By: Laurel Farrer

In co-located offices, managers can spontaneously treat their team to coffee or spruce up the office decor to lift their spirits and recharge productivity. Remote leaders must get a little more creative about how to reward their distributed teams. Think beyond gift cards and virtual happy hours with these (non-sponsored) creative ideas:

1. Let your team spend less time grocery shopping and more time collaborating by providing a meal delivery service, either pre-prepared or as a meal kit.

2. Avoid meeting interruptions or unwanted background noise by providing a coworking office membership.

3. Working from home can be a sedentary lifestyle trap. Send everyone on your team a Fitbit and host weekly group step challenges to get them moving.

4. For notes and brainstorming, sometimes nothing beats a good ol’ pen and paper, but the results are usually lost from the digital world. Bridge the gap by providing products like a document camera or smart pen.

5. Kickstart mental clarity with a membership to an online yoga or personal training studio.

6. Easily troubleshoot tech concerns with a subscription to an on-call support company.

7. Help everyone relax after a big deadline by treating them to a private, in-home massage.

8. Allocate a stipend for a new professional headshot to be taken. It’s a fun excuse for the employee to put on a clean shirt, plus your web developer and PR manager will thank you for the updated files!

9. Encourage your team to get outside by setting them up with a portable WiFi source and a solar charger.

10. Allocate an “office makeover” budget that workers can spend on anything they need or want - from an ergonomic chair to a bluetooth headset or even a desk cycle.

11. A virtual assistant for each employee may not be in the budget, but a desktop digital assistant (like Amazon Echo or Google Home) might be.

12. We all know the importance of working in a clean, functional environment. Give your distributed offices a hand by sending a maid service.

13. Have leftover swag from last month’s trade show? Ship it to your team! Having branded items around will remind them of the team that they love being a part of. (Perfect for new employees!)

Which gifts have worked well with your distributed team? Tweet us @yonder_io with your ideas!

Laurel Farrer is the COO here at Yonder. She always has a notebook and pen within arm's reach, never sits with both feet on the floor, and drives (safely) without depth perception.