After the excitement of the start of the season fades away, winter can feel near endless. Even if you don’t live somewhere with snow and below-freezing temperatures, the colder winter months can often lead to a decrease in morale.
Making the extra effort to keep everyone’s spirits up in the winter can have profound effects on your team’s productivity and overall satisfaction. That’s why we asked Forbes Business Council members to share how they boost their employee’s morale during the coldest months.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF THE INDIVIDUAL MEMBERS
1. Keep Them Warm And Cozy
Good feelings are contagious. While some feel gloomy when the holidays are over, I personally am energized by the cold. We bundle up and go for group think walks. We have warm drinks available and keep the fireplace going all winter long. People can do their work in the great room by the fire. There are soft blankets and a sense of homeyness and community that makes a great difference. – Sharon Lynn Livingston, The Livingston Center for Professional Coaching
2. Create Vision Boards For The Future
One way to keep everyone’s spirits up during the colder winter months is to put in place plans for when spring comes. It could be a holiday. A goal you want to achieve. A problem to be solved. Embrace the time you have indoors and use it to set plans, create vision boards, discuss exciting goals for the year (yours and your families). – Dee Hutchinson, Dee is for Digital
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3. Leverage The Element Of Surprise
Even the most thoughtful gestures, like providing lunch on Fridays, become unappreciated when performed on repeat. Break up the “blahs” using surprise. Waking up to an emailed coffee gift card or note of acknowledgment for a job well done will generate positive conversation throughout the day. Adding a meditation class or bigger events with spontaneity creates excitement instead of boredom. – Sara Intonato, SaraYoga
4. Host Coffee Table Conversations
Invite people to a “coffee table conversation,” in person and virtually, to share new discoveries such as coffee, tea, shops, services, products, etc., over their favorite beverage and why they thought it was a cool discovery. This allows people to share experiences, insights and their values, too. – Shamini Dhana, Dhana Inc.
5. Gamify A New Initiative
Seasonal depression is a real thing and low temperatures can present real problems for team members every day. Setting a new initiative outside of the normal day-to-day activities is a good way to break up a frigid winter. If you can turn the initiative into a game and make it fun, everyone will enjoy it and the company will benefit. Hot chocolate and office hand warmers are also helpful. – George Kocher, Brand North
6. Let People Work From Home
Nobody likes trekking through the snow or navigate through icy roads unnecessarily. If your team can work from home, you should allow them to do so. Our team regularly works from home because we trust our team to work rigorously and don’t need to micromanage each of them to complete their work. Our team loves it and works even harder for our clients because of it! – Maurice Harary, The Bid Lab
8. Volunteer Together
Plan a way to elevate the spirits of those in need, by volunteering your time as a group. Studies show that altruistic behavior activates regions of the brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust. Selflessness is the sincere concern for the well-being of others. Research has found that whether we give to someone close to us, or someone we do not know, the benefits are the same. – Andreea Vanacker, SPARKX5
9. Give Them A ‘Mulligan’
In golf, you occasionally give a competitor a mulligan to keep the spirits up or keep them in the game. It might sound counterintuitive, but I like to let employees go home an hour early, or come an hour late during the winter months, especially after they’ve succeeded with a big media placement or project. These small worker mulligans lead to huge productivity gains and improve energy levels. – Mark Macias, MACIAS PR
10. Organize Pot Lucks And Lunch-And-Learns
Team time, engagement and food are important to morale. At our firm, we’ve scheduled regular time where the team gathers and shares lunch and learns new things. We added a degree of difficulty with Crock-Pot Friday. One person brings in lunch and we all share it. Another team member takes the lead on knowledge sharing, volunteering to teach the team a new skill or share knowledge. – Bobbie Carlton, Innovation Women
11. Schedule Indoor Fun Activities
It’s the small things that make a big difference, like providing hot coffee, making a workplace warm and pleasant, or organizing fun activities every Friday. Indoor fun activities will surely help your team bond better and also improve interpersonal conversations. This is especially true in the colder months when people’s spirits are low. – Beth Worthy, GMR Transcription Services, Inc
12. Offer Words Of Affirmation
Understanding “love languages” is a part of my job, so I incorporate one of my favorite love languages, “words of affirmation,” in my leadership approach at our firm. I find that verbally affirming our team goes a long way each day, especially during the colder winter months. Through giving specific compliments about their performance, I find that they replicate the behaviors. – Alessandra Conti, Matchmakers In The City
13. Encourage Them To Think About Their Goals For The Year
Having just started a new year and new decade, it is an optimal time to re-energize the troops. Asking them to think about what is their focus for 2020, how they want to make an impact and drive in a way that is different from the past, how they want others to see them in this new year, or how we as a team can increase satisfying our customer needs are all great questions to reinvigorate the team. – Rochelle Cooper, Success Leaders
14. Create A Positive Office Environment Year-Round
There’s lots of talk about motivating people in colder months, but most miss the point: A good leader does these things year-round. Be available, be open, provide quality feedback and, of course, make your office an environment one in which you yourself would enjoy working. – John Monarch, ShipChain
