How to Keep Your IT Team Motivated During the Summer

Each month, we as thought leaders in the IT service and support communities a question about the industry. We then share the information with you.

Here is this month’s question:

Keeping your IT workforce motivated and ensuring high schedule adherence is always a challenge, but especially when the weather is nice. What summer or holiday promotions or incentives do you find has helped keep your workforce engaged?

Ric Mims, SDI Presence Director

Typically, the summer season is heavily impacted by staff family vacation times. We have found that destination vacations have been on the rise in the summer, along with the need for the occasional “mental health day”, and of course, summer weddings. Unfortunately, for an organization’s Service Desk, agents are not afforded the same time off considerations as other employees. But here are some tips that can take the angst out of the summer season.

• Fun-Fridays – Make the Friday workday a fun workday. Select a theme that everyone can participate in with costumes, toys, and other theme-based items. Hey, it's also a great day to recognize performance and excellence in your teams.
• Lunch Days – Food is always the greatest team builder. Select a consistent day(s) during the month that the team shares lunch purchased by management.
• Professional Development Opportunities – As call volumes reduce somewhat from peak times during the week to Friday, allow the staff to do self-paced training on technologies or frameworks used in your organization.
• After-Shift Activities – Organize team-building activities on the weekends, such as picnics or volunteering for a charity!
• Community Sports Teams – Community sports teams such as softball, volleyball, or bowling are great examples of having fun and building team dynamics!

Of course, not all of these suggestions are indicative of what you can do with your teams. The key is to be creative and flexible in finding what works best for your team, specific workforce, and culture.

Pierre Bernard, Global ITSM Process Manager, HSS Enterprises Ltd.

Ah, summer. For those of us living in places with cold, snowy, winters when the temperatures dip regularly below the freezing mark, the return of warmer temperatures is a welcome sign.

When spring comes and stretches into summer, people want to be outside enjoying the warm weather. I know I do. One of the positives of COVID in the summers of 2020 to 2022 is that I was able to work from my backyard when working from home from May to September.

How can we incentivize people to come to work during the hazy, warm, sunny days of summer? The following is a list of things I witnessed many organizations put in place during my long career as a consultant. Of course, it all depends on the type of organization and type of work performed.

• Cold treats in the freezer, baskets of fresh seasonal fruits
• Bring in a regularly scheduled ice cream truck, or at least once or twice.
• Have a regularly scheduled barbecue, picnic, bring a food truck.
• End the day at noon on Fridays for all employees.

Variation 1: half the employees every Friday afternoon on a rotation basis

Variation 2: half the employees all day on Fridays on a rotation basis

• Reduced work hours every day – half the employees for each variation to ensure coverage.

Variation 1: start one hour later in the morning, ending regular time at the end of day.

Variation 2: start at regular time, ending one hour early at the end of day.

• Allow for people to rotate between variations 1 and 2.
• Extended breaks and lunch periods
• Decorate the office with a summer theme (tasteful of course).