How To Motivate Remote Workers: 8 Strategies

Remote work has become more widely adopted across organizations in recent years. While some companies are implementing return to office or hybrid work policies, individuals now recognize the benefits of remote work—such as increased flexibility, autonomy, and work-life balance—and don’t want to return to the office.

Despite the benefits, remote work can present some challenges, such as isolation, communication barriers, and disengagement. Implementing strategies to motivate remote employees can help your organization increase worker satisfaction, drive engagement, and encourage workers to effectively collaborate toward shared business goals.

Learn about what motivates workers, effective strategies and resources, and how to navigate time zone differences on a distributed team.

What motivates remote workers?

Motivating employees is essential to long-term engagement and retention. Remote workers are motivated by many of the same factors as hybrid or in-office workers. However, in some cases, ensuring workers feel motivated can be more complex in a remote environment.

Common employee motivation factors include:

• Competitive compensation and benefits
• Workplace flexibility
• Autonomy and trust, rather than micromanagement
• Recognition for work and accomplishments
• A sense of belonging and community
• Opportunities for learning, development, and growth
• Work-life balance and physical and mental well-being

Keep in mind, some factors may motivate certain workers more than others. For example, schedule flexibility may be one of the most important motivators for a working parent, while opportunities for learning and development may be a top motivator for an entry-level employee looking to gain new skills. Learning each worker’s motivators during one-on-one meetings and other check-ins can help you support their individual needs.

Listen to Work Week: How Effective Is Remote Work?

How to motivate remote workers

Because of the lack of in-person, face-to-face interactions, motivating remote workers requires additional effort compared to engaging in-office teams. Implementing proactive strategies can drive motivation among remote employees, which can also have a positive impact on retaining workers and achieving your overall business goals.

Strategies include:

1. Establish clear communication channels
2. Set achievable goals
3. Offer flexible working conditions
4. Recognize and reward achievements
5. Foster a sense of community
6. Provide professional growth opportunities
7. Encourage health and well-being
8. Implement technology tools that aid productivity
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1. Establish clear communication channels

Whether you have a fully remote team or a hybrid mix of remote and in-person workers, virtual communication and collaboration can be complicated if managed ineffectively. Some examples include miscommunication, overcommunication, too many meetings, and team member disengagement due to confusion or frustrations.

Working remotely, team members don’t have the option to ask colleagues questions while walking by their desks in the office. So, establishing effective communication channels is essential. Clarifying expectations helps the team stay in touch, even if members are scattered across the globe. Enhancing your communication approach can help projects and priorities stay on track, ensure workers know the status of various tasks, and motivate team members to work together toward shared goals.

Here are some tips to establish clear communication channels and processes:

• Leverage standardized communication tools across the organization, such as Gmail for email, Slack for direct messages, Asana for project management, and Zoom for video calls and meetings
• Set clear expectations for when specific channels should be used, such as direct messages for quick feedback, emails for team updates, and meetings for project kickoffs or brainstorming
• Share guidelines for communication cadence, such as answering emails within 24 hours (if sent outside working hours) and adding status updates to project management tools at the end of each day
• Follow up in writing (such as via email) with any important updates discussed during meetings to avoid miscommunication
• Ask workers for feedback with team communication

2. Set achievable goals

Setting clear, actionable goals can help all workers—including both remote and in-person employees—thrive and make positive contributions to the business. On the other hand, having unclear goals can lead to stress and demotivation among workers.

Psychologist Edwin Locke developed the goal-setting theory of motivation in 1968. According to the theory, specific, clear, and challenging goals motivate employees more than generic, vague goals.

Consider leveraging the SMART framework to set achievable goals for each employee that are specific, measurable, attainable, relevant, and time-bound. For example, a SMART goal for a marketing manager may be to increase website organic traffic by 30% in the next three months.

After you set achievable goals, the following practices can help you track progress over time:

• Documenting goals in a talent management platform or performance management software
• Sharing goals with human resources and other leadership team members
• Discussing progress toward goals in recurring one-on-ones
• Evaluating progress and overall completion of goals during employee evaluations
• Reviewing and adapting goals as business priorities shift    

3. Offer flexible working conditions

While remote work offers employees flexibility in where they work, today’s workers also expect flexibility in when and how they work. According to a survey of 200 hybrid and remote employees conducted by FlexOS, 50% of respondents want more flexibility in when they work. Additionally, 33% want to decrease the total number of working days as the four-day workweek model has gained more traction.

