5 Proven strategies to motivate your team
Motivation is a powerful energy that drives and excites employees, which results in their maximum contribution. Setting and achieving goals, clear expectations, recognition, feedback, as well as encouraging management all contribute to an increase in workplace motivation. It flourishes in a positive work environment, which is why so many leaders want to learn new ways to motivate their workforce.
Unfortunately there are some managers that still use fear or draw from accrued good will to achieve results. However, this only works for a while and ultimately damages credibility. A leadership style with a people-orientation is key to motivating staff. Use the following tips to motivate your team. And review performance and your approach to motivation regularly.
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Learn What People Want
Motivation is different for each of your employees. Every employee has a different motivation for why they work. But we all work because we obtain something that we need from working. The something that we need that we obtain from work has an impact on our morale and motivation.
Learning what employees want will help you formulate the next step when building motivation in the workplace.
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Clear Goal Setting
Goal-setting is linked to task performance and is the main source of intrinsic motivation, that is, motivation driven by an interest in the task. Setting specific and clear goals leads to greater output and better team performance. Therefore, set unambiguous, measurable and clear goals with a deadline for completion to avoid any misunderstanding.
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Ask And Listen
When is the last time someone asked you how you were doing, looked you in the eye and listened with every fiber of their being? If it wasn’t recently, then it probably doesn’t happen. Ask questions like, “What would motivate you to get X project done in X amount of time?” Listen, acknowledge and treat them with care. Their response may surprise you.
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Provide Autonomy to High-Performing Employees
The challenge in any work environment is to create a culture in which people are motivated by their work. Too often, organizations fail to pay attention to the issues that are most important to employees: relationships, communication, recognition, and involvement.
Workers who perform well should not be rewarded by having a manager who is always looking over their shoulder. If an employee is performing well, no need to watch every little thing they do.
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Be Transparent
Be candid about how your team’s efforts contribute to an important business objective, and acknowledge each team member for the value they bring to the team. Let them know what their efforts mean to the long-term health of the team and how their engagement will be rewarded. Share information about account status, new business and blind spots to create accountability for each team member.
You can combine the various suggestions I’ve explored here to motivate your team. Show your team the fruits of their labor and remember to offer your appreciation for their work, but also try putting something at stake now and then.
Each of these approaches has been shown to increase motivation, but together they’re sure to work even better.
What about you? How do you motivate others? What motivates you?
