. Coffee breaks / Cafe trips are typically very social, which can help release tension from daily tasks and stresses. This can assist to alleviate pressure from recent events that may have weighed heavily upon your team emotionally during the week. As an employer, the tone should remain professional but still have some kind-heartedness about it to make your staff member feel valued.

Some managers pick a nice coffee shop or cafe and bring one-on-one meetings outside the confines of the office. This could very well be the one thing that will make you as a manager stand out! It sends employees the message that their manager (and the company) values them enough for a regular chat. Savvy managers know how to turn these basic meetings into status checks on how the employee is doing. Furthermore, it builds employee confidence and at the same time boosts their moral - and this all happens in a relaxed setting.

7) Organise a small library / reading or pleasant study space. Implement a book club if it fits your team! It might not be as high energy as team-building activities in Sydney for example, but a book club could be a game-changer. Companies should encourage staff to study / up-skill or read a good book in their down time if that is what they enjoy. However typically, there is no action plan in place or space to do so. A lot of people still enjoy reading a good book, however work issues and deadlines cool down the initial fire of enthusiasm.

If it suits your team dynamics start a company-sponsored book club. The participants can agree on how to tackle this. Titles can range from popular mainstream fiction, self-improvement or to in house business development etc. Your set discussion questions could include connecting the book to case study situations applicable to your work environment.

To kick off your book club provide copies of your reading material to all involved and set a time frame for everyone to read it - then discuss with set questions. Another way is everyone starts with a different book, reads up to an assigned portion, and then shares in the next discussion. A particular book club has the added touch that the group snacks on a particular dish mentioned in their designated book.

Truly we could just keep going with ideas! - Adventure / outdoor group activities, keeping a mini-garden in the office, community volunteering...

Pick any or all of the above ideas that you could bring to the next company huddle, and see what fits!