Motivation will promote peak performance in individuals and have a positive knock-on effect of improved team performance. So, how do you successfully motivate your team and unleash their potential?
The following model may be used to guide you in becoming more proficient in the art of motivation. It focuses on everyday actions that individuals in the team take that make a difference and gives them the sense of achievement through ownership of goals and targets. It aims to eliminate distractions.
Relevance
Engage the team on why their work is important to the business and to them. It is vital to be clear on what the larger goal is for the business, and why it matters. Ask the team to picture the benefits and see what success looks like. As a leader, you must be able to help to create a picture of what it will mean to you, the team, and the business overall if the goal is achieved.
Risks and barriers
Look at the risk of not conducting the work, and take time to highlight where risk may be inherent. Ask the team what may prevent success but, more importantly, how they believe any roadblocks can be removed or circumnavigated.
Rewards and recognition
Ask the team to identify potential benefits and recognise individuals’ performance when they succeed. Celebrate your wins. As humans, we tend to be wired to notice losses much more than progress and successes. Help the team to see what has been achieved so far, and make the remaining targets less overwhelming by focusing on the successes and learning from any drawbacks encountered. When we celebrate the wins, there is a boost from the reward circuits in our brains, which makes us want to repeat the action to get the same reward again. Practice giving rewards through recognition whenever you take an action and make progress.
Track and measure
Most individuals like to see visual signs of progress, so being able to track your actions allows you to do this. Many are often not great at remembering what they have done well and achieved, so having a visual record reminds them of how much has been achieved already. Monitoring your goals increases the chances of success. A visual record helps to increase motivation levels.
Shift the focus to things you can control, the everyday actions that each team member will take to try and reach the goal. Progress will not always be straightforward, is often not perfection, and sometimes feels like you are taking one step forwards and two steps back. What matters is progress over the whole period, so be ready for any minor bumps in the road and stick to taking action every day with the overall goal as the ultimate aim.
Repetition
The act of achieving progress points, no matter how small, on a regular basis will breed confidence within the team and embed new actions into BAU (business as usual). Trying to achieve too much in one go can be overwhelming and demotivating – and without an alternative way of working, the initial enthusiasm may be hard to maintain and fade away. It will be less overwhelming when you make actions bite-sized and show that to take the right action every day is making a difference. Acting every day creates a habit, which becomes automatic and takes up less mental energy. Completing an action every day boosts self-esteem and helps your teams grow in confidence.
Accountability and advice
As a leader, even when tasks are delegated to others, you still hold overall accountability. With the whole team working towards the same goal, having support and accountability from others is a powerful tool to help individuals stick to their everyday actions. You can ask for support and recognise your colleagues for their efforts. Peer-to-peer mentoring is a great way to gain support and advice and you will realise you share many of the same challenges as others. No-one has all the answers, so sharing ideas makes the team stronger than the sum of its parts.
Communicate clearly and often
If every member of your team understands how they contribute to the greater goal of the business, then no job is seen as unimportant.
A great story, which illustrates this, is when during a visit to the NASA Space Centre in 1962, President JF Kennedy noticed a janitor carrying a broom. He interrupted his tour, walked over to the man, and said: “Hi, I’m Jack Kennedy. What are you doing?” The janitor responded: “I’m helping put a man on the moon, Mr President.”
Business leaders can help employees find more satisfaction by finding out why they are driven to do the work they do. When you understand someone’s drivers, you can shine a spotlight on that why and maximise your employees’ opportunities.
Further reading
Oresa. How to master the art of employee motivation.
Masterminds Leadership. Mastering the art of motivation.