During times of change, and especially in lockdown situations, people need motivation and inspiration more than ever. The difference between people burning out and being fully engaged is often down to your ability to motivate and inspire them. We don’t have to be a cheerleader, but we do need to put effort into keeping people energised. With limitations on travel, sports, restaurants, and holidays, many people have had the “fun” activities taken out of their lives. It’s been a year of just work and family and home time. That’s intense, especially when there hasn’t been any buffer time to recharge, reset and re-evaluate the boundaries. Work has taken centre stage for a lot of people, and overlapped into areas of life that were once work free. You can make sure that work is something that gives, rather than drains, energy.

Empathise the company purpose

Many companies have a purpose and vision alongside strategic goals. In larger teams, divisions and workgroups may have their own independent purpose too. Individual teams need to know, remember, and embrace this vision. When we worked in offices, the act of turning up and going into a physical place every day was an immediate, natural re-alignment to the larger company, the purpose and the long-term strategy of the organisation. The employee would be back in the fold without even thinking about it. Times have changed, and working from home means that people are now isolated.

A purpose binds a company together. It should be inspirational and NOT focused on how much money or profit the company makes. After all, no one gets inspired by making the owners more money.

The larger the organisation, the more important your purpose is, and the more difficult it is to make sure everyone is purpose-driven. Having a strong purpose may not be a new concept, but it’s needed more than ever right now.

Celebrate and promote positivity

We have lost the little celebrations and congratulations on a job well done that happens in the office. It’s all too easy to focus on the troubles, especially when it seems like the whole world is struggling. In our meetings, we need to find out what people have accomplished in the week and celebrate it. Break big projects down into small milestones, track them in your weekly meetings, and celebrate checking each one off. It’s a little hit of collective dopamine, and we’ll be creating a culture of achieving and success. Drawing attention to success reinforces accomplishment in our team. We can remind ourselves that it’s possible to achieve even in the hard times. After all, a win’s a win, and a job well done deserves to be recognised.

We all like to be recognised in different ways. What makes one person cringe will make another glow with pride. An introvert may be embarrassed and shy about receiving praise in front of a group. These individuals appreciate a message or an email to show that you recognised their work instead. Extroverts thrive when they are recognised in front of a group. Here’s some tips for giving praise:

Slow down — check the person is in the right frame of mind to receive praise, that they are listening and present.

Be serious — look them in the eye and speak authentically. Be specific. Talk about exactly what they did and when they did it, highlight any obstacles they had to navigate, sacrifices they made, and benefits brought on by it. Highlight the overall positive effect.

Make it worthwhile — don’t make things up or give praise for something relatively trivial.

Try not to get caught up in their response, many people are shy. Even if they brush off the praise, (“it was no big deal” or “it was a team effort”) they still heard it, and it’s a powerful way of letting someone know that they were seen and that they matter.

Set the rules for online meetings

At the moment, it seems like the day can run into one online meeting after another. The hours gained in the lack of commute have been given over to Zoom and Microsoft Team calls. If our meetings are dull and uninspired people will tune out, no one will engage, and our culture will suffer.

Be crystal clear about what the expectations and objectives are for meetings. I suggest you create a “meeting charter” which lays out the exact rules that people are expected to follow. The more specific we can be in our expectations, the better it is for everyone. It’s a big help for new members of staff who will be able to look to it for a clear understanding of what’s expected of them too. Here are some things to consider when creating your own meeting charter:

• Is video required? If so when?
• Are people required to turn up on time?
• Are people able to take other calls or answer emails during a meeting?
• Are people allowed to put themselves on mute?

We can also create guidelines for making sure that there’s a clear objective to the meeting such as:

• Who should/should not be invited to the meeting
• How recording/transcribing/recapping the meeting will take place
• How long meetings should be
• Who takes what role in the meeting (taking notes, reviewing to-do’s, posting recordings, scheduling follow-ups, etc.)

This initial check-in will make sure everyone is still in line with the agenda before we progress. Enforcing these rules is part of the “art” of leadership. The more you let them slip, the more disorganised and ineffective your meetings will become.

Getting everyone involved

It’s up to us to make sure everyone is included in every meeting. When leading a meeting that will be over 20 minutes, with three or more people, we should start by involving everyone right away. We could start with a “one-word” opener activity. This is where each person would state how they are feeling at that moment in one word only. Another tactic is to have people share a highlight and a lowlight from the last week. This allows the team to have a brag, celebrate the victories and even air some frustrations. It can be a subtle way to stay on the pulse of what’s going on for people. In leadership meetings, I have asked each person, myself included, to rate themselves from 1 to 10 professionally and personally. This exercise allows me to gain an accurate gauge of where people are at. It has often opened up critical discussions on where and when people need support. This technique is only useful in a small, well-established group with a high level of trust. Psychologically, these techniques can open up the space and encourage people to speak up and stay engaged throughout the meeting.

Extroverts vs Introverts

Most meetings are a mix of introverts and extroverts. The challenge is to ensure that the extroverts on the call don’t dominate the meeting and the introverts are heard. If an extrovert hasn’t had a chance to talk much previous to your meeting they may take this opportunity to make up for lost time. We need to recognise, manage and coach their behaviour, both in and out of the meeting. During the meeting, we can stop them in their tracks with a gentle reminder that “we need to hear from everyone” or “I’m getting confused, what’s the main point that you’re making?” Outside the meeting, and one-to-one, you can reflect back on their behaviour and challenge them to work on their brevity and focus on what they intend to share.

Senior leaders appreciate people who can directly get to the point. The challenge with introverts is the opposite, we need to make sure we are giving these individuals a chance and the platform to have their input. These quieter types are often listening intently to everything happening, even though they may not have been so active in the discussion. As a result, they are more likely to see the bigger picture, or have noticed some vital content while reflecting on what everyone else is saying. I’ve been in lots of meetings where everybody has been talking away, then the leader asks one of the quieter people for their opinion. This person gathers their thoughts and then proceeds to deliver an essential piece of insight that changes the paradigm of the discussion.