Three Motivational Tips For Your Team

It’s no secret that a motivated team delivers better results, and enjoys a higher level of job satisfaction and wellbeing. But knowing how to motivate your team is not always easy, especially if you don’t physically see them as often now hybrid working is more widespread. So here’s a few tips that can help.

1. Praise and commendation from line managers

How people feel about their job is often influenced by their relationship with their line manager, and not feeling valued or supported by your direct manager is one of the key reasons people leave. In the midst of ‘The Great Resignation’, taking the time to appreciate your team members’ efforts in order to motivate, and retain them, is therefore more important than ever.

Saying thank you may seem like an obvious response to a job well done, but its impact can go deep. It shows someone their efforts have been noticed and that they have been recognised as an important member of the team. It is even more powerful when linked to useful feedback about what they are being praised for, and how and why their contribution made a difference. While a quick ‘thank you’ in the moment can provide a brief morale boost, it’s important that it doesn’t appear perfunctory. Taking the time to reinforce the skills or approach they used not only shows that you have truly appreciated their efforts, but also helps them know what to replicate in the future.

Research has shown that praise and commendation from a line manager is one of the leading workplace motivators, and can be more effective long term than financial reward alone. It should not just be left to formal appraisals or reviews, which can be some time after the event. To be most effective, praise and positive feedback is most powerful at the time of the achievement, when what they have done is fresh in both of your minds. This not only creates the environment where they feel you have taken the time to notice and value their work, but also motivates them to try to deliver further positive efforts again regularly in the future, in the way that will have the best impact for them, the team and the company.

If you aren’t seeing your team in person as often, then scheduling in an additional individual call or video conference, specifically to provide this positive feedback and praise, can illustrate you don’t take their efforts for granted – and that while they might now be more ‘out of sight’ they are certainly not ‘out of mind’.

2. Attention from higher up

This business behaviour shouldn’t be limited only to line managers. It also applies to senior management and those further up in the ‘hierarchy’. Praise and positive feedback from people your team have less day to day involvement with creates the sense that they are noticed and valued more broadly, and that their contribution is acknowledged as contributing to the overall success of the company. When they can see they’re part of a bigger picture, employees feel that what they do matters, and consequently this provides the motivation to want to contribute still further in the future.

3. Breaking up the routine

Even the most exciting jobs will involve some mundane or less enjoyable elements, and most will involve some level of repetitive or potentially even tedious tasks, often with a strictly pre-set schedule. Elite athletes must practice and train relentlessly, while even film stars have to devote hours to learning scripts or repetitive rehearsals. Endless repetition of routine tasks will sap anyone’s motivation eventually, and this is much more likely the case for the average employee in a business.

One way to tackle this problem is to introduce breaks in their routine. Look out for the chance to spark their interest by offering your team members alternative assignments. You might ask them to help inject new life into an existing project with their ideas, or to join a team working on something new. Just varying their routine by doing something different can help an employee’s motivation.

This even applies when the new or different task is something not particularly exciting in itself. It’s the variety that counts, and switching people around can help motivate the whole staff. In addition, your employees will derive personal benefit, because they’ll be expanding their skills and experience. Your workforce will also become a more valuable asset as its versatility increases. You can also enhance the effective motivation of the whole operation by extending this strategy to your management teams.

Our team at BHP Consulting have all successfully run businesses, and we understand that every business is unique. Our practical approach to supporting our clients enables us to share our real-world experience to positively impact on the performance of your business. To arrange a call or an exploratory face-to-face meeting, please click here.