Learn to leverage new technologies and tools to keep your team motivated and engaged remotely with Ellen Stafford of Vidyard.
Ellen Stafford
(Director of Business Development, Vidyard)
Vidyard
– All-in-one video platform for business
– Screen recording, video hosting and
management, integrations into business
tools, enterprise-level features
Motivation
– The “why” behind what we do
– Further reading: Drive: The Surprising Truth
About What Motivates Us by Daniel H. Pink
Types of Motivation
1. Extrinsic
– Doing something to produce an outcome
such as receiving a reward (carrot) or avoid
a punishment (stick)
– If, then incentives
– Can be useful in certain scenarios for
SDRs (commissions, performance
improvement plans, etc.)
– When used alone, often only motivates
short term behaviors and short term results
2. Intrinsic
– Inner drive that encourages someone to
perform an activity
– From Daniel Pink, 3 types:
a.) Autonomy – is trusted by their leader,
feels like they take ownership of their
task and their outcomes
b.) Mastery – is challenged by what they
are doing and feels like they are
constantly learning and getting better
– somewhere between boredom and
anxiety, challenged in a healthy way
c.) Purpose – understand the impact they
are making for the team, for the company,
and for themselves
– better, more lasting results
Engaging Your Remote Team
– Benefits to being part of a team
– SDR Grind – we’re in this together
– Gaining energy from others
– Learning from each other
– The shift to remote survey asked teams what
they missed the most and what used to give
them the most energy: missing their
teammates and team dynamics
– Solution to recreate this remotely
Building the Right Team
– Starts with hiring the right people for your
remote team
– Hire for soft skills vs. what can be taught
– Experience is a plus
– Ask interview questions around:
– Drive
– Ability to take ownership
– Genuine curiosity & Love for Learning
– Trustworthiness
– Creativity
– Self-awareness
Your Remote Team Culture
– Build a culture of accountability
– Set clear expectations
– Allow flexibility in how they get there
– Demonstrate trust
– Avoid micromanagement!
– Something seems off? Assume the best
intentions and seek to understand
– Feeling like a team member doesn’t trust
you is very demotivating
– Exemplify work/life balance – try not to
reach out off hours unless extremely critical
– Give them ownership: promote
collaboration & solicit frequent feedback on
what’s working and what isn’t, stop-start-
continues, surveys
– make sure they have a voice in defining the
workplace culture
Team Communication
– Over-communicate with your team
– You can’t that things are learned organically in a
remote team
– Build an effective team communications
plan that doesn’t rely on virtual meetings only
– Asynchronous updates: Executive updates,
campaign reviews, process changes
– Virtual team meetings: Q&A’s from updates,
enablement, guest speakers, hot topics, results
– Encourage frequent cross-functional
communication
The Fun Stuff
Creative ways to have fun and build relationships remotely
– Team events, not just Zoom happy hours
– Celebrating wins, Gong channel, Slack giphy
– Inside jokes
Investing in Your Team
Team Enablement
– Continuously develop your team’s skill set
through remote team training
– Mix of virtual and self-guided trainings
– Leverage internal and external facilitator,
SDR and non-SDR topics
– Build enablement content to encourage
resourcefulness
– Promote personal development outside of
company, working to connect internal people
with those outside the company as in
mentorships, etc.
– Frequently investing in your own development
– Network for you and your team
Programs for Your Team
– Build programs that will motivate SDRs and
BDRs to own their personal professional
development
– Micro-promotion program
– Always working towards a goal
– Define tasks and certification to progress in
role, moving from SDR1/BDR1 to Senior
SDR/Senior BDR by completing specific
on/off dashboard tasks
– Progression is 100% owned by the rep
Tech Stack & Process
– Invest in the right tech stack
– Tools to do their job effectively and to work
autonomously
– Let them participate; free to paid
– Implement clear process (the how)
– Get feedback on gaps to build efficiencies and
reduce frustrations
– Set expectations but promote creativity: what
they must follow vs. what they can be flexible
with
– Invest in tools to help you develop and work
effectively with your remote team
– Chorus/Gong, Slack, Vidyard
Motivating Your Individual Reps
Invest in Your Relationships
– Invest the time to build a trusting, personal
relationship with your team members, make sure
the trust goes both ways
– Backgrounds, learning styles, goals, pet peeves
– Do a discovery, get beyond the surface and
uncover their true motivators, ask the tough
questions to get to those answers
– Leverage this knowledge to effectively tap into
their intrinsic motivation
– Further reading: Radical Candor: Be a Kickass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Malone Scott
One-on-One Coaching and Development
– Schedule and keep regular weekly one-on-ones
to develop them personally
– Never just check in, have a plan, share impact
and results
– Shared agenda ownership
– Give and get feedback regularly
– Always be coaching: team-based theme,
competitive vs. individualized,
micro-promotions, etc.
Praise and Incentives
– Recognition
– Tie to purpose and impact
– Public praise, encourage peer-to-peer praise,
kudos folder
– Rewards and spiffs
– If used effectively, can drive results, short-term
impact
– Get creative, have fun, get team input
– Tie back to intrinsic, personal goals
Motivating Your Managers
Leverage many of the same tips:
– Autonomy – ownership of their own team and
the results they drive. Trust them, guide them,
and hold them accountable.
– Don’t go to the rep directly and try to leverage
your manager as much as you can.
– Mastery – challenge them by giving them
opportunities to develop new skills (i.e., project
leads)
– Purpose – ensure it is clear to your manager the
impact they’re making on their direct team,
department, and the company
Stop-Start-Continues can help a lot
