We are proud to be some of the most motivated developers in the world. However, getting motivated and staying that way is not easy. We make a lot of effort in the X-Team community to keep motivation high.
For many remote developers, the biggest motivation killer is burnout and overworking. With so few distractions and such immense focus, you can end up working 10 hours without ever getting up.
To combat this in X-Team, we created Fit-Quest.
Fit-Quest is a 1-month survival fitness Slack game designed to motivate you to get up more each day.
How it works
First, understand that X-Team is not your usual company. We have an underground comic book-like culture with an ongoing storyline, each developer with their own unique hero character.
In this game, you team up with other heroes to scour the galaxy for treasure. Each day you will get a new activity to do to survive in your quest.
Depending on how many people survive the game's challenges, an amount of "treasure" (i.e. money) is donated to children around the world who desperately need medical treatment so they too can unleash their potential.
The whole point though is to use the cooperative storyline to motivate them to take more breaks and get up and get active more often.
The Challenges
So every couple days brings in a new chapter in the quest's story, at which point the players must decide what to do.
For example, when a massive cave beast gets awakened, will you run, fight or heal others by doing yoga?
The beauty of the game is its flexibility — whether you are into running, swimming, hiking, walking, boxing, fencing, climbing, weight lifting, yoga, and beyond, most challenges are broad enough to cater to any activity that gets you up and unplugged.
From riding on horseback...
to walking the dog through the forest...
to skateboarding and raising the X...
to biking...
to fencing...
to pushups...
to hiking...
to boxing...
to getting out for some drone flying time...
to putting on a yoga class...
and yes, even the opportunity to take a break and celebrate still being alive in the game.
We saw a lot of great moments, new personal goals achieved, selfless acts performed, new local hiking spots discovered, and so much more.
And best of all, we were able to raise $200 for a child on Watsi who needed help removing a mass on his upper lip to help him concentrate on school.
If you want to motivate a remote team, these sorts of asynchronous game-based experiences are incredibly effective.
All it takes is a little creativity and commitment, and you can bring together a team from around the world in amazing ways.
Learn more about asynchronous activities for remote teams in my post about the 3 Essentials to Creating a Happy Remote Team.