Here are some ways to support flexible working conditions among remote workers:  

• Providing flexibility for team members to choose which days to work in the office if your organization has a hybrid work policy
• Embracing flexible schedules, rather than requiring all team members to work a nine-to-five schedule
• Implementing core hours, with flexible start and end times
• Testing four-day workweeks or other alternative work schedules
• Holding workers accountable to maintaining effective time management, completing projects, and delivering outcomes instead of working a set number of hours
• Offering reimbursements for coworking space memberships or other remote workspaces
• Encouraging employees to block time on their calendars as needed to focus on urgent work or handle personal priorities
• Developing a flexible time-off policy so team members can take time off as needed while ensuring work continues to get done
• Reducing the total number of meetings and hours of meeting time
• Implementing “no meeting Fridays” or choose another day of the week to limit non-urgent meetings

4. Recognize and reward achievements

In an office or other physical workplace, managers and colleagues often walk by workers’ desks or workstations to thank or congratulate them for a job well done. Away from that environment, workers may become demotivated because they’re not sure where they stand at work. According to a survey of 1,000 U.S. workers conducted by TalentLMS, 16% of respondents feel as though they’re recognized by their companies less when they work remotely.

Ways to share employee recognition and highlight achievements include:

• Thanking individual workers or the entire team directly in an email, team chat message, or meeting
• Pointing out positive feedback from customers, managers, peers, or other stakeholders on a specific project or deliverable
• Sharing workers’ personal achievements and milestones during team meetings, such as reaching a goal or work anniversary
• Scheduling virtual team celebrations to commemorate performance across a department
• Developing team or company award programs to recognize individuals for embodying the organization’s values
• Encouraging workers to nominate their peers for team or company awards
• Striking the right balance between positive reinforcement and constructive feedback to motivate workers to continue doing their best work
• Offering top-performing workers promotions, bonuses, stretch assignments, and other incentives based on business needs and available resources

5. Foster a sense of community

Remote work can be isolating and lonely for some individuals, which can have a negative impact on worker engagement, retention, and productivity. A study featuring 2,515 employed adults distributed by American Psychological Association found that 94% of respondents believe feeling as though they belong in their workplace is somewhat or very important.  

While in-person workers may have more organic opportunities to meet for lunch, chat over coffee, or otherwise engage with team members, fostering a sense of community supporting a company culture where all remote employees feel as though they belong requires intentional effort.

Consider the following options to help remote workers develop a sense of community and feel like part of the team at your organization:

• Hosting in-person and virtual team-building activities
• Scheduling virtual company-wide events, such as town halls or celebrations
• Pairing each new worker with an established team member as an onboarding mentor or buddy when they get started at the company
• Encouraging team members to schedule virtual coffee chats to get to know one another
• Assigning projects that involve teamwork and collaboration across multiple departments
• Supporting employee resource groups to help all team members—both remote and in-person—connect with others across the organization about shared interests, communities, or identities
• Distributing engagement or feedback surveys to ask workers how your organization can better foster a sense of community

6. Provide professional growth opportunities

Offering opportunities for workers to continually grow in their careers can help boost motivation, engagement, and retention. Additionally, a strategic approach to talent development can help your organization fill skills gaps as business needs continue to evolve. However, despite the importance of offering growth opportunities, a survey of 3,500 employees conducted by Gartner found that only 46% of respondents are satisfied with their career development.

Because no two workers learn exactly the same, providing a range of resources can help employees select the options that work best for them. As you identify professional growth opportunities, consider engaging an independent learning and development freelancer on Upwork. Skilled professionals are available to help you develop and implement talent development strategies to help your team members grow in their careers.

Options for professional growth include:

• A standardized remote onboarding process for new hires
• Access to online learning platforms, such as Coursera, Udemy, or LinkedIn Learning
• Stipends or reimbursements for professional development conferences and courses
• Skill and talent assessments
• Mentorship opportunities, either with internal workers or external professionals
• Career coaching partnerships or resources
• Team or company-wide training and knowledge-sharing sessions
• Performance reviews at a regularly scheduled cadence
• Personalized development and performance improvement plans
• Opportunities to manage other team members or oversee projects with freelancers

7. Encourage health and well-being

Despite the flexibility often associated with remote work, the lines between personal and work lives can often be blurred in a remote environment. Without a commute, employees sometimes work longer hours than they may have in the office, which can lead to burnout and impact their physical and mental health.

