In the midst of an uncertain economy and the new norm of remote work, business leaders are all in the same boat, pondering how to keep employees motivated, productive, and engaged. For this purpose, there are a few of strategies to establish a steady workflow.

Select, hire, and direct a team that is eager to collaborate.

With the right individuals and an environment conducive to their growth and development, you can expect much from your team. Utilize the following guidelines to surround yourself with hard-working, quick-thinking individuals working toward a common business objective:

1. Diversify your workforce

Initially, you should assemble a diverse team. Diversity and inclusion in the workplace have enormous benefits. A greater variety of coworkers from diverse backgrounds increases the room's diversity of thought. Some studies have even demonstrated that businesses with a more diverse conference table are more productive and have a healthier bottom line.

2. Lead with gratitude and express it frequently

A grateful attitude goes a long way in the office (virtual or otherwise). Recognize the achievements of your team members personally or publicly, and determine how each individual prefers to be recognized. Do they enjoy presents? A message to their supervisor? A more public announcement during a large team call? Individualize their recognition.

This practice spins the appreciation wheel within your team and beyond. Set a weekly reminder on your calendar to express gratitude to a teammate. It is in our nature to desire recognition for a job well done. If good work is consistently overlooked, resentment can easily build up.

3. Be genuine and vulnerable.

Anyone could believe that being a leader required being as flawless as possible. Suppose you received a wake-up call from your team earlier this year informing you that your authenticity and vulnerability were lacking. You realized that they desired for you to be more human by sharing your struggles and failures. They wanted you to explain the difficult steps you had to take to achieve success, and they wanted to learn more about you by learning more about your personal life.

Perfectionism is frightening and makes it difficult for others to collaborate with you. If you were more transparent, you could make the team more comfortable with speaking up. And the more they communicated, the more innovative and productive they became.

4. Prioritize well-being

To encourage your team to bring their whole selves to work, you must create a space where you can speak to the individual as a whole. Short reminders to breathe, be mindful, and concentrate are an excellent way to break up the workday and promote perspective, tranquility, and creativity. In addition to promoting wellness days and time off as needed, begin meetings with a few minutes of meditation. Initiate the meeting with a quick "temperature check" – red, yellow, or green – to gauge the team's current state of mind, difficulties, and stress.

Leaders must inspire their team members to be their best selves. I've tried this exercise and found it to be very effective: Have everyone write down their most important personal wellness goals. Encourage team members to record their priorities for maintaining their health. Make time for regular check-ins to help them prioritize their goals and stay on track. This is a fantastic way to foster accountability and teamwork while promoting healthy habits.

Set a team goal and help them achieve it.

Your team must have a concise list of three to four goals – the proverbial elevator pitch – that you all strive to achieve. Reiterate these objectives frequently and ensure that your entire team is conversant with them. Here's how you can focus on each individual to help them reach their goals, i.e. their "North Star," once everyone understands the big picture.

1. Clarify each individual's role

Everyone on the team should have a clear understanding of each individual's role and the unique skills required to support it. When they have a clear understanding of their roles, there is less redundancy and greater productivity. Determine what unique skills each team member possesses and have them serve as coaches for continued growth and development.

2. Prioritize with ferocity

You must continually evaluate what you're doing and what could be eliminated to make room for something more impactful. This philosophy prevents your team from losing energy and productivity.

3. Communicate contextually

To set up individuals for success, it is necessary to provide the entire story. Adding a few extra sentences to an email to explain, for example, the context and objectives of a project can make all the difference in terms of success and idea generation. Without impromptu office check-ins, we must adapt our communication style to be more comprehensive and effective. Slack and Quip are among the many helpful tools at our disposal.

4. Make daily operations more efficient

The more insight your team has into the direction and decisions of the leadership, the more aligned and efficient they will be. In addition, if they have the appropriate tools and resources on hand, they will devote less time to mundane tasks and more time to projects with a broader scope.

5. Establish a single truth source

Multiple rapid-fire projects distributed among multiple individuals are the norm. Ask yourself if your team knows where to locate accurate, up-to-date information on each project or initiative. It is essential to create (and maintain) a shared document, website, spreadsheet, or other resource with broad access and accurate information. Assist your team in aligning with the North Star.

Additionally, create playbooks for each role and procedure. Detail and document what works (and what doesn't) so that every team member can get up to speed quickly. You can also share these playbooks with other teams, allowing them to easily collaborate with you or absorb your best practices.

6. Instill a coaching culture

Give your team regular feedback. Instruct them by posing questions to which you withhold the answers. When individuals arrive at their own conclusions, they learn. And when people are engaged in learning, they are productive.

I've also had a lot of success with peer coaching, as it's a risk-free way for individuals to try out new skills and challenging projects. If someone possesses a skill that is valuable to others, such as expertise with an analytics platform, have them serve as the team's point person and coach others with questions and team development. People learn a great deal from observing or receiving feedback from their peers, not just from their supervisors. Encourage your team to share the success.

7. Utilize the appropriate technology

Modern technology can help your team maintain relevant and impactful skills and complete their work more efficiently. Give them every opportunity to streamline their work and communication and reduce manual labor and wasted time. Utilize technology to the best of your ability to ensure the success of your team. A significant portion of this entails investing in the training of your teams so they can effectively utilize the systems.

8. Build confidence by networking

The more people you know and earn the trust of throughout the organization, the simpler it will be to collaborate with them on projects and get things done efficiently. Ensure that your team sets aside time and opportunities for networking beyond the group.

How is this achieved? Here is a strategy that has served me well over the years: By inviting someone to a virtual coffee chat and sending them a coffee gift card beforehand, you can network virtually. You could invite another group's team leader to your weekly meeting. Participate in a mentoring program as a mentee or a mentor. Create shared chat channels for topics such as sharing pet pictures or vacation photos. Important is to include familiar, friendly, and knowledgeable names and faces.

Maintain team motivation and inspiration for maximum efficiency.

Get to know your teammates as genuine individuals. Each member of our team shares a few recent photos from their personal lives during our weekly sync. It fosters a strong personal connection among team members, which keeps them motivated, inspired, and consequently more productive.

1. Establish the identity and vision of your team

Create a written, shared vision with your team to foster cohesion and dedication. Define collectively what you wish to be known for, how you wish to treat one another, the significant moments you wish to commemorate, and how you wish other teams to perceive you. A team kickoff of this nature establishes shared values and ensures that your vision contains something to motivate each team member.

2. Find stretch projects to assist team members' development.

Teams are more motivated and productive when their members are acquiring new skills and expanding their roles. Determine which types of projects motivate your team members and which ones deplete their energy. Then, find them an assignment that will keep them growing, learning, and motivated.

Celebrate both team victories and defeats.

In addition to knowing when to commend your team, you must ensure that your compliments are specific. Not only should you say "well done," but also recognize their specific achievements. They established a new relationship that made all the difference. Learn a new method or device? Beat a deadline? You will quickly observe the ripple effects of your praise if you praise them well. Frequent positive feedback is associated with greater employee creativity.

Do not forget to acknowledge and applaud your team's failures, as well as their willingness to take calculated risks. Failure is a chance to learn, grow, evolve, and become more productive in the long run. Create a culture where it is acceptable to take significant risks and fail. Concentrate on lessons learned and next steps. The rest of the team will learn from what did not work and how the individual recovered.