It’s July and the summer slump seems to have officially set in. You know the signs: pretty much your whole office seems to have lost their sense of urgency, productivity is dwindling and you fear that people aren’t go to snap out of it any time soon.
Fear not. While the summer slump *is* real (research has confirmed that workers are less productive and more distracted during the months of June, July and August), things are bound to resume some normalcy once September rolls around. If you can’t deal with the short-term dip, or your staff is going through something longer-term, it’s important to find ways to re-engage your workforce.
Here are six ways to motivate employees right now.
1. Change up the scenery.
Sometimes a change of scenery is all that’s needed to get people thinking differently, collaborating more, and sharpening productivity. Encourage people to work from different parts of the office or, better yet, to work outside. With a bit of fresh air often comes fresh thinking.
2. Set fun team challenges.
One way to shake things up in the office is to engage your team in challenges — something fun and collaborative. This could be related to work or not related at to work at all. For example, you could have your team compete to hit certain work-related metrics for a goal, or you could have a planking contest. Either way, you’re getting your team to have a bit of fun and be creative. If productivity tends to drop at a certain time of day, encourage people to go for a walk or host a weekly potluck that makes people excited for it all week.
Related: How to Improve Your Meetings
3. Have one-on-ones with your team members.
Take the lack of productivity as a sign that it’s time to have some one-on-ones with team members. This will not only help you address any culture dampers, but force them to think a bit more sharply about the current state of their career and where they want it to go. Get to know what’s motivating them, what’s not motivating them, how they feel about the culture and leadership. Take the time to discuss their compensation goals.
4. Deal with known problems, however minor they may be.
One of the major things that weighs on productivity and morale is an employer’s failure to address known issues. Is everyone complaining about a certain company policy? Are they complaining about the constant slam of the door that disrupts everyone’s work? As an employer, it’s up to you to listen and fix what you can. Not everything will have an immediate solution, but acknowledging the problem will give your team a bit more headspace to move forward.
5. Host an offsite or team outing.
Bring your team completely out of the office for a day or two. There are so many options for offsites and outings these days, there’s no excuse to avoid pursuing one. The benefits of doing so include getting people from disparate teams to get to know each other and creating a sort of mental “fresh start” for the team altogether.
Related: 6 Ways to Improve Company Culture Right Now
6. Bring in guest speakers and other exciting guests.
Get your team excited by asking an important speaker to come in to either teach something, inspire or entertain. This could be someone relevant in the industry or someone entirely unrelated — a comedian, a spoken word artist, an author with an interesting cultural significance. The important thing is that your team is excited about it and doesn’t think it’s lame. You want excitement, not an opportunity for people to sleep.