Encouraging health and well-being among remote workers can help minimize these risks and make remote employees feel valued, which can increase motivation and productivity. Here’s how your team can do so:

• Hosting virtual guest speakers focused on health and well-being topics
• Offering access to mental health apps such as Headspace, Calm, and Talkspace
• Reimbursing workers for fitness center memberships or other health-oriented hobbies
• Providing stipends for standing desks, air purifiers, or other products to create a healthy home office space
• Implementing an optional wellness challenge program
• Encouraging a healthy work-life balance
• Scheduling virtual coffee breaks or water cooler chats
• Asking employees for feedback on how your organization supports their physical and mental health

8. Implement technology tools that aid productivity

In a remote work environment, almost all communication and collaboration is conducted virtually. Because of this, implementing the right collaboration tools and technology is critical to enabling productivity. However, the FlexOS survey cited above found that 33% of respondents want better remote technology and infrastructure support.

Examples of remote productivity tools include:

• Video conferencing software. Hosting video meetings can help team members have face-to-face interactions with one another, which can improve communication and productivity. Video conferencing tools like Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and GoTo Meeting can help streamline video conferencing.
• Chat and communication tools. Centralizing employee communication in a chosen chat tool can help simplify collaboration and keep team members engaged. Slack, Google Chat, and Chanty are a few examples of common tools.
• Email apps. Similar to chat tools, the right email app can help your team effectively communicate and share critical updates. Commonly used email apps include Gmail, Microsoft Outlook, and iCloud Mail.
• Project management software. Adding project and deliverable updates to project management software such as Monday.com, Basecamp, and Trello enables teams to seamlessly share updates and stay on track with deadlines.

Handling time zone differences

One of the benefits of remote work is that your organization can access workers from outside your local geography and around the world. However, working with team members across time zones can also be challenging without the right expectations and processes in place.

Navigating different time zones presents challenges such as difficulty finding meeting times that work for the whole team, delayed responses, communication issues, and fatigue or burnout risks associated with employees working too many hours to align with different schedules.

The following tips can help your organization effectively handle time zone differences on a remote team:

• Support asynchronous communication, such as emails and comments in shared documents
• Encourage team members to include their working hours in email signatures, messaging app bios, and project management tools profiles
• Implement clear deadlines for projects and deliverables, including the date and time in a specified time zone
• Set expectations that workers don’t need to answer non-urgent communication outside their working hours
• Schedule meetings at times that work for most team members, but vary occasionally so all workers have some opportunity to participate live during their normal work hours
• Record meetings and circulating notes for individuals who can’t join live
• Leverage productivity tools such as those outlined above to keep all team members aligned

Tools and resources

In addition to the strategies highlighted above, a range of tools and resources are available to help you motivate and manage your remote team, such as:

• Employee incentive and recognition software including Bonusly, Motivosity, and Guusto
• Employee engagement survey software like Culture Amp, Qualtrics, and Quantum Workplace
• Books about remote workforce management such as “Leading from Anywhere: The Essential Guide to Managing Remote Teams” and “The Power of Remote: Building High Performing Organizations That Thrive in the Virtual Workplace”
• Courses about managing remote teams like Managing Remote and Hybrid Teams from Stanford School of Engineering and How To Manage a Remote Team on Coursera
• Independent workforce management professionals on Upwork, who can share and implement remote work best practices

Remote work resources from Upwork include:

• Remote Workforce Management Guide: Basics and Best Practices
• How to Build a Successful and Effective Remote Workforce
• 7 Top Tips for Successful Remote Work
• Complete Remote Work Glossary of Terms (75+ Words & Phrases)
• 10 Benefits of Hiring Remote Workers in 2024
• Top 10 Data Security Best Practices for Remote Workers

Summary

Establishing clear communication channels, offering flexible working conditions, recognizing achievements, and implementing the other strategies outlined above, along with leveraging the right tools and resources, can help you engage and motivate remote employees on your team.

While remote work may present some challenges, taking an intentional approach to motivating employees can positively contribute to worker satisfaction, productivity, and long-term business success.

Find motivated remote workers on Upwork

Motivating remote workers can help drive engagement and productivity while supporting continued business growth. If you’re looking for support with implementing these strategies to motivate remote team members at your organization, consider engaging an independent human resources consultant.

Skilled human resources freelancers are available to help your team identify and implement strategies to motivate workers across your organization. Through Project Catalog™, you have the option to search for one-on-one consultations and fixed-price human resources projects. Once you find a project or book a consultation that aligns with your specific needs, you can begin working with an HR expert right away.

You can also search the Upwork Talent Marketplace™ for motivated freelance professionals with skills across specialties to drive positive business outcomes for your business. Leading companies engage talent with more than 10,000 skills on Upwork to quickly fill skills gaps, scale as business needs shift, and reduce fixed operational costs. Get started today—create an account and post a job on Upwork.

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Upwork is not affiliated with and does not sponsor or endorse any of the tools or services discussed in this article. These tools and services are provided only as potential options, and each reader and company should take the time needed to adequately analyze and determine the tools or services that would best fit their specific needs and situation.